Seòmar agus comataidhean

Scotland’s Redress Scheme is being delivered in accordance with the Digital Scotland Service Standard . Criteria 8 relates to the creation of a service which protects users’ privacy. All of our systems are designed in line with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) guidance and have been penetration tested by NCSC-approved CHECK suppliers.

Given the sensitivity of the information which is being sent, it is important that survivors have a choice on how they apply. Although email has so far been the most common application channel, survivors can also apply via post. There is also a Document Upload portal which can be used by applicants to submit supporting documents.

The Privacy Notice for Survivor Applicants and the Privacy Notice for Next of Kin Applicants provide details on how the information collected by Scottish Government, as administrators of Scotland’s Redress Scheme, is managed and how it is used. In addition, Redress Scotland, who are the independent body responsible for decisions on applications and the amount of financial redress to award, also have a privacy notice in place.

As required under Rule 9.3.2 of the Parliament’s Standing Orders, the Financial Memorandum was published to accompany the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill, introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 13 August 2020. This outlines the projected and anticipated costs of the scheme.

Although there is an appropriate level of scrutiny on administration costs of the scheme, managed through the Redress, Relations and Response Division of Scottish Government, it is important to note that, as outlined in the Statement of Principles , there is no fixed budget or limit to the number or amount of redress payments which will be paid by the Scottish Government. We are committed to giving financial redress to survivors, regardless of the financial contributions received, because it is the right thing to do.

Redress Scotland is an independent body, which is not part of Scottish Government and is monitored by the Redress Scotland Sponsorship Team, within the Children’s Rights, Protection and Justice Division.

There is no target timescale for the time from an application being received by Scotland’s Redress scheme and it being processed through to being complete and ready to transfer to Redress Scotland, who are the non-departmental public body which assesses and makes decisions on redress applications. The reason for not having a target time is because each application varies in complexity, with survivors and applicants requiring differing levels of support to complete the application and a dependency on other organisations to complete the required verifications around care settings and any previous relevant payments made.

We are committed to ensuring each application is reviewed by case workers within six weeks of receipt. This process identifies if further information is required or if applications are ready to allocate to a named case worker to undertake the required verification checks, ahead of seeking applicant approval to send to Redress Scotland.

We have recently recruited additional case workers and have made changes to the operating model of the scheme to ensure there is an increased focus on the case working team contacting, offering support, and progressing the applications for all applicants. Applications are now allocated to a named caseworker when the application is largely complete and approaching the stage of being ready to send to Redress Scotland for consideration. It remains the case that priority for allocation is given to applicants with a terminal illness and those over the age of 68.

Scotland’s Redress Scheme is delivered jointly by the Scottish Government and Redress Scotland – a new non-departmental public body which assesses and makes decisions on redress applications. Redress Scotland is an independent body, which is not part of Scottish Government and is monitored by the Redress Scotland Sponsorship Team, within the Children’s Rights, Protection and Justice Division.

Scotland's Redress Scheme is delivered within the Scottish Government's Redress, Relations and Response Division. Across the division 44 staff are currently employed in a variety of roles including Operations, Survivor Relations, Contributions, Policy, Service Design and Delivery, Business Management and Communications to provide an efficient, robust and trusted scheme for applicants, partners and stakeholders.

As part of the administration of the Scheme, a bespoke Case Management System (CMS) has been developed. The CMS is hosted in a secure environment and holds sensitive, personal information relating to applications. Not all colleagues in Scotland’s Redress Scheme have access to CMS, which is restricted to ensure only staff with a specific need to access the applicant data are able to do so.

Certain staff in Redress Scotland also have access to the CMS, meaning that information does not generally need to be shared via multiple systems.

The Privacy Notice for Survivor Applicants and the Privacy Notice for Next of Kin Applicants provide details on how the information collected by Scottish Government, as administrators of Scotland’s Redress Scheme, is managed and how it is used.

It is a matter for Redress Scotland to determine their resourcing within their budget, however some details on their staff are available on their website . In addition, Redress Scotland also have a privacy notice in place.

The Scottish Government is currently progressing a programme of reform of Scotland’s planning system, including implementation of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. The 2019 Act included provisions which prohibits elected members from carrying out certain planning functions (e.g. sitting on a planning committee) if they have not completed specified mandatory training. We have commenced work on the development of mandatory training requirements which will help to ensure that local decision makers are equipped to make sound and legally robust planning decisions.

