Chamber and committees

Through our £1 million partnership with the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF) we have begun to support communities to address the impacts of loss and damage in Bangladesh, the Pacific Region and Malawi. This includes supporting the rights and needs of climate-forced displaced people, as well as helping families make more informed decisions about migration as a means to diversify livelihoods. Separate to the CJRF funding, the Scottish Government is also providing £500,000 to support communities in Malawi facing losses and damages resulting from recent tropical storms. The Scottish Government is funding research on needs assessments and case studies as part of our commitment to build evidence around how to most effectively address loss and damage.

The First Minister and I will be hosting a conference in October [11 & 12] in partnership with the High Level Champions and Global Resilience Partnership, which will explore how we can mobilise finance, drive solutions and develop best practice for addressing losses and damages. We hope to demystify how to fund loss and damage by establishing clear routes to action with the outputs of the conference synthesised into a report launch at COP27.

Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. The Scottish Government does not have access to Home Office systems or hold data on individuals who are in the asylum system or who hold refugee status, which could be used to identify how many people who arrived before 24 February 2022 are living in temporary accommodation.

As announced in the Programme for Government on 6 September, the Scottish government made a commitment that ScotRail fares will not increase before March 2023. The Scottish Government is clearly aware that any RPI linked fares rise would hit hard-pressed passengers in the pocket at a time when the cost of living crisis is at its height, and potentially turn them away from rail at a time when we should be encouraging them back.

The Scottish government supports calls for simplification of the current rail fares system and we will be exploring what we might be able to do with the powers the Scottish Government has to make fares easier for all, including through the Fair Fares Review.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to undertake a consultation on the introduction or piloting of bans or other restrictions on Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) over 7.5t in weight from overtaking on Scottish trunk roads.

Green ports have great potential to contribute towards the Scottish government’s decarbonisation agenda and net zero ambition.

Applicants were required to outline how their proposals will ensure compliance with all applicable environmental regulations and standards and any additional assessment of impacts on protected sites and species including mitigation.

Following designation, the requirement for a robust, action-focused decarbonisation plan will ensure that the port operators and businesses in the green ports will make a significant practical contribution to reducing emissions and facilitating decarbonisation of the green port.

The Scottish Government has regular and ongoing engagement with COSLA which includes discussing housing needs for Ukrainian displaced people in Scotland and funding support.

Most recently a meeting with senior leaders and officials from Scottish Government, COSLA and partners took place on 30 September to discuss next steps on our review of the Super Sponsor scheme.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11199 on 4 October 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government operates 3 Marine Protection Vessels (MPVs) and 2 inshore protection craft. These are tasked on a risk basis within Scottish waters, and monitor compliance with relevant marine legislation including Marine Protected Areas.

The latest information held by the Scottish Government on these type of payments relates to 31 March 2021. The impact of the current inflation rate will be reflected within our next annual data update exercises which are planned to be undertaken later in the year.

The latest payment information relating to Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) contracts is available from the Scottish Government website by way of the following link www.gov.scot under ‘NPD/hub programme’ and ‘NPD projects pre-November 2010’. The majority of the NPD/hub programme payments, including those relating to original construction costs and financing costs, are not indexed linked, making them less sensitive to increased inflation rates.

In some of the earlier PFI contracts, especially within the health sector, up to 100% of the annual payment was indexed linked meaning that payments therefore can increase with inflation each year. The latest payment information collated by the Scottish Government relating to PFI contracts as at 31 March 2021 has not yet been published by HM Treasury. The associated information relating to this from 2023-24 onwards is however included within the following tables.

Estimated PFI Unitary Charge Payments 2023-24 to 2027-28

The Women’s Health Plan recognises that it is important all women know about the menopause, including perimenopause, and have access to consistent information and care when they seek help with menopause symptoms.

The Scottish Government launched a menopause resource on the NHS Inform Women’s Health Platform in October 2021 to ensure women have access to information on menopause, including the signs and symptoms of perimenopause. The resource includes 11 videos including common myths around the menopause, and personal stories. The resource is accessible in five language translations and an Easy Read version of the content. A British Sign Language translation will be available very shortly.

In addition, a series of webinars on menopause have been taking place in partnership with the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland. Webinars aimed at women and people who experience menopause have been held on menopause myth busting and menopause and the workplace with a third planned for October on menopause and sexual wellbeing. In August 2022, a webinar on menopause and the workplace aimed at employers was also held by Close the Gap, an organisation which seeks to address the causes of women's inequality at work.

One of the key aims in the Women’s Health Plan is to ensure that all women will have access to a healthcare professional with an interest in menopause through primary care, and that in the longer term, we build a basic understanding of menopause, including perimenopause, amongst all healthcare professionals.

The Scottish Government has recently commissioned NHS Education for Scotland to create a bespoke training package and framework focussed on menopause, including perimenopause, and menstrual health for GPs and others working in Primary Care.