Chamber and committees

It already is a criminal offence to carry in public any blade or instrument with a sharp point. There is an exception relating to a folding pocketknife less than three inches in length. The criminal law therefore bans the carrying of so called zombie-knives in public. Scottish Government legislation to increase the penalties for this offence came into force in March 2016 with maximum penalties increasing from four years to five years.

The SPA board considered an update on the current status of the implementation plan, which has been developed from the recommendation made within the Chair's Review of Governance report, at the public board meeting on 24 February 2017. The paper is available on the SPA's website at: http://www.spa.police.uk/assets/126884/386205/item_13.pdf

The latest Local Authority level statistics from the Scottish House Condition Survey, relating to 2013-2015 did not record an increase in fuel poverty in any Local Authority. All differences with the previous set of statistics, relating to the period 2012-2014, are within the margin of error.

Latest figures on the level of fuel poverty in Scotland as a whole indicated that between 2014 and 2015 fuel poverty fell from 35% to 31% of all households. To achieve sufficient sample size for Local Authority level estimates, three years’ worth of Scottish House Condition Survey data are merged and this is therefore less well suited to reflect the drop in the rate of fuel poverty which occurred between 2014 and 2015.

The Scottish Government remains committed to tackling fuel poverty and, despite the welcome drop in the number of households affected, we know there is much more to be done. We also recognise that there are specific challenges in rural areas. That is why we established the Scottish Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force to examine the full range of issues around fuel poverty in rural areas. The Task Force reported on its findings in October 2016 and our response published on 8 March 2017 sets out the action we are taking to address the recommendations.

The Scottish Government’s response to reports by the Scottish Fuel Poverty Strategic Working Group and the Scottish Rural Fuel Poverty Task Force, published on 8 March 2017, sets out that we will consult on a new, long term fuel poverty strategy, including proposals for a new overarching target, in Autumn 2017. This strategy will feed into the development of a new Warm Homes Bill, which we plan to introduce in 2018.

Once section 17(4) of the Scotland Act 2016 takes effect, which is expected to be on 1 April 2018, Air Passenger Duty (APD) will only apply to flights beginning after that date from an airport in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. After that date, Air Departure Tax (ADT) is expected to apply on any flight which begins from an airport in Scotland.

The effect of these changes, when combined with the current APD legislation on connected flights, is that a passenger flying from a Scottish airport to an airport elsewhere in the UK after 1 April 2018, and who then takes a second or subsequent connected flight to another destination, will be chargeable under ADT on the first flight but exempt from APD on the other flight(s). The amount of ADT due will be determined under section 9 of and Schedule 1 of the Bill by reference to the destination of the passenger’s final connected flight and their class of travel.

Double taxation (in relation to APD and ADT) will therefore not apply after 1 April 2018 in relation to passengers on such connecting flights. The Scottish Government has had regular engagement with HM Revenue and Customs regarding APD and ADT, including on connecting flights, and is not aware of any further legislative changes planned by the UK Government which would affect this tax position.

The Scottish Government will provide further detail on its legislative proposals for tax exemptions, tax bands and tax rate amounts for Air Departure Tax (ADT) at a later date. The Scottish Government has developed and is continuing to refine an evidence base on ADT and has used it to inform the development of ADT policy, but is happy to listen to any recommendations that the Scottish Parliament may make on undertaking an independent assessment of its proposals.

The Scottish Government has done everything it can to minimise redundancies in the oil and gas industry, but where this has not been possible, we have supported affected employees through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE), which has focused significant efforts to help individuals from the oil and gas sector realise their broad skill set by introducing them to employers from a variety of sectors - with four large recruitment events providing support for over 3,500 people affected by the current challenges in the industry and a further event planned for 29 March.

Furthermore, the Energy Jobs Taskforce has brought together key partners to maximise employment opportunities. Our enhanced 'Adopt an Apprentice' scheme provides a financial incentive of £5,000 to help a potential employer cover the wage and recruitment costs of taking on a Modern Apprentice who has been made redundant from the oil and gas industry, allowing the apprentice to continue their Modern Apprenticeship programme, and we have set up a £12m Transition Training Fund that has so far enabled more than 1600 former oil and gas workers to receive support for training with good access to a job outcome. Furthermore, training programmes procured by the Fund will create up to 755 employment opportunities, and the fund is also already supporting 12 individuals to retrain as teachers in STEM subjects.

Both the Minister for Employability and Training and myself have been made aware of reports of employers discriminating against applicants with offshore experience and these reports are deeply concerning. The oil and gas workforce are highly talented with skills that can be utilised in a wide range of different sectors, including renewables, construction, decommissioning and many others.

This issue was raised in the chamber by Gillian Martin MSP who has written to the UK Government who have responsibility in this area. No response from the UK Government has been received and I have therefore undertaken to take up the issue with my colleague the Minister for Employability and Training and to jointly seek action from UK ministers given reserved responsibilities.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to promoting fair work practices throughout Scotland and we will continue to lobby the UK Government for the full set of powers around employment law so that, regardless of party, the Scottish Parliament can adopt a more proactive role in addressing these kind of issues.

There are currently 204 vehicles in the Scottish Government fleet, of which 17 (8%) are petrol, 161 (79%) are diesel and 26 (13%) are electric (either fully electric or plug-in hybrids).

There are currently 5 vehicles in the Transport Scotland fleet, of which 3 (60%) are diesel and 2 (40%) are fully electric.

Transport Scotland are also working with the Energy Saving Trust and the trunk road companies, Bear and Transerv, and CH2M in their role as Performance Audit Group, to carry out sustainable transport reviews and identify opportunities for the introduction of electric vehicles into their fleets.

We do not hold information on the composition of other public sector fleets in Scotland.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The following table provides a breakdown of the number of Prison Officers employed by SPS since 2010. Reported staffing numbers reflect the position as at 31 March in each year.

HMP Aberdeen closed in January 2014.

HMP YOI Grampian officially opened in March 2014.

HMP Low Moss officially opened in March 2012.

HMP Peterhead closed in December 2013.