The ongoing delivery of a regulatory review of aquaculture in Scotland aims to develop a more joined up approach between consents, including piloting of multilateral pre-application discussions, which should lead to enhanced communication and better-informed decision-making at each stage of the consenting process. Government officials continue to maintain a close working relationship with Local Authorities that deal with aquaculture applications as this work continues.

In response to the priorities set out by the parliamentary inquiries in 2018 and the Salmon Interactions Working Group report, an adaptive spatially-based risk assessment framework to manage sea lice interactions between wild and farmed fish was developed.

SEPA published its response to a consultation on the proposed framework on 25 August and will begin implementation later in 2023. The framework will assess the siting of salmon farms and the risk posed to wild fish.

The recent Programme for Government starts the process of developing a new National Marine Plan (NMP) and commits to supporting local authorities to guide development to the right places. We will consider options to undertake further spatial planning for aquaculture.

Each year Scottish vessels land around £100 million worth of fish outside of Scotland, often for species for which our nation already has ready processing capacity. This represents a lost opportunity to bring additional investment and downstream benefit to our coastal communities from Scotland’s fishing quotas.

Our fish quotas are a national asset and I want to ensure that fishing opportunities allocated to our fleet, for the most important Scottish species, deliver a substantial economic return to our businesses and communities in Scotland.

That is why today, I am announcing changes to the economic link condition contained in Scottish sea fishing licences. This change to the economic link conditions is a key policy in Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy, which supports sustainable and responsible fisheries management in Scotland. The delivery plan which supports the Strategy and outcome of consultation document for changes to the economic link, will be published today at 2pm and can be found at [ Publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Changes to economic link licence conditions will take effect from 1 January 2023 and will require vessels that catch stocks of key economic importance to Scotland to either:

• Land a set minimum percentage of these stocks into Scotland.

Or

• Return some fishing opportunity to the Scottish Government for re-distribution amongst the Scottish fishing industry.

These changes will help to redistribute economic returns from Scotland’s fishing opportunities to the Scottish Seafood sector and our coastal communities.

The UK Technical Advisory Group (UKTAG) published their Environmental Quality Standards recommendation for emamectin benzoate on 30 June 2022. The Scottish Government will now respond and consult on the implementation of the recent UKTAG environmental standard recommendation. In the meantime the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) updated its interim regulatory position on emamectin benzoate, to apply the new standard when determining new applications to discharge emamectin benzoate.

SEPA is also progressing work to update its framework for regulating bath treatment medicines. This has included introducing a new computer model of the dispersion of the medicines in the environment and taking account of the latest evidence on the persistence of the medicines in the environment. It is also working to support innovation in the capture and removal of bath treatment medicine residues to reduce discharges to the environment. SEPA is looking at the suite of bath medicines to understand if the latest scientific evidence suggests that the existing environmental standards need to be updated.

Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) makes clear the planning system should maintain a presumption against further marine finfish farm developments on the north and east coasts, and that local development plans, or supplementary guidance, should take account of Marine Scotland’s locational policies when identifying areas potentially suitable for new development and sensitive areas which are unlikely to be appropriate for such development.

All planning applications must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. As a statement of Ministers’ priorities, the content of the SPP is a material consideration that carries significant weight, though it is for the decision-maker to determine the appropriate weight in each case.

We laid our fourth Draft National Planning Framework (NPF4) in parliament on 10 November 2021, including proposals for updated planning policy on aquaculture. Alongside Parliamentary scrutiny of the draft, we ran a public consultation, supported by an extensive engagement programme, with comments invited by 31 March 2022. Once approved and adopted, NPF4 will be part of the statutory development plan, and will replace Scottish Planning Policy. We are considering the broad range of views shared with us before laying a finalised NPF4 in the Scottish Parliament in the autumn.

The recent Programme for Government also commits to the development of a new National Marine Plan to address the global climate and nature crises and to supporting local authorities to guide development to the right places.

The Scottish Government remains committed to funding the expansion of free school lunches to all children in primary and special schools during the course of this parliament. We will also establish a pilot of the provision of free school lunches to secondary school pupils.

As the First Minister stated, during her statement to Parliament on our Programme for Government on 6 September, having delivered free school meals for all pupils in primary 1 to 5, we can now announce that we will start work with local authorities to extend universal provision to all pupils in primary 6 and 7. This work will be supported by £30 million of capital funding during this academic year to support the expansion of catering and dining facilities to accommodate increased uptake.

Where families do not meet the regular eligibility criteria for receiving free school meals, local authorities have the flexibility to make discretionary offers of free school meals where families are experiencing financial hardship due to exceptional circumstances. We would encourage any families experiencing difficulty with meeting the cost of school meals to contact their local council to enquire about what assistance may be available.