Chamber and committees

Trade unions are key partners in delivering our economic and social aspirations.

We will continue to promote strong trade unions and collective bargaining arrangements in all sectors, including the renewable energy sector. We have made a clear commitment to promote collective bargaining through the inclusion of an employee voice indicator, measured by collective bargaining coverage, within the National Performance Framework.

From January 2022 to September 2022 the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund has committed grant support for the retrofit of 330 social housing properties across Scotland. The fund offers grant support of up to 50% of the total eligible costs of the project. Projects in the South Scotland region have been awarded an average grant of £5,668 per property.

In this government’s first 100 days, we established six pilot schemes to provide free bikes for school age children who cannot afford one. A further four pilots were then established by the end of 2021.

The official pilot period for these pilots has now concluded, and a final evaluation is being collated. We expect to receive the evaluation in early November and will be publishing it on the Transport Scotland website thereafter.

The SPCB is committed to providing an inclusive working environment for all staff throughout their working lives. Recognising the impact of period and menopause on the workforce is key to the Parliament’s commitment to an inclusive working environment.  The Parliament’s Period and Menopause Policy and supporting guidance was launched in 2019. 

The policy and guidance are in place to help create a positive culture where staff experiencing problematic periods or menopausal symptoms get the support they need to manage their symptoms at work.  Managers and MSPs, in their capacity as employers, are encouraged to create a positive workplace culture, including holding regular conversations with team members about health and wellbeing, including periods and menopause. The policy also recognises the impact on partners, families and colleagues. 

The Parliament has hosted a number of sessions for staff to provide space to discuss the impacts of the menopause and the support that can be provided to those experiencing symptoms. 

The SPCB was recognised for its efforts in 2019 and was awarded the Public Sector Award for Championing Gender Equality, with specific reference to the removal of barriers to improve the working experience and engagement with staff.

Since 2019, the Parliament has been open in sharing the journey with other organisations, also enabling us to progress our own understanding. The SPCB is currently reviewing the policy against those that were published after and is committed to engage with staff on an ongoing basis.  This review will include benchmarking against other organisations, and feedback on provisions such as period leave. 

In addition, MSPs, their staff, and SPS staff have access to a range of health and wellbeing related policies, advice and services including the Parliament’s Occupational Health Service, which can provide assessments or referral to medical specialists.  Staff can also access flexible working arrangements, including flexible working hours and time off for medical appointments.  In addition, the SPCB are extending the availability of free period products to all toilets within Holyrood.  

I am pleased to advise Parliament that the Scottish Government is continuing to deliver on its commitment to give people the information they need to make an informed choice about their future, and is today publishing A stronger economy through independence.

The third paper in the Building a New Scotland series sets out proposals for the economy of an independent Scotland and how new powers, combined with existing strengths, would give Scotland the opportunity to build a better future for everyone who lives here.

The paper describes this Government’s proposals for how an independent Scotland would improve access to flexible working and strengthen workplace rights, would use its extraordinary energy resources to build an economy based on low-cost, renewable energy and would invest in infrastructure through the Building a New Scotland Fund. It also includes information on currency, borders and fiscal sustainability.

Building a New Scotland: A stronger economy through independence is available to view on the Scottish Government website from today at www.gov.scot/newscotland .

As set out in our recent Waste Route Map consultation, Zero Waste Scotland is currently delivering a programme of household kerbside waste composition analysis, in partnership with local authorities. This is expected to be completed in 2023.

It is not possible to publish updated food waste data, or data on any other individual waste material, before the full analysis is complete.

The Scottish Government is aware of Home Office plans to issue amended immigration rules to prohibit all forms of activity within UK territorial waters or onshore by crew employed using transit visas. Following representations from the Scottish Government and others – including a letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture to the Home Secretary on 20 September - the introduction of these new rules has been postponed to spring 2023, rather than 1 November as originally planned.

