Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has no part to play in the recruitment of officers for British Transport Police.

The Scottish Government is seeking to commission independent research in relation to protests and vigils that take place outside of abortion clinics to collect evidence of both the scale and impact of protest and vigils. The research will provide meaningful insight into the effects of protests and vigils on those who choose to protest, and those who are affected. Whilst the research will not be completed in time for the launch of Gillian Mackay MSP’s Member’s Bill, it will help provide a robust evidence base going forward.

The Scottish Government will engage with all bidders for Green Freeport status, to examine relevant opportunities and build on the strategies they have set out.

As Co-Chair of the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC), I am leading on work to implement the five key recommendations in the Strategic Infrastructure Assessment (SIA) published in 2021, starting with the creation of a Scottish Offshore Wind Port Cluster.

On 11 May, we published the Offshore Wind Collaborative Framework Charter. 24 developers signed up to the Charter, which includes all active developers in Scotland and encompasses all 17 ScotWind projects.

The Charter builds on the 2021 SIA recommendations adopted by the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC), and is a clear way to support and enable developers’ collective supply chain commitments. The Charter will help forge effective partnerships to deliver on the potential that offshore wind presents in the coming years particularly those that present via our ports and harbours.

Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) will continue to be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions on behalf of the Scottish Government, which Parliament were informed of in February 2019. Consultation and survey responses indicated that replacing Severe Disablement Allowance, which has been closed to new applicants since 2001, would cause unnecessary disruption to the approximately 1300 clients in Scotland who continue to receive it.

Safety and security on our railways is reserved to UK Government and as such it would be inappropriate for me to comment on resourcing or operational plans for British Transport Police. However I have asked my officials to request BTP (D-Division Scotland) contact you directly to advise of its current and future plans to tackle anti-social behaviour on our rail network.

There is currently a shortage of drivers for bus and lorries due to the COVID pandemic, creating a backlog in processing applications and testing which is being compounded by the consequences of BREXIT, as it prevents people from the EU coming here to work freely. We have repeatedly sought a formal role in determining what occupations are in shortage in the devolved nations, but the UK Government has denied this. As such, bus drivers are not included in the Shortage Occupations List (SOL). I understand that the UK Government will be reviewing this later this year and we have asked for full involvement in that process.

The problem is clearly causing issues for local and national bus services across Scotland. To address the workplace issues, my officials are working with bus operators and our partners across the public sector to promote the bus sector as a place to work while recognising that many of the levers are reserved to the UK Government. We have provided up to £210 million in funding to support bus services during the pandemic and an additional £40 million to support recovery this year. My predecessor also wrote to the UK Government about the consequences of the delays affecting the recruitment and training of potential drivers, which continues to be a concern for the bus industry.

I know that the majority of bus services in Scotland are operated on a commercial basis by private bus companies. But I would strongly encourage operators and local authorities to work together to ensure that connectivity is protected and maintained.

Many local authorities across Scotland already discourage smoking near children’s play areas and near schools. We are currently refreshing our Tobacco Action Plan and considering, among other initiatives, the introduction of nationwide bans on smoking in these areas and will learn from experiences in countries like Wales, where this has already been implemented .

We are currently refreshing our Tobacco Action Plan and considering a range of evidence-based interventions. One of the actions we are considering within the next Tobacco Action Plan is to introduce more ‘SmokeFree’ spaces. This could include beaches, amusement parks, playgrounds, hospitality venues etc. The addition of these measures, would not only reduce the prevalence of the use of tobacco products in these areas, but would also reduce the visibility, and impact of single-use plastics such as cigarette butts on the environment.

The Scottish Government are also currently running a call for evidence on single-use food containers and other single-use items, including single-use plastic tobacco filters. This call for evidence will be used to gather evidence on a selection of single-use items used in Scotland to aid future decision making on actions that could be taken to reduce the impact they have on the Scottish environment.

The Scottish Government/COSLA See Hear strategy expresses the Scottish Government’s commitment to supporting children and adults who have sight loss/visual impairment, deafness and dual sensory loss to access the services and social care they need. The strategy presents a framework for actions which includes emphasis on children and young people with a sensory loss receiving appropriate and timely intervention in the early years and for as long as is required.

The Visual Impairment Network for Children and Young People (VINCYP) aims to improve the care for children and young people with a visual impairment. VINCYP involves professionals working in local authorities (education and social work), health, parents/carers of children and young people with a visual impairment and voluntary sector organisations, and has local implementation groups in addition to the national network.

VINCYP has developed a Pathway of Care and related standards, self-assessment frameworks and good practice guidelines to ensure that children and young people with a visual impairment are provided with effective support as early as possible.

VINCYP does not provide Visual Impairment (VI) services in Scotland and has no role in the outsourcing of services. The VINCYP pathway and standards highlight the services which are required for children and young people with VI and their families in each local authority area. VINCYP could offer specialist advice for local authority commissioners on service specifications for outsourcing services, but cannot offer advice on particular providers.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 requires education authorities to identify, provide for, and review the additional support needs of their pupils. This includes support for children and young people with visual impairments. Other agencies, health and social work services can be asked to help identify needs and provide support under the Act. The statutory code of practice sets out guidance for authorities and partners on the requirements of the Act.

The Scottish Government also funds the Scottish Sensory Centre and CALL Scotland to provide advice and training to school staff on support, including the use of assistive technology, for children and young people with specific communication and sensory needs.

There is no formal definition of an NDA and the government does not hold central records of NDAs. In an employment context where a settlement agreement is entered into to resolve an employment dispute, a confidentiality clause may be inserted following prescribed guidance on information sharing. This guidance is clear that the use of a settlement agreement cannot prevent Audit Scotland from carrying out their oversight and scrutiny functions.