Chamber and committees

The Stirling Renewable Heat Demonstration Project cost £5,124,000. The Scottish Government provided £2,005,331 through the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme. The work was completed in August 2019.

The district heating network serves a number of buildings in Stirling, including St. Modan’s High School, Forthbank Stadium and Conference Facilities, the Peak Leisure Centre, the Robertson Trust Barracks Development, Jubilee House (owned by Volunteer Scotland) and Moray House.

The project brings several benefits to Stirling, including:

• a 10% savings to end users compared to their heating costs using traditional boilers;
• reduction in associated operational costs, including servicing and boiler replacement;
• income generation to Stirling Council over 40 years;
• wider community benefits include local job creation, upskilling and regeneration of the local area.

The Stirling Renewable Heat Demonstration Project has scope for expansion, including to future proposed development at the Public Sector Innovation Hub and Heritage Hub.

The Individual Training Accounts (ITAs) replaced the Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) and were launched in October 2017. Since their launch in 2017 the following numbers of individuals have received funding and training through the scheme:

Following the successful conclusion of stage 3 of Parliament’s consideration of the Bill, the Government will now take steps to put in place a scheme in which it will specify a cut-off date. There is no requirement under the Bill, however, for surgery to have taken place before the date that will be specified, only that the mesh removal surgery must have been arranged by that date. The Bill mandates that the date specified in the scheme must not be a date earlier than that of Royal Assent.

Letters of Guidance are issued by the Scottish Government to its public bodies annually. The letters set clear Ministerial expectations on our priorities for the year ahead.

The letters to both Skills Development Scotland and to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) will have a clear emphasis on the need for shared working on skills planning; recognising the commitment as set out in the Scottish Government’s response to the SFC Review of Coherence and Sustainability to build capacity and a more systematic approach to the way we collectively plan coherent tertiary education and skills provision and investment, so that it responds better to current and future needs. The Letters of Guidance will draw on the Shared Outcomes Framework that is currently being developed and which will set out clearly the intent for collaborative projects, connected to the National Performance Framework and the National Strategy for Economic Transformation priorities, and include milestones, objectives, impacts and measures for each of these projects.

We expect that the letters will be issued in Spring 2022 once the budget for 2022-23 has been approved by parliament.

The measures that the Parole Board had to take in response to COVID, to ensure the safe working of staff and others, meant that it has not been feasible to facilitate arrangements for a victim to observe a Tribunal. The Parole Board rules require proceedings to be kept confidential which means that a member of staff needs to be present, with the victim observing by video link.

The Parole Board has however, used this time to put in place the mechanisms needed to allow this to happen when it is safe to do so. In light of the relaxation of the working from home guidelines from 1 February 2022, the Parole Board has indicated that it will now begin to consider requests to observe hearings, with a view to testing first before moving to full implementation in the Spring. Granting of requests to view a Tribunal is a matter for the independent Parole Board following consideration of representations from the prisoner.

I meet jointly with the Chairs and Chief Executives of both agencies to discuss progress in collaborative working on skills every 6 weeks.

This is supported by an assurance group, chaired by Senior Civil Servants and including the Senior Responsible Officers for all collaborative skills projects.

A Shared Outcomes Framework that defines the collaborative projects, sets out strategic objectives, key milestones, deliverables, impacts and measures is currently being developed by the Scottish Government and both agencies to enable more effective monitoring and reporting of joint action in this area .

The provision of Health and Wellbeing services, for the police workforce, is a matter for the Chief Constable.

Police officers and staff can access a range of services to care for their physical and mental health through Police Scotland's “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme. This includes the signposting of services by ‘Wellbeing Champions’ and the programme has resulted in a raised awareness of the services available, such as occupational health and employee assistance, which offer counselling, and specific interactions through the Trauma Risk Management programme (TRiM).

Portfolio responsibility for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) lies with me as Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity.

In line with the principle of extended producer responsibility and the polluter pays principle, the work to deliver DRS is being led and paid for by industry, in particular the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL). I meet with CSL on a monthly basis to ensure that the agreed implementation timetable is maintained.

The provision of Health and Wellbeing services, for the police workforce, is a matter for the Chief Constable.

Police officers and staff can access a range of services to care for their physical and mental health through Police Scotland's “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme. This includes the signposting of services by ‘Wellbeing Champions’ and the programme has resulted in a raised awareness of the services available, such as occupational health and employee assistance, which offer counselling, and specific interactions through the Trauma Risk Management programme (TRiM).

The information requested is not held centrally. Any financial support provided to the Police Treatment Centres, by Police Scotland, is a matter for the Chief Constable and the Scottish Police Authority.