Chamber and committees

As of 16 August 2022, 16,478 cards have been purchased. In addition, in week commencing 15 August, Glasgow City Council issued 85,000 pre-paid Scotland Loves Local cards to eligible households within the local authority in receipt of Council Tax Reduction as at 1 June 2022. Five other local authorities, which have indicated they will also issue pre-paid cards, have yet to confirm their proposals for distribution.

The Scottish Government has a precautionary approach to vaping products. Vapes and other nicotine products are part of a range of cessation tools available to existing smokers to help stop tobacco use. They should not be used by non-smokers, in particular by children and young people. They should not been used or promoted as a lifestyle accessory.

Our recent vaping consultation, which closed at the end of April, sought views on tightening rules on advertising and promoting vaping products. The results of this consultation will be published soon and will inform our Tobacco Action Plan refresh.

We are working with a range of stakeholders to ensure that our Tobacco Action Plan discourages and reduces the use and visibility of vaping products by all non-smokers, including children and young people.

The Scottish Government's priority is to provide safe, comfortable accommodation and a wraparound support offer to the displaced people from Ukraine who have arrived in Scotland, and to those who may still arrive.

The MS Victoria I has a total of 305 Sea View Cabins and 434 inside cabins. Whilst on cruise ships some cabins have no windows we are working with our partners to address any additional wellbeing risks when living in this type of accommodation.

The MS Victoria I has been well received by people on board, and is ensuring we are providing accommodation that is safe and sustainable whilst we match people with suitable longer term accommodation.

Under the current constitutional arrangements in the United Kingdom immigration, including data related to arrivals, is fully reserved to the UK Government and is dealt with by the Home Office.

The UK Government published quarterly immigration statistics here: Immigration statistics, year ending June 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Scottish Government do not currently correlate the visa routes and homelessness status regarding displaced individuals from Ukraine or Afghanistan.

I can confirm that this legislative commitment will be delivered. From 1 August 2023, if a parent of a child that is still 4 years old on the date they are eligible to start school (i.e. children with birth dates on or between the day after the school commencement date in August – last day in February) defers their entry to school for a year, they can automatically access an additional year of funded early learning and childcare.

In line with Scottish Government requirements for financial management and due diligence with public funds, our partners draw down funds once they have determined their requirements based on number of awards confirmed and projected awards to be made. Although, partners are encouraged to claim funds in each quarter, there is flexibility for the funds to be claimed by our partners. Although the Scottish Government is not in a position to provide a running total on how much is actually being spent, we are aware through our engagement with our partners that people are being referred for support right now and are receiving it, with our delivery partners experiencing high levels of demand.

To assist those worst affected by the rise in energy prices, we have allocated a further £10 million to keep our Fuel Insecurity Fund (FIF) operating in the current financial year. The FIF continues to be delivered via our third sector partners, namely the Fuel Bank Foundation, Advice Direct Scotland and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.

Funding split as follows:-

• Advice Direct Scotland - Home Heating Fund - £4.0m;
• Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) - Social Tenants Housing Fund - £2.1m;
• Fuel Bank Foundation - £3.9m for projects to provide crisis support through its dedicated networks and unregulated fuel support provision

Since the start of the current financial year in April, £2 million has already been drawn down from the £10 million allocated. A request for a further £2.1m from our partner organisation is in the process of being paid out by officials. We expect funds to be drawn down in full throughout this financial year.

The multi-stakeholder task group continues to meet on a regular basis and is making good progress towards the development of a national strategy for 20 mph speed limits which incorporates the 2021 Programme for Government commitment “We will ensure all appropriate roads in built-up areas have a safer speed limit of 20 mph by 2025, forming a task group to plan the most effective route for implementation”.

Transport Scotland formed sub groups to develop the place criteria for 20 mph speed limits and research the development of pre and post communication plans to support behaviour change. Funding has been allocated to assist road authorities in carrying out road assessments on their network which is expected to be complete by Spring 2023. This is a key milestone agreed at the task group, noting that further consideration and evidence was needed on the number of roads affected and the financial implications before an informed decision on the most effective route to implement 20 mph speed limits can be reached. Transport Scotland has also been discussing the possibility of some roads authorities becoming early adopters of 20 mph speed limits to make progress on the delivery of the national strategy.

The number of passenger complaints received by ScotRail, through their official complaints process, is set out on the following table for the period 1 July to 31 July 2022. The complaints may involve incidents that occurred before 1 July 2022.

The figure for 1 July to 31 July 2022 is 1192. This complaints figure is likely to reflect the point in time when several services were impacted due to driver shortages and the subsequent reduction in services as a result of the temporary timetable in place from 23 May to 20 July 2022. In this period there was also a GB-wide strike by Network Rail staff on 27 July which significantly impacted services in Scotland, with ScotRail only able to run a very limited service as a result.

The temporary timetable that was in place until 20 July 2022 aimed to provide the best available service to as many passengers as possible.

Complaints from staff are not included in figures due to these being customer relation figures. However, ScotRail do have a system in place to record staff grievances within their HR team.

The responsibility for dealing with nuisance gulls on private property lies with the property owner, although local authorities can provide advice and assistance, and have powers under environmental protection legislation to tackle nuisances.

Local authorities are expected to respond to statutory nuisance complaints on council owned property, such as where the deposit of bird droppings may have an effect on public health.

Transport Scotland has recently undertaken a significant engagement exercise with local authorities, in partnership with the Improvement Service and National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). This has allowed us to assess offline application processes, including capacity and uptake of applications through schools, and we have provided additional support to facilitate this where it has been requested.

We have provided a communications toolkit and promotional materials to local authorities, schools, further education bodies and a wide range of other stakeholders. Engagement has been positive with the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, Universities Scotland, Colleges Scotland, and others, who have aided in the promotion of the scheme to students through college and university networks.

Transport Scotland also launched freebus.scot in May to help improve communications about the scheme, simplify information about the application process, emphasise the benefits of the scheme, provide tips for safe travel and, ultimately, increase uptake across Scotland.