Seòmar agus comataidhean

Individuals who intend to marry can currently choose to be designated in the register of marriages as either ‘bride’ or ‘bridegroom’ or they can choose that no designation be entered for them in that register. An extract from the marriage register (a marriage certificate) reflects the content of the register of marriages.

Under the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965, the statutory registers of births, deaths and marriages may be altered only where authorised by that, or another Act. Corrections to these registers are permitted in limited circumstances, such as when a clerical error is identified or, in the case of the register of births, a decree of parentage has established a child’s father.

As I confirmed in my answer to the member’s question S6W-00609, the Registrar General for Scotland and the Scottish Government will, when time permits, write to key stakeholders to seek their views on what changes may be required to the marriage notice form for future couples. The answer to question S6W-00609 provided on 22 June 2021 is 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

We have no plans, in advance of that work, to consult on changes to the legislative arrangements for correcting the register of marriages.

The Scottish Government, working with Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) and other partners, developed a vision and action plan to support sustainable, green datacentres, terrestrial digital connectivity and international subsea fibre connectivity in Scotland.

Scotland’s Vision and Action Plan for Green Datacentres & Digital Connectivity was agreed by Ministers on 09 March 2021 and launched by Mr Wheelhouse at the Rural, Economy and Connectivity (REC) Committee on 17 March 2021: Green datacentres and digital connectivity: vision and action plan for Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

This provides a roadmap for this important sector – considering the supply and demand for data hosting facilities across the country and in support of Scotland’s wider digital ambition.

We are in the process of setting up a Cluster Management Organisation (CMO) which will look at supporting the growth of Scottish Datacentres - enhancing links with other existing and emerging cluster groups in Scotland, for example: Scotland’s Data Cluster, Scotland’s Cyber Cluster, Technology Scotland etc.

There is no statutory obligation for youth workers or for youth work activity to be recorded or monitored by local authorities, third sector organisations or voluntary organisations.

However, the CLD Standards Council for Scotland, reports that over two and a half thousand CLD staff and volunteers have signed up to the CLD code of ethics which includes practice for youth work and community based adult learning. The CLD Standards Council also reports in 2018 that there is an estimated paid workforce of twenty one thousand practitioners within the CLD sector.

Table 1 shows the median waiting time (in days) for individuals with first treatment type recorded as either (1) Community based support and/or rehabilitation or (2) Residential Detoxification/Inpatient Treatment. Figures are presented for each of the last 5 financial years and include Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) breakdowns as well as Scotland level data. Treatments can be for drug or alcohol clients, or clients with a combination of the two. Waiting times are calculated from date of Referral to date of First Treatment.

Table 1 Median Waiting Time (in days) from Referral to First1 Treatment for treatment types (1) Community based support and/or rehabilitation2 or (2) Residential Detoxification/Inpatient Treatment3 , drug and alcohol clients or clients with a combination of the two, by ADP and Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring that high quality, person centred bereavement care and support is available for those who need it. It is important to reflect that each individual and family’s experience of bereavement is unique as are their support requirements. That is why we undertake a broad range of work to improve the bereavement care and support available for those who need it, particularly at this difficult time.

Since 2016 the Scottish Government has funded Cruse Scotland and Child Bereavement UK through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention & Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund to provide support to individuals and families who have been bereaved. This Fund has been extended to end March 2022 to provide greater stability to organisations and we will announce in due course plans for funding the third sector from April 2022.

In 2020 we awarded a contract to Includem to establish a Scottish childhood bereavement co-ordinator who will ensure effective provision of bereavement support and care for children and young people.

Our Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, published in October 2020, sets out a number of commitments to support the mental health of people following bereavement and we will continue to engage with providers of bereavement support, and people with lived experience, to design improvements. Through the work of our National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group we are supporting the piloting of suicide bereavement support services and pilots will launch in Highland and Ayrshire & Arran in the coming months.

We will continue to work closely with NHS Boards, Integration Authorities and third sector organisations to continually revisit our work in this area and respond to the additional needs of people and families arising from the pandemic and provide additional support where needed.

The response provided to S6W-00515 confirmed the Scottish Government’s position with the UK Government's Events Research Programme. In common with the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government did not hold events as part of the ERP.

Specific procedures that were part of the ERP, for example testing as means of entry to EURO 2020 matches, were considered for the event in Scotland as part of our gateway process for flagship events – however, clinical advice cautioned against mandatory testing and checking on arrival, in this instance, as the knock-on effect on flow may have created more risk of mixing.

The final report of Phase 1 of the UK Government's ERP has now been published – Events Research Programme: Phase I findings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) – and we will continue to engage with the UKG and on a 4 Nations basis, with the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, to identify learnings from the ERP and help inform the route ahead for the events sector.

Youth work is a professional practice delivered in many environments. Delivery is carried out in a range of multi-purpose community facilities, schools, colleges and hospitals. Service provision for young people includes community based youth work, outdoor learning, direct intervention, youth awards, participation in uniformed organisations and local youth clubs.

There is no statutory obligation on youth work providers to register details of their operations with Scottish Government, and as such the Scottish Government does not hold information on the numbers of operational youth work centres in Scotland.

A number civil service jobs in the Scottish Government and associated Agencies and bodies are already undertaken outwith Edinburgh and Glasgow. For example, Social Security Scotland has an office in Dundee, Scottish Public Pension Agency and Accountant in Bankruptcy are based in Galashiels and Kilwinning respectively, and the Scottish Prison Service and Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service have a number of locations across Scotland.

Working from home remains the default position for the majority of Scottish Government staff during the pandemic. As noted in the Strategic Framework published on 22 June 2021, there will be a phased return to more office working from Level 0 onwards but with continued support for working from home where possible and appropriate. Once the easing of restrictions allows more staff to return to buildings, our expectation is that we will introduce a hybrid working model which will enable Scottish Government staff, where the role allows, to have more flexibility in their work location across Scotland and include a mix of home and office working.

In March 2021, the Scottish Government’s Population Strategy recognised that these changes to working norms may offer new opportunities to support civil servants who wish to live and work in locations outside of Edinburgh and Glasgow. As part of this, the Scottish Government committed to actively considering its workplace footprint and exploring the opportunities of distributing its workforce in greater detail. This work is in its early stages. However, as a first step, the Scottish Government will be piloting local hubs outside of Edinburgh and Glasgow so that staff can work at office locations closer to their home.

The Scottish Government's new air quality strategy 'Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - Towards a Better Place for Everyone' will be published later in 2021. Any proposals for implementing a ban on domestic coal use will be set out in this strategy.

There were three cases of pupils being 'removed from the register' of their school in 2018-19. When this occurs a pupil does not return to their original school and will be educated at another school or in some other educational provision.

More statistics on exclusions from school can be found in the following publication: https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-exclusion-statistics/

Information on exclusions is not available for 2017-18 or 2019-20 as this data is collected biennially. Information on exclusions in 2020-21 has yet to be collected.