Seòmar agus comataidhean

As Ministers at the time promised Parliament, during the debates on the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Bill, a review of the operation and delivery of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme during the last five years will now be undertaken. We are engaging those who have used the Scheme and who have an ongoing interest in its future operation to determine the scope and terms of the review. That engagement will include a conference in Glasgow on 21 November this year, where we will formally launch the review.

On 29 July 2016, the Scottish Government published an engagement paper, ‘Mental Health in Scotland – a 10 year vision’. The paper provides an overview of the priorities that we think will deliver significant improvements to the mental health of the population of Scotland. Our proposed priorities are structured around the life stages of ‘start well’, ‘live well’ and ‘age well’.

We are currently seeking views on our priorities for transforming mental health in Scotland, the early actions we propose to take to deliver this transformation, and how we should measure success over the ten year period which the new strategy will cover. The deadline for written responses is 16 September 2016, and we are holding a series of public events across Scotland to help us gather views.

We want the next mental health strategy to focus on the things that will make a real difference to mental health and wellbeing in Scotland. The progress made over summer recess will help ensure that we have a clear understanding of people’s views on how we can best do that.

Following our careful consideration of the views we have received, the new Mental Health Strategy will be published in late 2016.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (Framework) Order 2016 will be laid in Parliament on 5 September 2016. This Order will bring the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2016, which was published on the Scottish Government’s website today, into effect from 4 October 2016.

The Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2016 sets out the priorities and objectives for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) going forward. The Framework is structured around protecting communities in terms of risk, prevention and response; the evolving role of the SFRS; and the governance, accountability and performance arrangements for the Service.

It is now for the SFRS to set out in its second Strategic Plan how it will deliver the priorities identified in the Framework.

Our litter strategy is a five year plan that sets out how Scotland can significantly reduce litter and flytipping and support cleaner, safer communities. It is vital that organisations with roles in helping to tackle litter and flytipping play their part.

As a result of the strategy, we have supported community clean ups, boosted communication to highlight that people should dispose of waste responsibly and since 2011 we have funded the installation of over 4,200 Recycling on the Go bins across Scotland. We have also strengthened the deterrent effect of enforcement by raising the litter and flytipping fixed penalties, from £50 to £80 and £200 and introduced a charge on single use carrier bags, a highly visible form of litter.

Over the next year, we will explore new ways to encourage people to properly dispose of and recycle waste and publish revised guidance for our delivery partners that will expand the focus of tackling litter from expensive clean-up operations to support for more preventative measures. These actions will continue to support reducing littering behaviour in North Lanarkshire and throughout Scotland.

 

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The estimated unitary charge costs for the total of the 25 year contract period for HMP Addiewell is £955 million.

The Scottish Government strongly supports the development of the renewable energy sector and decarbonisation of our electrical generation and wider energy sector. In order to facilitate its development, the Scottish Government provides a range of support for the renewable energy sector, including funding to support renewable energy projects and technology development; a planning policy which strikes a careful balance between utilising Scotland's significant renewable energy resources whilst protecting our finest scenic landscapes, natural heritage and residential amenity; and a well-developed structure of partnership with the Scottish agencies, the private sector and academia, which has helped shape our renewable energy policies.Scottish Government makes available a range of impartial advice and financial support for communities, rural businesses, and non-profit distributing organisations across Scotland who wish to generate their own renewable energy and benefit from commercial operations. This information is available through the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES). Further information is available on the Local Energy Scotland website at http://www.localenergyscotland.org/We also fund the Energy Saving Trust to provide energy advice and support to businesses and consumers. For example, working with partners including Resource Efficient Scotland, support for businesses is available to allow them to participate effectively in the supply chain for energy efficiency measures and installations and to help businesses attain accreditation with registered bodies to allow them to access funds available via Scottish and UK Government support schemes.The Energy Saving Trust’s network of local area advice centres across Scotland offers free, impartial advice relevant to consumers in their geographical areas. Specialist advisors can visit consumers at home, and provide advice on relevant renewable technologies which are available and appropriate and in most cases can provide details of several potential installers, with a focus on local businesses. Further information on support available from the Energy Saving Trust is available at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/ScotlandOur delivery partners for these programmes have a key role to play in promoting renewable and low carbon energy opportunities at both national and local level, including through their websites, local events, and annual conferences.The renewable energy sector makes a significant contribution to the Scottish economy.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that in 2014, more than 21,000 people were employed directly in the low carbon and renewable energy economy in Scotland and this, through multiplier effects will have supported thousands FTE jobs In the form of indicant and induced employment throughout Scotland. Further information is available on the ONS website at

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/environmental/uk-environmental-accounts/low-carbon-and-renewable-energy-economy-survey--2014/rpt-low-carbon.html

Figures published by the UK Government in April 2014 show that since 2010 the renewable energy industry has announced around £14.2 billion of investment in Scotland and this has supported many jobs in the supply chain and wider economy. Further information is available on the UK Government website at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-investment-report-april-2014

 

The Scottish Government remains committed to its vision that all journeys on Scotland’s bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram can be made using a single type of smart ticketing, the saltirecard system. Good progress is being made to deliver this vision, summarised by mode below.Rail - The entire ScotRail network is now Smart enabled to be part of the saltirecard system. We have made sure that the new franchise contract requires smart tickets to be made available across the network, for all types of ticket by 2019. ScotRail is delivering a significant programme to make this possible. For example, saltirecard smart season tickets are available on all routes and by April 2019, ScotRail has committed to achieving a 60% uptake for all ScotRail passenger journeys using Smart ticketing.Subway - Smart tickets are already in use on the Glasgow Subway, and it will be possible to use the same smartcards on both the Subway and ScotRail.Ferries - We have already completed successful user trials. The recently awarded Clyde and Hebrides ferry contract requires saltirecard smart tickets to be available for foot passengers.Bus – More than 1.3 million smart concessionary travel saltirecards have been issued which can be used across bus operators across Scotland. 35% of bus journeys undertaken already use the smart saltirecard through the Scottish Government's concessionary travel schemes.Building on this investment, the major Scottish bus operators have agreed to work to deliver the vision of compatible smart ticketing across all modes in Scotland with a programme that dovetail’s with ScotRail’s plans. These developments will see the launch of interoperable, bus-to-bus, saltirecard smart ticketing across Scotland’s largest cities starting with Aberdeen and Dundee this summer, with Glasgow and Edinburgh to follow. The major Scottish bus operators are also committed to work in collaboration with other modes and support a national e-purse for Scotland which will work on the basis of pay as you go similar to the Oyster Card system. Further developments will include the acceptance of contactless bank cards on bus.This inter-operator, multi-modal capability is being made possible by the Scottish Government promoting one compatible system across all modes, the "ITSO" system, allowing integration to be delivered in phases as each mode implements its co-ordinated plans. Work to develop this system further is already underway to integrate the ITSO saltirecard system with smartphones and contactless bank cards.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01407 on 8 August 2016. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx