Chamber and committees

Asylum and immigration are matters reserved to the UK Parliament. This includes the operation of the UK asylum system and immigration detention.

An effective system to monitor the impact of the asylum system or immigration detention on people’s wellbeing would require access to personal data and information about people seeking asylum or in immigration detention. This data is held by the Home Office, and the Scottish Government does not have access to it.

Many third sector organisations have direct knowledge of the negative impact the asylum system can have on people’s welfare, through their work supporting people within communities. The complexity of the asylum system, the low level of support provided by the Home Office and the continuing uncertainty of waiting for a decision are often combined with previous trauma and vulnerabilities. Evidence from the third sector, and people with lived experience, indicates that the asylum process itself can be re-traumatising.

The Scottish Government, Scottish Forestry and NatureScot have worked with a range of partners to support and develop the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project, including Scottish Land & Estates, RSPB Scotland, and The Southern Uplands Partnership and Scottish Power Renewables.

The Scottish Government has provided grant funding of £146,367.49 to the Project under the LEADER 2014-2020 Programme and £36,988 towards the satellite tracking of the golden eagles. NatureScot has also provided £43,300 funding and is actively involved in supporting all elements of the project work. The project has funding in place until Autumn 2023.

Other sources of public funding include:

Scottish Forestry (FCS)   £32,000

South of Scotland Enterprise £31,300

Scottish Borders Council £1,000

Community ownership is an important aim of the Scottish Government, where there are numerous examples of communities thriving after being given the opportunity to own and manage their own assets. This leads to better local outcomes, which focus on local needs.

The proposed community buyout of a portion of Langholm Moor, by The Langholm Initiative is an ambitious project. The group intend to use the land to regenerate the landscape and revitalise the local community through the creation of a nature reserve which will boost local tourism, providing new employment, training and housing opportunities for the local community.

The project is an example of what communities are capable of, given the right support, which is why the Scottish Government, through the Scottish Land Fund, has already awarded the community group a grant of £1m.

NHS Boards regularly assess continence patients' needs, with the assessments undertaken by dedicated Bladder and Bowel Teams or community nursing staff. This ensures that patients' needs are met, either through treatment or through provision of appropriate containment products. Referrals can also be made by patients' GPs where necessary, and also by a range of other healthcare professionals including pharmacists, consultants and care home staff.

Where a patient has been assessed as requiring continence products, they are provided by their local NHS Board's continence service on prescription.

Scottish Government is aware that NHS Dumfries & Galloway has experienced challenges with the delivery of GP services in Dumfries & Galloway including Lockerbie and Moffat.

NHS Dumfries & Galloway is working with the new contractors in Lockerbie and Moffat to stabilise and improve GP services there.

I reaffirm the answer provided in S6T-00784 on 14 June 2022. Specifically, that local decisions are taken by headteachers in an empowered education system. We trust schools and headteachers to know their pupils best, and to take decisions that are in the best interests of their children and young people.

Where there are projects involving Police Scotland in place, schools find these to be of great benefit. They are highly engaged in proactive and preventative work in communities with families – working alongside Social Work and third sector organisations.

All answers to Topical Questions are available on the Parliament's website at the following link: Meeting of the Parliament: 14/06/2022 | Scottish Parliament Website

I reaffirm the answer provided in S6T-00784 on 14 June 2022. Specifically, in the small number of areas where there are projects involving Police Scotland in place, schools indicate that they find these to be of great benefit.

The Scottish Government has had no specific discussions about this issue with these local authorities. It is for headteachers, who know their children best, to decide on how to invest their Pupil Equity Funding, based on their local contexts and they should work in partnership with each other, and their local authority, to agree the use of the funding.

The Scottish Government’s super sponsor scheme was introduced on 18 March 2022, to offer sanctuary in Scotland to displaced people from Ukraine. It works within the UK Government’s Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme to provide a fast and safe alternative to private sponsorship.

Statistics published by the UK Government show that, as at 11 August, 10,056 people sponsored by the Scottish Government had travelled to Scotland. We continue to provide safe and secure temporary accommodation to all Ukrainians who need it on arrival.

This includes the MS Victoria I passenger ship, which has been docked in Edinburgh, which is providing temporary accommodation for 1,000 people from Ukraine. There has been positive reception from those families accommodated on board and from stakeholders.

There are nearly 36,000 Super Sponsor applications that have been made, of which nearly 30,000 have been approved for a visa so far. Not everyone will choose to use their visa. However, excluding the 10,000 who have already arrived so far this means around a further 20,000 visa holders could potentially arrive.

Therefore the Scottish Government has chartered a second passenger ship which will be located in Glasgow. We expect the ship to be operational in September, and it will provide up to a further 1750 people with the same level of facilities and support currently available to those in Edinburgh.

This is a humanitarian crisis requiring a whole of Scotland response, and the Scottish Government will continue to work closely with local councils and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to ensure that those displaced people who are already here, and those who have applied and are granted permission to travel, will be safe, secure and supported for as long as they need, after the dangers they have faced at home.

We are getting very close to capacity for the temporary accommodation currently available, particularly across the Central Belt. We do not want people having to stay in temporary accommodation for any longer than is necessary. We are therefore putting every effort into helping people find longer-term accommodation in communities across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling all forms of antisocial behaviour and recognises that this can blight people’s lives. Our national strategy is based on prevention, early intervention and diversionary activities. We recognise that no single approach will tackle all antisocial behaviour. That is why we support a suite of activities which includes Antisocial Behaviour Orders and Fixed Penalty Notices.

There is no Scottish legislation equivalent to Section 59 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 that conveys specific power to local authorities to make public spaces protection orders to help address any noisy behaviour in public spaces.

However, the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, supported by Scottish Government guidance, helps ensure that local authorities and Police Scotland have a robust range of powers and tools allowing them to proportionately address such issues as they arise in their areas and provides a wide range of measures for dealing with all forms of antisocial behaviour.