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Everyone has the right to a safe workplace and to live their lives without fear or intimidation. The Scottish Government is determined to tackle the scourge of sexual harassment wherever it happens: in public spaces, places of education and workplaces.

That is why we published our Fair Work Action Plan on 9 December 2022. It will take forward the next phase of actions to drive forward Fair Work and will make it easier for employers and partners to access information on the critical role Fair Work has to play in the workplace. We will be writing out to interest groups, MSPs and Ministers about the Action Plan in the week of 12 December, with further engagement activity planned in early 2023.

Additionally, as part of our Equally Safe strategy, we are providing over £330,000 in funding to Close the Gap to develop “Equally Safe at Work”, the first accredited programme to focus on equality at work. The programme focuses on themes such as workplace culture, and supports organisations to improve employment practice, advance gender equality and prevent violence against women.

All workplaces must have robust processes for reporting and dealing with harassment or bullying. But we recognise that sexual harassment takes place in a range of public places as well as workplaces, which is why we are consulting on women and girls’ safety on public transport. Additionally, we are continuing to take forward and fund a range of actions in schools to address gender based violence and sexual harassment. This includes but is not limited to Rape Crisis Scotland’s national sexual violence prevention programme, our Equally Safe at School programme, our Gender Equality Taskforce in Education and Learning, and Mentors in Violence Prevention Scotland programme.

The Scottish Government will continue to drive forward this work to build a safer Scotland free of sexual harassment.

The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 requires the regional marine plans state policies for and in connection with the sustainable development of the area to which the plan relates. Regional marine plans must also set economic, social and marine ecosystem objectives and relating to the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change. All regional marine plans must be developed in accordance with any adopted National Marine Plan ("NMP"), and are subject to the agreement of Scottish Ministers.

Responsibility for regional marine planning is devolved to marine planning partnerships (“MPPs”). The current NMP provides guidance to support the development of regional marine plans, but specifies that the precise approach and coverage of the regional plan, including the level to which certain activities are spatially represented, will be for MPPs to determine based on local priorities and taking account of existing partnerships, methodologies and alignment with other local plans.

We will work with MPPs during the development of our second NMP (NMP2), to ensure policies and objectives within NMP2 provide necessary support and guidance for regional marine planning

Ministers remain committed to exploring the benefits of a four-day working week, which is why the 2022-23 Programme for Government included a commitment to undertake research and advice to improve workplace productivity and wellbeing, including on the delivery of a four-day working week pilot. This work will continue to be informed by experience drawn from similar projects in other countries, and elsewhere in the UK.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a national system of rent controls with an appropriate mechanism to allow local authorities to introduce local measures, by the end of 2025, and to do so in a way which is robust and provides lasting benefit to tenants.

We consulted widely earlier in 2022 on our New Deal for Tenants draft strategy which sets out a whole range of reforms, including the vision and principles for a future model of rent control. We published an independent analysis of all of the consultation responses in August.

In the meantime, the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act which came into force on 28 October 2022 introduced a rent cap to protect tenants from high rent increases.

We have also made support available to tenants in the private rented sector who are struggling with high housing costs.

This includes £68.1m to mitigate the bedroom tax, helping over 91,000 households to sustain their tenancy, and up to £13.5m which has been made available to mitigate against the impact of other UK Government welfare cuts.

We will extend the eligibility criteria of our £10m Tenant Grant Fund so local authorities can use any remaining funds to support people who are struggling with arrears resulting from the rising cost of living, and will be investing up to a further £5m in Discretionary Housing and giving local authorities more flexibility in their prioritisation of households for Discretionary Housing Payments.

The introduction of longer-term rent controls is being carefully considered alongside our emergency response for the rented sector to the costs crisis and the operation of the temporary rent cap will inform our plans to implement an effective and long term model of rent control.

The consultation responses to the New Deal for Tenants, and our ongoing engagement with stakeholders, will inform our work to develop the approach to long term rent control in Scotland and we will publish further details on our planned approach in due course.

As is reflected in the response to question S6W-12758 on 13 December 2022, The Scottish Government will consult on our proposals to apply an activity cap on fishing activity in inshore waters, in due course.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government recognises the wellbeing, health and environmental benefits, along with the efficiency gains, that a four-day working week could bring. We remain committed to taking forward public-sector pilots and are considering how best to develop and implement them.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a national system of rent controls by the end of 2025, and to do so in a way which is robust and provides lasting benefit to tenants.

We consulted widely earlier in 2022 on our New Deal for Tenants draft strategy which sets out a whole range of reforms, including the vision and principles for a future model of national rent controls with an appropriate mechanism to allow local authorities to introduce local measures. We published an independent analysis of all of the consultation responses in August.

In the meantime, the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act which came into force on 28 October 2022 introduced a rent cap to protect tenants from high rent increases.

We have also made support available to tenants in the private rented sector who are struggling with high housing costs.

This includes £68.1m to mitigate the bedroom tax, helping over 91,000 households to sustain their tenancy, and up to £13.5m which has been made available to mitigate against the impact of other UK Government welfare cuts.

We will extend the eligibility criteria of our £10m Tenant Grant Fund so local authorities can use any remaining funds to support people who are struggling with arrears resulting from the rising cost of living, and will be investing up to a further £5m in Discretionary Housing and giving local authorities more flexibility in their prioritisation of households for Discretionary Housing Payments.

The introduction of longer-term rent controls is being carefully considered alongside our emergency response for the rented sector to the costs crisis, and the operation of the temporary rent cap will inform our plans to implement an effective and long term model of rent control.

The consultation responses to the New Deal for Tenants, and our ongoing engagement with stakeholders, will inform our work to develop the approach to long term rent control in Scotland and we will publish further details on our planned approach in due course.

The Scottish Government anticipates that the proposed cap on fishing activity (up to three nautical miles) will contribute to our efforts to deliver a step change in marine protection. We will consult on our proposals to apply an activity cap in due course.

Earlier this year the Scottish Government published a draft future catching policy for consultation. The policy is intended to address long-running operational issues with the landing obligation, which bans the discarding of fish. The policy seeks to improve upon current rules, whilst staying true to the principles of the landing obligation, to support fishers to reduce waste and delivering sustainable and responsible fisheries management. We received 244 responses to the consultation, covering the full range of policy proposals, and are now undertaking analysis and evaluation.

The Scottish Government deploys a range of spatial and technical measures to manage Scotland’s fisheries. In addition, we have delivered a number of projects over the past four years to improve spatial management of inshore fisheries. These have included the Mull Crab Box and the Outer Hebrides Inshore Fisheries Pilot, which have been delivered as part of a co-management approach with our Regional Inshore Fisheries Groups. Fisheries management measures are not a regional marine planning matter.

Under the Bute House Agreement we will also soon consult on measures that will improve spatial management of our inshore waters, namely proposals to cap (to current levels) fishing activity within the three nautical mile area. The Agreement outlines further protections for our marine environment by introducing Highly Protected Marine Areas covering at least 10% of our waters by 2026, and delivering management measures for existing Marine Protected Areas where these are not already in place, as well as for Priority Marine Features at risk from bottom towed fishing gear out with these sites by 2024.