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Zero Waste Scotland advises us that they aim to publish the next update of the Material Flow Accounts by the end of September 2022.

In 2022, under the Climate Justice Fund, the Scottish Government will launch programmes to support the three pillars of distributive, procedural and transformative climate justice. These were identified as priorities by the independent evaluation of the Climate Justice Fund, as well as via stakeholder engagement, as central to achieving effective and sustainable climate justice.

We are in the process of finalising the procurement process, with the programmes due to be launched in Summer 2022. Additional details, including eligibility criteria, will be published on ScotGov’s website shortly.

Zero Waste Scotland advises us that the steel research project will include four reports. These are:

• An update to the published carbon assessment comparing the impacts of exporting steel with recycling steel using an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) located in Scotland;

• A market analysis to estimate the size of the scrap steel market in Scotland;

• An economic analysis that examines the business case for an EAF in Scotland; and

• An assessment of the role of Scottish steel in the energy transition.

The intention is to publish the series of reports at the same time, however Zero Waste Scotland does not yet have a confirmed date for publication.

A public consultation on improving victims’ experiences of the justice system will open from today, 10 May 2022, until 3 August 2022. It will be available at https://consult.gov.scot/justice/victimsconsultation .

The consultation focuses on proposed legislative reforms with particular reference to victims of sexual offences. It takes forward our Programme for Government commitments to introduce a statutory right to anonymity for complainers in sexual offence cases, establish a Victims’ Commissioner and carefully consider the recommendations from Lady Dorrian’s Review into the management of sexual offence cases that require a legislative basis to deliver.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving victims’ experiences of the justice system by putting them at its centre. This consultation explores how to do this by making the justice system more trauma informed and person centred. It is an important part of a wide-ranging programme of work to bring about transformational change necessary to ensure our justice system is trusted, modern, smart and effective.

We will continue to take an open and collaborative approach to achieve this aim, and this consultation will seek to capture the views of a broad range of stakeholders including legal professionals, the third sector and those with lived experience of the system.

I look forward to considering the full range of views received.

I would welcome the opportunity to meet with members of the Fornethy House Residential School Survivors campaign group in the coming weeks. My officials will arrange a suitable date and time.

As part of the 100 Days Programme we have already made significant progress towards this commitment by introducing free NHS dental care for young people between 18 and 25 years of age.

We have committed to the removal of all dental charges during the lifetime of this parliament.

We are creating a broad, co-ordinated package of policies and support programmes to deliver the change required. We have widened the scope of our capital and advice programmes and have several live funding calls for large scale projects. Further work over the coming year includes:

• consulting on regulations for zero emissions heat
• establishing a virtual National Public Energy Agency to coordinate delivery and build public understanding
• co-producing, with industry, a Heat in Buildings supply chain delivery plan
• collaborating with a range of partner organisations, through the Green Heat Finance Taskforce, on innovative heat decarbonisation finance mechanisms.

Allotments and their provision are the responsibility of local authorities. That is set out in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. However, since 2012, the Scottish Government has allocated more than £1.6 million to directly support and increase the land that is available for community growing.

This funding includes:

The Community Growing Fund, a grant scheme for the years 2019/2020 and 2020/21, providing a total of £80,000 to local community growing groups public bodies and third sector organisations.

For the years 2016 to 2022, nearly £490,000 has been allocated to various growing groups in Scotland, amongst them are Trellis, Social Farms and Gardens and Grow Green.

Funding to the Green Action Trust (previously Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN)) to allocate grants to projects that aim to increase the amount of land for community growing. Since 2012 around £1.04 million has been provided.

Delivery partners hold the ScotSpirit budget enabling them to book breaks for unpaid carers and low-income families with participating businesses rather than issuing physical break vouchers. This person centred approach ensures that delivery partners work with individuals to broker and book the type of break that best meets their individual needs.

From October to December 2021 just over £58K was spent on breaks.

Currently there are no plans for a separate public inquiry into the alleged historic abuse at Fornethy House Residential School. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has the remit to consider the extent to which institutions and bodies with legal responsibility for the care of children failed in their duty to protect children in care in Scotland from abuse, regardless of where that abuse occurred.