Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01456 on 11 August 2021. In addition, the Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme has been costed using the best available data including feedback from dairy suppliers and an uplift was applied to the funding model to take account of uncertainties such as market variation and potential sensitivities around milk supply in rural Scotland.

Through the Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme we aim to embed the habit of regular consumption of high-quality dairy produce and fruit and vegetables from an early age. The Scottish Government will use Year 1 to gather and review evidence, including via an implementation group consisting of key partners, to ensure the Scheme is meeting policy objectives. Should evidence suggest otherwise, we will consider whether action is required as we look ahead to Year 2 and beyond.

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 .

We believe that including relevant and proportionate community benefit requirements in public contracts is beneficial and encourages suppliers to deliver wider social benefits.

While there is room for innovation in the delivery of community benefits, our policy, as stated in the statutory guidance underpinning the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, is that requirements should be robust, relevant and proportionate so that they can be judged on objective and measurable outcomes.

In our recent policy note on measuring social impact in public procurement, we encourage public bodies to engage with communities to understand local priorities so that they can achieve targeted social outcomes through their procurement.

Following the UK’s exit from the EU on 31 December 2020, the EU State aid regime was effectively revoked from UK law from 1 January 2021 and therefore ceased to apply in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Scottish Government continue to work under the interim Subsidy Control regime introduced by the UK Government on 1 January 2021 and provisions held within the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Alongside this, consideration has to be given to any further UK Subsidy Control obligations such as World Trade Organisation membership and commitments arising from international treaties and Fair Trade Agreements to which the United Kingdom is a party. However, our preference is to continue to align with EU State aid rules as a safe harbour for interventions and to help facilitate any future accession arrangements.

Scottish Government has regularly engaged with public bodies prior to the UK’s exit from the EU and from 1 January 2021 to keep them abreast of Subsidy Control requirements, issuing technical guidance and information received via colleagues in UK Government. This is an ongoing process.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data. However, information is published annually in the Standards of Service for Victims and Witnesses Annual Report. For the past three years where information is available the number of in-person representations that were made is as follows:

2020-2021* 16

2019-2020* 27

2018-2019 18

*Due to Covid restrictions some meetings have been held remotely.

The Scottish Government has committed to dedicate £100 million funding, of the £180 million Emerging Energy Technologies Fund, to accelerate the development of the hydrogen economy in Scotland over the next five years and support the realisation of our ambition for 5GW installed hydrogen production capacity by 2030. More details on the proposed design and scope of the Fund will be published alongside the Hydrogen Action Plan later this year.

The Private Rented Sector Landlord (PRSL) Loan was launched in April 2020. The following table shows the total number of applications received, the total number of offers made and the total number of expired offers. These figures represent the total number from launch to the end of June 2021, and relate to the location of the applicant.

The Scottish Government and relevant agencies have, to date, spent £885,000 on transport planning, venue, communications and marketing in preparations for COP26. Scottish Ministers have made clear their expectation that all additional operational costs, such as transport planning, will be borne by the UK Government.

The Private Rented Sector Landlord (PRSL) Loan was launched in April 2020. The following table shows the total number of applications received, the total number of offers made and the total number of expired offers. These figures represent the total number from launch to the end of June 2021, and relate to the location of the applicant.

The completion rate for Community Payback Orders (CPOs) has generally been around 70% over the last seven years. This is consistently higher than for the orders they replaced.

There are a range of factors which can influence the likelihood that an order will be successfully completed. In particular, outcomes are likely to be influenced by the nature of the offending behaviour and individuals’ underlying risks and needs. The proportion of orders with an offender supervision requirement rose to 62% in 2019-20, the highest level in the last five years. Greater use of supervision suggests that individuals have more complex and entrenched issues to address and may have greater likelihood of reoffending.

Local authorities are responsible for delivering CPOs and, notwithstanding the factors noted above, we are continuing to work with national and local partners to help ensure orders are implemented as effectively as possible, and that completion rates are as high as they can be. Specifically, effective practice and improvement is supported by:

Community Payback Order Practice Guidance for practitioners

• a programme of scrutiny and assurance work carried out by the Care Inspectorate, funded by Scottish Government
• ongoing training and support from national partners, including Community Justice Scotland, Social Work Scotland, and Scottish Government
• analysis of statistics which are disaggregated by local authority areas, practice support groups organised by Social Work Scotland, area based CPO annual reports and an annual CPO report prepared by Community Justice Scotland

In addition, the Scottish Government has protected record levels of funding with up to £106 million allocated in 2020-21 to local authorities for the delivery of justice social work services. An additional £11.8 million has been provided this year to support justice social work recovery relating to the impact of coronavirus, which had a significant impact on the delivery of CPOs.

The offences related to 'Finn’s law' would be reported under Section 19 (1) of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

No such charges relating to attacks on service animals have been reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service since the introduction of the Act, which received Royal Assent on 21st July 2020. Therefore there have been no convictions to date.