Chamber and committees

The need for a review of the merits of a specific offence of pet theft is written into the recently enacted Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020, to be completed no later than 1 st April 2025. It is the Scottish Government’s intention to review the issue of pet theft in due course as part of the wider review of animal health, welfare and wildlife legislation required by the Act.

Since the Scottish National Investment Bank opened for business in November 2020 it has invested £55.5 million in line with its strategic missions. Details of the each of the Bank’s investments are published on the Bank’s ‘Our Portfolio’ page: https://www.thebank.scot/our-portfolio/ .

Statistics providing a breakdown of those appointed to regulated public body Boards as requested can be found within the Ethical Standards Commissioner Report on Public Appointments 2019 – 20. [ ESC Annual Report on Public Appointments 2019-20.pdf]

Currently 51.7% of all regulated public appointments are held by women. Of these 39% of Chair roles are held by women, an increase from 29.4% in 2019.

The daily fee for a Board Chair attracts a higher rate of remuneration in recognition of the additional responsibilities placed upon them. The Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 sets a ‘gender representation objective’ for listed public authorities that 50% of its non-executive members are women. The Scottish Government is committed to improving gender equality on public boards and the 2018 Act also requires public boards take steps to encourage women to apply for board vacancies including Board Chair roles. The Scottish Government are also taking steps towards closing the gender pay gap through the Gender Pay Gap Action Plan.

Full details of the projects funded through the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund in 2020-21 can be found on the VisitScotland website.

Rural Development Fund - Funding | VisitScotland.org .

Throughout the pandemic the Scottish Government has, where possible, stepped in to help businesses and premises based travel-agents have benefited from a range of support packages including:

• Small Business Support Grant or Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Support Grant (March 2020)
• Strategic Framework Business Fund (November 2020 – March 2021)
• SFBF retail top up (January 2021)
• Strategic Framework Business Fund Transition Payment and Business Restart Grant (April 2021)
• Non-Domestic Rates Relief for the 2020-21 and 21-22 Financial Years.

This is in addition to the Scottish Government’s £5.3 million Travels Agents Support Fund (announced December 2020 as part of a £185 million package of business support) and the Contingency Plus Fund which offered additional funding to Travel Agents, Breweries and Indoor Football Centres in recognition of the specific challenges that businesses operating in these sectors experienced as a result of COVID-19 restrictions and regulations. The Contingency Plus Fund closed on 31 March 2021 and as at 25 June 2021, £3.6 million had been paid to 223 Travel Agent businesses who met the eligibility criteria.

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 .

Social Security Scotland has been proactively promoting Scottish Child Payment by writing to those eligible on Universal Credit and HMRC tax credit databases to invite them to apply. Social Security Scotland also continue to work closely with public sector services and third sector organisations to reach out to families. This includes information in the baby box, NHS midwife and health visitor packs, nurseries and schools, food banks and other family support and welfare advice groups.

To drive take up of Scottish Child Payment further, as well as Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods, we launched a Five Family Payments campaign in March 2021, which will continue throughout this financial year, and targets parents through TV, radio, online adverts and social media.

Using the latest available forecasts published by the Scottish Fiscal Commission in January 2021 1 , it is estimated that 163,000 children are eligible for Scottish Child Payment in 2021-22.

Social Security Scotland publish official statistics on the number of applications they have received, processed and the number of children who have benefited from Scottish Child Payment. The latest statistics published in May 2021 2 cover the period from 9 November 2020 to 31 March 2021. The next publication, covering up to 30 June 2021, will be released on 31 August 2021.

1 Scottish Fiscal Commission (January 2021) Scotland’sEconomic and Fiscal Forecasts. Available at https://www.fiscalcommission.scot/publications/scotlands-economic-and-fiscal-forecasts-january-2021/ .

2 Social Security Scotland (May 2021) Scottish Child Payment: high level statistics to 31 March 2021. Available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-child-payment-high-level-statistics-on-applications-to-31-march-2021/ .

Last year due to restrictions on international travel we saw an increased number of visitors and campers to the countryside. With restrictions ongoing, for this year only, we are supporting local authorities, National Parks and communities with an additional £2.75M to put in place temporary solutions for 2021, such as additional ranger posts, temporary car parks and toilets.

Our primary method in supporting sustainable tourism in rural areas remains the Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund which was doubled to £6.2M this year, bringing our total investment to £15M. This has supported the development of car parks, toilets and motorhome waste facilities at some of Scotland’s most popular rural areas.

The Scottish Government is committed to investing £500M in our natural economy over the course of this Parliament to help tackle the biodiversity crisis. We will work with NatureScot, the National Parks, and local authorities to determine where our funding can have the most positive effect and deliver the best value for money.

The Scottish Government recognises the dangers of drug and alcohol misuse and the importance of supporting practitioners to develop and deliver appropriate lessons for children and young people on this subject.

The Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) empowers individual schools and teachers to develop and deliver a curriculum informed by, and relevant to, the local needs of learners. To support schools in the delivery of effective learning on the topic of drug and alcohol misuse, Education Scotland have provided a number of resources accessible through the National Improvement Hub.

Such resources include learning activities on drugs and alcohol which are aimed at supporting practitioners to develop relevant lessons; such as: “Decision making about illegal substances” and “The effects of drinking alcohol” : Each learning activity is directly linked to the experiences and outcomes set out in the health and wellbeing area of the curriculum.

As well as support being available to support teachers to deliver lessons on drug and alcohol misuse, there are a number of initiatives aimed directly at children and young people to help them be better informed and make better choices. Such resources include Young Scot’s “Choices for Life” ; an online resource hosted by Young Scot which signposts children and young people to relevant and appropriate information online.