Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09757 on 2 August 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09757 on 2 August 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

The replacement (planned and unplanned) of train services with bus replacement services remains an operational matter for ScotRail.

ScotRail advises that the breakdown for each day during May and June 2022 for planned and unplanned bus replacement is as follows:-

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that there is a thriving music industry in Scotland, including grassroots music venues, which are key to supporting emerging Scottish talent.

That is why the Scottish Government’s Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund (GMVSF) provided grassroots live music venues with £6.2 million of emergency funds to help address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and prevent closures. Music venues were also able to apply to the £25m Cancellation Fund for Cultural Organisations in early 2022, which supported creative businesses which had been adversely financially impacted by cancellations or postponement of activities due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

The Scottish Government is content to engage further with the Music Venue Trust to discuss their new initiative to build community ownership of grassroots music venues, including in Glasgow.

The Scottish Government is committed to a full rewrite of the Parole Board (Scotland) Rules 2001 and this is currently underway. On Friday 22 nd July 2022, the Scottish Government launched a public consultation ( Consultation on changes to the Parole Board (Scotland) Rules 2001 - Scottish Government - Citizen Space ) featuring a number of proposals that seek to modernise existing rules and certain procedures. These include, but are not limited to:

• a new procedure for handling non-disclosure information and appointment of a special advocate
• adding ‘refusal to disclose a victim’s body’ as a matter the Parole Board may consider
• a new procedure to allow the Parole Board to review a decision.

Following analysis of contributions to the consultation, reformed parole rules will be laid in parliament in due course.

Recommendation 36 of the second Strategy Transport Projects Review (STPR2) recommends a detailed national audit and review of support for lorry parks to address barriers hampering their development, consider their financial stability and develop adequate standards.

This would include consultation with the freight industry, representative bodies, local authorities, and other stakeholders to collect views on the provision of lorry parks including where and what type of facilities are required and the potential demand for alternative fuel provision zero emission vehicles.

The STPR2 final reporting is due for completion later this year and will follow the conclusion of the public consultation which closed in April. Work on recommendation 36 will commence thereafter.

The Bella Centre in Dundee opened on 1 August and the Lilias Centre in Glasgow is due to open in October 2022.

HMP Stirling, Scotland’s new Women’s National Facility, is due to open by Summer 2023.

The Zero Emission Truck Taskforce met on 4 May 2022 and 23 June 2022. The next meeting is scheduled for 25 August 2022.

Keith Brown: I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS is currently preparing a new Health & Wellbeing Strategy to address health inequality among prisoners. The Strategy is being drafted to align with the development of the SPS 2023-2025 Corporate Plan.

Asylum, refugee and immigration policy is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of support and accommodation to people seeking asylum if they would otherwise be destitute while awaiting a decision on their asylum application and No Recourse to Public Funds restrictions on people who are subject to immigration control, including people seeking asylum, which means they may not be permitted to access social security benefits.

The Scottish Government has raised digital access concerns with the UK Government relating to people seeking asylum who are accommodated and supported by the Home Office. We have called for the Home Office to reflect the cost of digital connectivity in the support they provide, as it is increasingly important in ensuring people can access support services, legal advice and information, as well as report asylum accommodation or support issues.

The Scottish Government is designing our social security service so that as many people as possible, including people seeking asylum, refugees and other minority communities, understand what Social Security Scotland do, can communicate with Social Security Scotland and can access services in the way they want to. Our social security service is inclusive by design, with specialist support such as interpretation available where necessary for those who need it.

To help provide support to people who may be eligible for benefits, Social Security Scotland offers a range of channels for people to make an application for any of the benefits they provide. These are online, by phone, by post or face to face. Where interpreters are required, these will be provided for every channel of application and at every stage.

Work to embed an inclusive communication approach across everything that Social Security Scotland does continues.

Social Security Scotland currently has the following capability in place to support inclusive communications:

• Language Translation and Interpretation: services cover the production of translations into over 100 languages, Braille, Audio, Large Print and Easy Read formats. Interpreter-assisted calls are available to people who call the helpline, enabling people to apply over the phone in any of over 100 languages. The services also cover face to face language interpretation. Information on benefits is proactively translated into 11 languages used in communities across Scotland, including Urdu, Polish and Gaelic. Key materials have also been translated into Ukrainian and Russian to help refugees and displaced people access benefits. Translated information on all of Social Security Scotland's benefits can be accessed via the stakeholder resources section of the website.
• All letters, information and guidance are available in Braille, large print, Easy Read and various audio formats.
• Online content follows the Scottish Government's accessibility design standards. It is compatible with screen reader software on Jaws, Voiceover and Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) platforms.
• Deafened and Hearing Impaired Community: As part of support of the Scottish Government National BSL Action Plan, current provision has been reviewed and, with stakeholder input, a new specification of requirements for providing services for this community has been drafted. A British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service will soon be available through Contact Scotland.

Further actions are also being taken to improve service capability in support of inclusive communication. These include work to ensure that Social Security Scotland has the appropriate support and services in place to support clients with Cognitive and Learning impairments.