Seòmar agus comataidhean

The introduction of a criteria to determine the reopening of the Edington Hospital in North Berwick was determined by the East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership. The criteria was agreed with input from senior nursing colleagues and is intended to support NHS Lothian Gold Command consider the potential options for returning bed capacity to the Edington Hospital.

Decisions about local provision are best made locally, so when to re-open Edington is one for NHS Lothian and East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership to make. However, any decision made must take into account the needs of the local population, and ensure an appropriate level of service is in place to meet those needs.

We set out our commitment to establish an independent taskforce to consider whether the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Scottish SPCA) should be given extra powers to investigate wildlife crime in both the 2021-22 Programme for Government and in our Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party Shared Policy Programme.

The taskforce’s role will include due consideration of the potential implications of any proposed changes to the powers of the Scottish SPCA. The taskforce will report back by the end of 2022.

We will set out the remit of the taskforce in more detail in due course.

The Scottish Government introduced the Animals and Wildlife, Penalties, Powers and Protections (Scotland) Act 2020 in November 2020. We made a number of important changes to legislation on wildlife crime including;

? Increasing the penalty for a range of wildlife offences to a maximum of 5 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

? Extending the time allowed to investigate wildlife crimes.

? Extending the offence of vicarious liability to apply to offences relating to the illegal use of traps and snares.

? Bringing forward a power to introduce fixed penalty notices for less serious wildlife crimes.

Scottish Ministers do not currently monitor any variance in the level of electric vehicle charge point tariffs. The charge point owner is responsible for the setting of any tariffs on their electric vehicle charge points. The Scottish Government do not have a position on the levels of tariffs that the hosts can set, however, we expect these to be in line with the recovery of costs.

Tariffs are set by charge point owners, taking into account local demand and use, to cover a number of costs including electricity provided. In July 2021 Transport Scotland published a joint report with Scottish Futures Trust highlighting the importance of tariffs to attract private sector investment to expand the public charging network. In January we announced a new £60m fund to grow the public charging network in Scotland and, as part of this, our work with local authorities will consider the levels of tariffs required to ensure the public network is financially sustainable. In parallel, following a UK-wide consultation on consumer experience at public charge points last year, the Scottish Government is engaging with the UK Government Office for Zero Emission Vehicles on progress with development of regulatory powers related to electric vehicle charging tariffs and will keep outcomes of work in this area under review.

I refer the Member to the answer to question S6W-06576 on 14 March 2022. 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
‎

It is not appropriate for the Scottish Government or Ministers to comment on or intervene directly in individual cases relating to patient care.

We are aware that, following the tragic incident involving Mr Brown, the Scottish Ambulance Service has launched a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident. The Service has been in regular contact with Mr Brown’s family and have confirmed that they will meet with the family again to discuss their full findings once their investigation is concluded in mid-March 2022.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 provides local authorities with a discretionary power to set up workplace parking licensing (WPL) schemes. It will be for local authorities to decide whether they wish to implement WPL locally and to shape proposals to suit local circumstances.

Liability for the WPL charge sits with employers, not with employees, and it is a matter for employers whether they pass on the cost to employees.

As the impacts will depend on local authorities’ proposals, it is for local authorities, rather than Ministers, to assess the likely impacts of their proposed schemes. Local authorities are required to consult those likely to be affected and undertake impact assessments before implementing a WPL scheme.

The following table shows how many school-aged children are in each local authority (as at September 2020) and how many devices have been distributed by councils using the £25m digital inclusion funding made available by Scottish Government in 2020-21.

Local authorities across Scotland have a range of approaches to provision of technology in schools, including some councils who have undertaken to provide cohorts of their school population with devices using their own budgets. We do not hold information centrally on those approaches, therefore, the table below only shows devices distributed through the funding made available by Scottish Government in 2020-21.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all school-aged children and young people in Scotland have access to a digital device by the end of this parliament.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all school-aged children and young people in Scotland have access to a digital device by the end of this parliament in 2026.