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We know that the global pandemic and the lockdowns implemented to restrict the spread of the virus have had significant impact on many people with learning disabilities who were unable to access the support and community connections that they usual rely upon.

Assessments were carried out before any measure were put in place, to ensure this was the appropriate action to save lives, and during and after the restriction period to assess the impact on people’s mental health.

We have been working with partners and those with lived experience to deliver our Learning/Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Towards Transformation Plan, which was published in March 2021. This includes actions to shape supports, services and attitudes to ensure that the human rights of people with learning disabilities are respected and protected and that they are empowered to live their lives, the same as everyone else.

We fund the Scottish Learning Disability Observatory (SLDO) to carry out research, including on the impact of the pandemic. We will continue to work closely with the SLDO to fully understand the actions required to address the research findings.

The Scottish Government and COSLA are engaging via a new leadership and engagement framework that puts people’s voices and experiences firmly at its heart. The first topic chosen by people with lived experience was mental health, following the impact of the pandemic. People with a learning disability have conducted their own peer research, including accounts of how the pandemic affected them and their families. They are currently progressing solutions and improvements based on their experiences.

We have also commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland to gather and provide insights into different approaches to the redesign of learning disability day services in recognition of the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created. In October 2020, the New Models of Learning Disability Day Support Collaborative was launched. The collaborative works with Health and Social Care Partnerships to develop their current service provision in line with Keys to Life outcomes whilst taking into account learning from working through the pandemic.

Budgets have been realigned to take into account the updated plan agreed between the Scottish Government and our R100 delivery partner, Openreach, following on from the 19 August announcement that coverage through the R100 North contract has been extended. This plan will see Openreach align the delivery of the R100 contracts alongside the commercial work that they carry out on a day-to-day basis. This does mean that some properties will receive access earlier than planned, while some properties will receive access later than planned. The £16 million referenced in the Emergency Budget Review is still expected to be spent as part of the overall R100 contracts.

Our address checker at https://www.scotlandsuperfast.com remains the best way to track the most up-to-date connectivity status of individual properties, including the most recent plans and timescales for R100 contract build for eligible properties.

The Scottish Government has received no request for financial assistance.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of day services to adults with learning disabilities, their families and carers. Decisions about individual services are made by local authorities. However, the Scottish Government maintains regular contact with local authorities to encourage and support the re-opening of services. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care wrote to all local authorities and Health and Social Care partnerships on 25th May 2022 requesting that they undertake a survey of registered day centre services in their area with a view to identifying which services have re-opened, which have only partially opened (or opened with reduced capacity), and why. The purpose of this was to gain insight into the challenges around re-opening and capacity to inform the development of Scottish Government policy advice and guidance.

The findings from the survey identified that Covid-19 restrictions such as physical distancing, which were in place at the time were a barrier to services returning to full capacity. Covid-19 guidance for building-based day services was updated in both May and September and there is no longer a requirement for physical distancing between services users or staff. The survey also identified challenges in relation to the workforce. These exist across social care and work is under way to improve recruitment to the sector. This has included funding to extend the Myjobscotland website, the creation of a recruitment portal with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), and working with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) colleagues to host a series of social care job fairs across Scotland.

The survey will be repeated in November 2022 in order to establish how much progress has been made towards increasing capacity since the original survey was undertaken.

The Scottish Government unequivocally condemns any form of hatred or prejudice, it is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

The Cross-Party Report on Tackling Islamophobia shines a light on the impact of anti-Muslim hatred in Scotland and we are considering its findings as we develop a new hate crime strategy for Scotland.

I established the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group to provide collective cross-sectoral strategic leadership in the development of a new strategy. It will set out our priorities for tackling hatred and prejudice in Scotland and support implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. Members of the group include justice and public sector agencies, as well as Age Scotland, Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure in Scotland (BEMIS), Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations (CEMVO), Equality and Human Rights Commission (Observer), Equality Network, Glasgow Disability Alliance, Interfaith Scotland, RespectMe, Scottish Human Rights Commission (Observer) and YouthLink Scotland.

Importantly, the strategy will be informed by communities with lived experience of hate crime – including religious and racially motivated hate crime – and members of our Strategic Partnership Group are actively engaging with communities, to understand their experiences.

We are absolutely committed to tackling all forms of hate crime, including those experienced by Sikhs, Hindus and other South Asians.

We are committed to tackling hatred and prejudice in all its forms and recognise the value of having robust data and evidence on hate crime in Scotland. We want to see disaggregated data published on a regular and sustainable basis – including data about hate crimes against Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 makes provision requiring disaggregated information about police recorded hate crime and convictions data to be published annually. We are working with justice partners to ensure these provisions can be implemented effectively.

In the meantime, a further Scottish Government study into the characteristics of hate crimes recorded by police in 2020-21 will be published later this winter. This report will include the nature of hate crimes recorded by the police, including characteristics of both victims and perpetrators.

We encourage anyone who has experienced or witnessed a hate crime to report it to Police Scotland by dialling 101 in non-emergencies, or 999 in emergencies.

11 projects are being funding through the Islands Programme this financial year. These include a new visitor centre and electric vehicle charging points at Old Man of Storr, nine ‘Island Pit Stops’ at Arran and Cumbrae with better facilities for visitors, a new nursery at Kirkwall to replace an existing building earmarked for demolition and improvement of critical sea front infrastructure at Tobermory. The 11 projects funded by the 2022-23 Islands Programme are:

1. Island Community Halls Digital Hubs, £100,000. Coll, Iona, Islay and Tiree.

2. Tobermory Seawall and Railings Improvements, £250,000. Mull.

3. Ionad Hiort – RIBA Stage 4 design fees, £167,000. Lewis. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

4. Community Facilities Programme – Uist, £347,781. Berneray, North Uist, Eriskay.

5. Old Surgery Housing Enablement, £72,000. Eigg.

6. The Old Man of Storr, £440,000. Skye.

7. Regeneration of Millport Town Hall – phase 2, £509,450. Cumbrae.

8. Island Pit Stops, £540,000. Arran and Cumbrae.

9. New Kirkwall Nursery, £1,500,000. Mainland Orkney.

10. Aald Skul Enterprise Development £88,095. Mainland Shetland.

11. Papa Stour Kirk Development £252,505. Papa Stour. Shetland Islands Council.

The £1.4 million Islands Cost Crisis Emergency Fund was developed acknowledging islands are uniquely exposed to the current cost crisis.

In line with due process, the joint Scottish Government/COSLA Settlement Distribution Group will make recommendations on the allocation mechanism for the funding at their next meeting on 15 November. COSLA Leaders will be asked to give their final sign-off on 25 November.

As soon as possible after that date we will be in a position to share further information about allocation of the Fund. However, we can share that we will allow as much flexibility to Local Authorities as possible and support them to complement existing or new measures where appropriate. Any criteria and reporting processes required will be very light touch to minimise the impact on the workloads of Local Authorities colleagues.

For the purposes of Cladding Remediation, an SBA is an assessment carried out by homeowners to determine the fire safety risk in buildings due to cladding. Duty of care for properties lies with the owners.

The Scottish Government is actively considering its response to the Empire, Slavery and Scotland's Museums steering group recommendations. Discussions to help inform our response are continuing with, amongst others, representatives from Museums Galleries Scotland, and members of the steering group themselves, to make sure the complexities and challenges involved are fully understood. After these discussions have concluded, a formal response will be issued in due course.