Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is aware of the potential for workforce issues to arise within NHS podiatry services. The Government is currently gathering data to support information from a range of sources. Early findings suggest the possible requirement to increase the education and training routes available for professional and support roles to offset future retirements and to allow expansion and development of innovative delivery models. These issues will be examined in more detail in the current AHP Education Review.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02355 on‎ 13 September 2021. 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 continues to support investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, both for plug-in battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Across a range of programmes, we have invested £90 million in infrastructure related to battery electric vehicles and over £12 million in hydrogen electric transport projects.

Investment in public charging infrastructure has enabled the development of the ChargePlace Scotland network, now one of the largest in the UK. Investment has also included schemes to support installation of business and domestic electric car chargers, infrastructure to enable decarbonisation of light and heavy vehicles in the public sector, and decarbonisation of buses used for public transport.

The Scottish Government has also committed £50 million towards the Scottish Zero-Emission Bus Challenge Fund, (ScotZEB) which is currently open for bids until 04 November 2021. This £50 million is allocated to both vehicles and infrastructure on a whole-project basis.

Future funding programmes have yet to be determined but the Scottish Government Infrastructure Investment Plan published in February 2021 committed to £120m investment for net zero electric buses and £287m from the Future Transport Fund to support a range of low and zero carbon transport initiatives between 21-22 and
‎ 25-26.

Please note that the answer above reflects spending across distinct Scottish Government programmes for which we are able to determine spend. Investment will also occur across portfolios as part of business as usual activity.

We know how important agri-environment support is to farmers and crofters in helping them to deliver a wide range of environmental measures. That is why we have prioritised agri-environment support in the face of significant cuts to the budget resulting from the UK Government reneging on public commitments that farmers and crofters would not be worse off as a result of leaving the EU.

The latest application round of the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme closed at the end of June, decisions on approvals will be made by the end of 2021 and this will build on the £214 million of support committed to since 2015.

The farmer led groups also considered biodiversity and environmental outcomes and the recently announced Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board will carefully consider these recommendations, and those from other reports such as Farming for 1.5, as they contribute to our work to implement policy reform. We are also working closely with NatureScot on their pilot programme on a range of approaches, including a farmer-led outcomes based approach to inform what rural support could look like after CAP.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring Covid testing is as accessible as possible and we have put in place a number of initiatives to encourage the use of lateral flow tests for routine asymptomatic testing. Our communication campaign recommends that members of the public use the lateral flow tests to test themselves twice a week. Our aim is to ensure that lateral flow tests are widely available and accessible to anyone who wants to use them. A target would not be helpful to deliver this.

As stated previously, the Scottish Government has used a number of approaches to promote regular testing; this includes targeted campaigns and guidance on how to access test supplies and the introduction of Pharmacy Collect. We will continue to develop campaigns to promote the importance of regular testing in preventing the transmission of Covid-19.

The file including consultancy requirements for the independent review has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under BIB number 62666.

The contract between Transport Scotland and the appointed consultant, Ernst & Young, is valued at £156 000 exclusive of VAT.

The Scottish Government has no current plans to introduce any new targets for waiting times for community mental health support over and above those already in place for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and psychological therapy.

In February we announced an additional £120 million for a Recovery & Renewal Fund to ensure the delivery of the commitments set out in the Mental Health Transition & Recovery Plan. The Fund will support the development of an integrated culture of mental wellbeing and prevention within local communities and across Scotland, and promote the capacity and role of third sector organisations to deliver this.

We are committed to improving access to community mental health and wellbeing support. This year we have provided local authorities with an additional £15 Million to fund over 200 new and enhanced supports and services for children and young people.

These services are guided by a Framework, developed by the Scottish Government and COSLA chaired Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme Board, and now overseen by the Joint Delivery Board.

A key part of the Framework is to ensure access to services is as easy as possible so children, young people and their families get the right support at the right time without delay.

Community supports and services should work closely with CAMHS and relevant health and social care partners, children’s services and educational establishments to ensure that there are clear and streamlined pathways to support. Services should also be accessible via self-referral, and the hours of operation not solely 9-5 or weekdays.

The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board are currently evaluating the impact of these community mental health services.

Charges for National Qualifications have remained unchanged since 2012-13 despite changes in costs. While charges contribute towards the cost of awarding National Qualifications they do not cover the full costs. In addition, 2020 and 2021 late entry fees have been waived and there have been no charges for appeals. There are therefore no plans to reimburse National Qualifications payments.

For 2021, SQA estimates that the costs of providing certification for national qualifications was £41.7m, while income from local authorities, colleges and independent schools is expected to be £30.5m. The remaining cost is covered by SQA’s grant in aid budget from the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all school-aged children and young people in Scotland are provided with a digital device by the end of this parliament.

Since 2016 - which is when a specific food waste support programme came in - up to April 2021, approx. £1.23 million has been spent.

Table 1 also provides a breakdown of Scottish Government’s advertising spend targeted at food waste prevention and reduction since 2013.