Whilst that delay is welcome, the Scottish Government is clear that changes to the transit visa rules must accompanied in parallel by changes to Skilled Worker Visa provision to ensure that the latter is genuinely proportionate and accessible to all parts of the fleet, since the alternative may be an exacerbation of current labour shortages and vessel tie-ups. We are similarly clear that the Home Office must ensure that meaningful consultation and robust impact assessments are undertaken before any changes to immigration rules affecting the Scottish fishing industry are made.

In addition to continuing to submit evidence on Scotland’s unique economic and demographic needs to the Migration Advisory Committee, the Scottish Government has offered to meet the Home Office and the other Devolved Governments to identify and implement alternative arrangements that promote proportionate border security whilst also protecting the rights of non-UK workers and the ability of industry to access the labour it needs. To date that offer has not been accepted.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 places a Sustainable Procurement Duty on public bodies to consider how procurement processes can improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of their area, and facilitate the involvement of SMEs, third sector bodies and supported businesses. This might, for example, mean designing a tender in such a way as to ensure that there are no unnecessary barriers to local firms bidding.

The World Trade Organisation Agreement on Government Procurement, and other international agreements, require bidders from other countries party to those agreements to be afforded equal treatment in covered procurement exercises. It would not therefore be possible to oblige public bodies to procure from Scottish manufacturers and suppliers.

As set out in the response to S6W-08912, the Final Determination explained that the Commission would expect that its charge caps would allow Scottish Water’s annual revenue in the final year of the current regulatory control period to be no less than £1,392m (as set out in page 10 of the Final Determination). This level of revenue was based on assuming an average charge cap of 1.5% a year above inflation over the regulatory control period 2021-27.

The Final Determination set a maximum amount of charges of CPI + 2% on average for each year of the regulatory control period. As set out in the Final Determination, the difference between the CPI + 2% and the CPI + 1.5% each year on average was to cover any additional costs that Scottish Water incurs in selecting an investment option that has a higher net present value than the lowest financial cost option, after allowing for externalities such as carbon, natural and social capital. This is the allowance of £132m set out in pages 9 and 15 of the Final Determination. This money would only be used where such projects had been thoroughly appraised. The minimum revenue expectation did not take account of this allowance.

The Scottish Government and its operational partners have robust contingency plans in place, such as the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy to prevent and control outbreaks of avian influenza spreading, and have a strong track record of controlling and eliminating outbreaks of the disease.

On 17 October 2022, and in response to an increase in risk to poultry of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) linked with an escalating number of HPAI cases amongst poultry and other captive birds; the return of migratory species to their wintering grounds in the UK; and the ‘over-summering’ of the virus amongst many resident species of wild birds, the Scottish Government, along with Defra, the Welsh Government, and DAERA (Northern Ireland), acted swiftly to declare an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) across the whole of the UK. The AIPZ legally requires keepers to apply strict biosecurity measures in order to limit the spread of and eradicate the disease.

The rigorous scientific risk assessment process upon which the introduction of disease control measures, such as the AIPZ, is based includes analysis of wild bird migratory routes, dead wild bird findings, and outbreaks and strains of virus being identified across Europe, the US, and the rest of the world. The Scottish Government independently reviews these assessments in order to determine the most effective and impactful policy responses for Scotland.

When outbreaks of HPAI have been confirmed, such as that on Isle of Lewis on 12 October 2022, a 3 km Protection Zone and 10 km Surveillance Zone are declared around the infected premises. Within these zones, movement restrictions are applied on poultry, other captive birds, carcases, eggs, and a range of poultry products and associated equipment, all aimed at halting the spread of the disease. An epidemiological investigation is carried out to identify the source of the virus and any potential onward transmission routes.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the other UK administrations and its operational partners to put out communications to keepers ensuring they are aware of the risk of disease, and to promote compliance with the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone biosecurity measures.

Keepers of more than 50 poultry or other captive birds are legally required to register their flock on the GB Poultry Register. Keepers of less than 50 birds can register voluntarily and are routinely encouraged to do so. Registered keepers receive updated SMS messages providing advice and important information on avian influenza from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) on behalf of the Scottish Government.