Seòmar agus comataidhean

I am pleased to confirm the publication today of the Scottish Government’s third thematic report on implementation progress following Dame Elish Angiolini’s Final Report.

The thematic progress report shows that 44 recommendations are now complete which represents more than half of the non-legislative recommendations. This demonstrates that partners’ collective actions are laying foundations to deliver transformative change of the complaints, investigations and misconduct framework. This is supplemented by our current live consultation on legislative proposals which is another step in that journey.

I commend Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland for their continuing efforts and progress to date.

The following table shows the number of cards issued under the Young Persons Scheme (YPS) as at close of business on 20 June 2022, broken down to local authority level. This information includes number of passes collected from the Transport Scot Pass Collect mobile application held by Transport Scotland and data supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). NECPO support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data.

At close of business 20 June 2022 there had been a total of 11,122,501 journeys made under the Young Persons Scheme (YPS).

This information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

There is no evidence to support the claim that primary school pupils in Scotland are falling behind pupils in England and due to the differing education systems and curriculums, direct comparisons cannot be made. The reports referred to by Monica Lennon relate to views expressed in relation to the closed Scottish Parliament petition PE01668. This petition related to phonics teaching in Primary schools in Scotland.

The UK government has sought to embed the teaching of phonics in all English primary schools and on 28 April 2022 published updated essential core criteria for systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) programmes to be used in schools. In Scotland, as with all of Curriculum for Excellence, schools, supported by their local authority, plan the reading curriculum to meet the needs of the learners within their own local context. In Wales and Northern Ireland schools are also provided with the flexibility to make informed decisions about the needs of their learners.

On 14 December 2021, I announced that a group would be set up as a National Response to Improving Literacy, which mirrored the already-existing National Response to Improving Mathematics. The group’s remit is currently being drafted but will look to examine the existing landscape in Scotland and to seek opportunities to enhance the professional learning for teachers and the classroom experiences for young people. It is anticipated that the first meeting of the group will be early in the next academic year.

The group is a partnership board led by Scottish Government, ADES and Education Scotland. Early gathering of stakeholder views indicates that teacher confidence in their knowledge and expertise and in selecting the best pedagogies to teach literacy could be a key theme explored by the group when formulating their recommendations.

The Scottish Government response to the Public Interest Journalism Working Group report, Scotland’s News: Towards A Sustainable Future for Public Interest Journalism , is scheduled to be published on the Scottish Government publications page on Friday 24 June.

The response will set out the Scottish Government’s answer to each of the recommendations, and the next steps for taking them forward.

The Scottish Government is very grateful to the Working Group’s members for their hard work in developing the recommendations within the report.

The SPCB provides support to staff who suffer from recurrent illnesses, including migraine.  The SPCB recognises that most people with migraine can manage their condition and work effectively, with the right information and support in place.  Managers and MSPs, in their capacity as employers, are encouraged to create a positive workplace culture, including holding regular conversations with team members about wellbeing so that additional support needs can be identified.  

Members, their staff, and SPS staff also have access to a range of health and wellbeing related policies, advice and services including the Parliament’s Occupational Health Service, which can provide workplace assessments or referral to medical specialists.  The SPCB is also committed to providing a Safe place of work and fully complies with workplace health, safety and welfare requirements including ensuring the availability of water, good lighting, good ventilation and a reasonable working temperature. 

The SPCB also provides support to individuals including:

• Reasonable adjustments including the provision of assistive equipment;
• Localised adjustments to reduce brightness in individual work areas;
• Health and wellbeing training, including stress awareness and managing your physical working from home arrangements;
• Free eye tests;
• Adjustable DSE workstation equipment;
• stress risk assessments, as required;
• Quiet working space in the Holyrood building;
• A good mix of natural and electric lighting and an environment which is free of excessive noise and odours.
  

Staff can also access flexible working arrangements, including flexible working hours and time off for medical appointments. 

When compared to the Migraine Trust’s definition of a migraine-friendly employer the Parliament is well placed.  However, the SPCB continues to review the support it provides to staff.

The Scottish Government committed to publishing a refresh of the 2017 Energy Strategy in the Programme for Government and Bute House Agreement. Following the Scottish Government's response to the Just Transition Commission, we committed to publishing a Just Transition Plan for energy, which will be integrated with the forthcoming Energy Strategy Refresh to ensure a cohesive and joined up framework for action.

In Parliament on 29 March 2022, I announced that the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) would be published in Autumn 2022 for consultation. It was previously due to be published in Spring 2022.

The revised timeline will allow time for the development of a robust evidence base. It will also enable consideration of recent, fast-moving events in the energy industry, the impact of the rising cost of energy, and the UK Government's Energy Security Strategy and forthcoming Energy Bill.

Additionally, this summer we are engaging with those most likely to be impacted by the energy transition, in line with our wider approach to just transition. We will be carrying out a number of events to identify what needs to be done to ensure the energy transition is good for Scotland’s people and build consensus that will enable policy makers to develop the best solutions.

The SPCB undertook to consider this and can advise that the central register of interests for SPCB staff who are members of the Parliament’s Leadership Group is now publicly available, as of this week.  The register can be found here.  The SPCB considers that publication of declared interests for Leadership Group members is in the public interest for reasons of transparency and maintaining trust and confidence.  As before, Leadership Group members will be required, on an annual basis, to review their register of declared interests.

We are working to publish the external report regarding the implementation of the 2021 NICE guideline on ME/CFS as soon as possible, and anticipate that it will be published by the beginning of July 2022.