Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11048 on
5 October 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 answers to questions S6W-11097 and S6W-11098 on 17 October 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 Scottish Government delivers support for the Historic Environment through sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and we continue to invest and support the sustainable development of Scotland’s historic estate.

In 2021-2022 we provided HES with £75.9m of Grant in Aid funding which included £20m in Covid emergency funds. In 2022-23, we have provided £68.9m of Grant in Aid funding to support Historic Environment Scotland, maintaining our enhanced support given the impact of the pandemic on HES’s commercial income. This funding is still substantially more than the £42.8m funding provided to HES pre pandemic.

Sustainable development and protection of the historic environment is a vital area of work that HES delivers. More specific detail on the HES’s delivery of this work is available in their Annual Operating Plan 2022-23 | Historic Environment Scotland.

Artists are a significant part of Scotland's culture sector and the Scottish Government is committed to seeing them thrive.

Since April 2021, Creative Scotland has distributed 491 awards to individuals through the Open Fund, totalling £6.2m.

They also distributed 3,923 awards to individuals through the Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers, to the value of £7.5m in the same period.

Further information on the delivery of SG emergency Covid19 funds by Creative Scotland is available in the Evaluation of Creative Scotland COVID-19 Emergency Funding Programmes | Creative Scotland which covers the 2020-21 emergency funding. A further report on the delivery of SG’s emergency funding by Creative Scotland from late 2021-2022 is currently in preparation.

Creative Scotland is also working on a new approach to funding organisations over multiple years as set out in their Future Funding Review. This aims to offer organisations greater certainty in planning which will improve opportunities for the many freelance artists that are pivotal to their work and who make up over half of the workforce in the arts sector.

Scottish Government analysts are considering options for increasing our understanding of the nature and level of unmet need in adult social care, and will continue to engage with external partners to develop appropriate approaches and deliver new insights over the coming months.

There are more than 1,200 social care providers across Scotland, with local authorities responsible for providing or commissioning services. Local authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships will wish to ensure that, in providing a range of services, their workforce planning arrangements take full account of the need to have safe and sustainable numbers of staff.

To maximise capacity to meet demand, and maintain integrated health and social care services throughout autumn and winter, our winter plan highlights the additional funding of £528 million allocated directly to Health and Social Care Partnerships for 2022 23. This funding was aimed at the following social care measures:

• £124 million to enhance care at home

• £144 million to support the December 2021 uplift to £10.02, as well as a   further -

• £200 million to increase the minimum hourly rate of pay in adult social care

• £20 million to support interim care arrangements

• £40 million to enhance multi-disciplinary teams

• Waiving fees for mandatory PVG checks for new entrants to social care

• Extension of the Social Care Staff Support Fund to 31 March 2023, to ensure   that social care workers absent with Covid-19 receive their full pay

Alongside this, SG have established a social care winter planning working group, to consider a number of potential/feasible options to ease the current pressures in the Adult Social Care Sector in advance of the winter period 2022-23. Local government are among those represented on this group.

To help alleviate the current pressures in social care, we are working with partners to scope out and design localised support with recruitment for the winter period. This will include marketing assets which can be adapted to meet local needs, and providing more in-depth support with recruitment where capacity to recruit is a barrier. This work is being taken forward in collaboration with key stakeholders representing the sector.

The Scottish Government sees the only place for vaping is as a possible aid to help existing smokers from using tobacco, they are not a lifestyle accessory for children or adult non-smokers. We recently published our consultation analysis on proposed restrictions on vaping products and are aiming to bring forward new regulations in the New Year. Any action we seek to take will build on the regulations already in place to restrict the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under 18s.

The redacted figures are considered to represent sensitive information as it originated from interviews with the Norwegian Government. As such, this information is not for Scottish Government to publish.

Resilience of the Energy Sector is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government.

Power Companies are required to meet statutory obligations under the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 with respect to minimum clearances from overhead lines, wires and cables including minimum ground clearance requirements.

Under the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018, it is an offence to fell trees without first getting felling permission from Scottish Forestry. The clearance of windblown trees requires a Felling Permission (previously known as a Felling Licence), unless you qualify for an exemption:

• Trees pose an immediate danger to people, property, or infrastructure
• Windblown trees that are blocking roads

The Scottish Government contributed to the Storm Arwen Ofgem review ( Storm Arwen Report | Ofgem ) and support the recommendation that work is undertaken by the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee (E3C) to review current distribution and transmission network infrastructure standards and guidance, including those for vegetation management and overhead line designs, to identify economic and efficient improvements that could increase network resilience to severe weather events.

Scottish Government officials and COSLA are working together as a partnership to ensure all Ukrainian displaced people are supported during their time in Scotland. As they are a key stakeholder in this work, the Scottish Government has regular and ongoing engagement with COSLA at Ministerial and official level.

I met with the COSLA spokesperson for Community Wellbeing this week, and details of Ministerial engagements are regularly published on the Scottish Government’s website: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .