Chamber and committees

The total cost of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People and Young Persons is £223,097,800.

This cost is for financial year 2020-21, and includes free bus and ferry travel and the Covid-19 Support Grant payments for the Older and Disabled People scheme, and bus, rail and ferry travel for young people aged 16-18 and volunteers up to age 25.

In February 2021, the then Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, wrote to the Chief Operating Officer of Mears Housing Management about issues that had been raised with her about the mother and baby unit. She asked that no new women be transferred to the unit until there had been further engagement with local partners on its operation and concerns were addressed. In June 2021, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government wrote to Mears Group about issues raised with the suitability of the accommodation provided and asked for information about how they are addressing them. On both occasions we received a response from Mears Group setting out measures they have taken.

Officials from Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and Mears Group sit on the Asylum Regional Partnership Board and the Delivery and Procurement Group, which support collaborative working on asylum accommodation and support in Glasgow.

Asylum is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament. This includes the provision of asylum accommodation, which is delivered by the Home Office through contracts with private sector companies, known as Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASC). In Scotland this is being delivered by Mears Group, who operate the mother and baby unit in Glasgow.

Scottish Government officials have no direct role in the delivery and management of the Home Office’s Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract. We have made it clear that the Scottish Government's preference would be for asylum accommodation to be delivered by the public sector or the third sector.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Property transactions involving the sale of land and leases of 20 years and over are usually registered in the Land Register of Scotland. The register is managed and maintained by the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland as required by the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012. The register contains information on the parties to registered deeds (the buyer and the seller) but not on the status of those parties (ie whether they are private sector or public sector).

Changes to travel restrictions affecting Manchester City Council and Salford City Council were notified to Parliament by answer to question
S6W-00856 on 17 June 2021, and announced to businesses and the public through a media briefing by the First Minister, a news release, and updated guidance on the Scottish Government website. 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 are delighted that COP26 is happening in Scotland and are working closely with the UK Government, Glasgow City Council, Public Health bodies and the UN to deliver a safe, successful and in-person conference in November. We recognise the significant challenges to public health alongside the urgent need to agree action to tackle climate change and are exploring all possible COVID security measures. Vaccination and test and protect will be key and we are involved in planning for these measures and all relevant aspects of event delivery.

The Scottish Government’s COP26 programme will focus on key themes of a just transition and people, demonstrate the actions Scotland is taking to a Net Zero future and support the global outcomes of the Summit. We are partnering with a range of organisations to engage people with COP26 and climate change. This includes the recently announced youth climate programme, delivered in partnership with Young Scot, Keep Scotland Beautiful and Youth Link Scotland, which will deliver a programme of events putting the voices of young people in Scotland at the heart of the climate conversation during COP26.

The Scottish Government understands that Historic Environment Scotland (HES) wrote directly to Mr Sweeney on 24 June 2021.

HES assessed this property in 2017, and it was found to not meet the criteria for listing at that time as it was not a notable example of its building type and its setting had been altered. HES held subsequent discussions with the Sir John Stirling Maxwell Trust and Glasgow City Heritage Trust during 2020 regarding the best ways to retain and reuse the building.

As Scotland's lead public body for built heritage Historic Environment Scotland (HES) investigates, cares for and promotes Scotland’s historic environment. Part of those duties is responsibility for designating listed buildings. The role of Scottish Ministers in designations largely relates to strategic oversight in matters of national importance. It should be noted that Minsters' powers are used sparingly as HES retains the considerable experience and expertise which is more appropriate to assess applications on a case-by-case basis.

The Scottish Government have worked closely with the Scottish FA, with Glasgow City Council, Police Scotland and other partners on the operations of the EURO 2020 Fan Zone at Glasgow Green. The situation with the Fanzone in being continually reviewed during the EUROS and as part of that ongoing work Scottish Ministers set up a review team, comprising of the government, city council and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Public Health, to provide advice on the ability of the Fan Zone to operate safely.

The fan zone provides an outdoor, highly regulated space for fans to watch the tournament. Although there are up to 3000 people in attendance per session, this is in a large, outdoor space with normal capacity for up to 80,000 people. Necessary physical distancing and hygiene measures are of course in place. In addition, there is comprehensive stewarding, cleaning and contact tracing provisions in place. Rapid lateral flow test kits have been mailed to all visitors to the Glasgow Fan Zone as part of a series of measures to help reduce the risk of transmission before and after the event.

NHS Health Boards are holding drop in clinics to target those who have not yet been vaccinated, and to make it easier for people to receive their second dose. The use of drop in clinics is not directly linked to EURO 2020 Fan Zone events, but is appropriately informed by vaccination and testing data, including surveillance data from event attendees and ongoing testing in the community.

EURO 2020 events and locations have specific on-site safety measures, including Test and Protect surveillance data measures. Those attending Fan Zones are encouraged to take a rapid lateral flow test up to 48 hours beforehand. Fan Zone safety measures are continuously monitored to ensure the safety of everyone. Attendance at the Glasgow Green Fan Zone provides an opportunity for people to gather safely, in a controlled environment, with the necessary physical distancing and hygiene measures in place.

Scotland’s daily PCR test capacity is over 66,000 per day. This is made up of a combination of the aggregate capacity of all testing sites/facilities and distribution/collection services where individuals can get a test, and laboratory capacity to process the samples taken.

As set out in our updated Testing Strategy, published on 22 June, testing is key to quickly identifying and isolating positive cases to break chains of transmission within a community. The testing system is designed to be completely flexible so neither sampling nor laboratory capacity is allocated to a specific local authority area. We work with Public Health Scotland to provide local decision makers with insights and data to target tests where they are most needed. We are also helping to maximise existing testing interventions at the request of local incident management teams (IMT). Local authorities’ testing response will vary as their approaches will be targeted to meet the needs of their communities.

Details of the daily number of tests carried out and number of positive cases in the Glasgow area are available from the Public Health Scotland dashboard.