Chamber and committees

Within the next franchise, specification of the franchisee will be requested to improve upon the facilities for storing on-train, large items of luggage within sight/proximity of passengers when seated and overhead storage for smaller items of hand luggage.

I can confirm that no central records are held of any recent discussions taking place with either local authorities or housing associations concerning any farm dwelling houses falling within the ownership and control of the Scottish Government. However, I can confirm that notification has been provided to the Highland Council that one of the cottages at the Scottish Government Stud Farm at Knocknagael, Inverness is currently unoccupied for council tax purposes.

Unfortunately this information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost by making enquiries with all Government Departments as to how much each area has spent on renovating unoccupied farm dwellings each year since 1999. Accordingly, it is not possible to confirm the amount spent.

I can confirm that there are no unoccupied farm dwellings within the SG Lowland Land Settlement Holdings. There is one unoccupied farm cottage at SG Bull Stud Knocknagael, however there has been no expenditure on renovating this cottage since RPID took over the management of the SG Bull Stud Knocknagael in autumn of 2011.

There are a number of different factors influencing the potential for food production in Scotland. This not only includes the area of agricultural land, but also innovation, changing technologies and the impact of climate change. However it relation to the area of agricultural land, statistics highlight that this has remained relatively static in Scotland over the past 20 years at around 6.2m hectares.

The structure of agricultural holdings and businesses changes from year to year to respond to the changing circumstances farmers face. For example, consolidating smaller holdings or reshaping businesses could result in either an increase or a decrease in agricultural area. Although some agricultural land may be replaced (for example by buildings), it does not necessarily equate to a loss of production for the business, particularly if the development improves efficiency or productivity.

There will always be competing pressures on land use. The Land Use Strategy encourages decision-makers to take account of the value of land highly suitable for food production through one of its ten Principles for Sustainable Land Use - Where land is highly suitable for a primary use this value should be recognised in decision making.

Public bodies are expected to have regard for the Principles when making plans and taking significant decisions affecting the use of land. The Strategy also encourages individuals, businesses and organisations who have significant land management responsibilities to have regard to the Principles.

The Scottish Government also previously undertook a Rural Land Use Study which captured the conflicts and complementarities between different rural land uses and objectives. The various reports from the study can be accessed at the following link:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Research/About/EBAR/RLUS.

Yes, the information is now available on the Scottish Government website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/farmingrural/Rural/crofting-policy/support-for-crofting/CroftingCattleImprovementScheme.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-16276 on 6 September 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14161 on 2 May 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

It is intended that the 2012 data will be published in September 2013 and will be available at: http://www.msr.scot.nhs.uk/Reports/Main.html.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-14160 on 2 May 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The following paragraphs cover harm reduction in: problem alcohol and drug use; needle exchange; mental health and domestic abuse.

Problem Alcohol and Drug Use:

The national drugs strategy, The Road to Recovery, and the alcohol framework Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol aim to ensure that those who need support and treatment for their drug or alcohol problem, get it.

Access to specialist treatment for alcohol and drugs has greatly improved with the introduction of the HEAT target for waiting times, over 90% of clients will wait no longer than three weeks from referral received to appropriate drug or alcohol treatment that supports their recovery.

The provision of prevention activity, recovery focussed treatment and support services, is for each local area to consider, taking account of local needs, circumstances and resources. Responsibility is devolved to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to commission (informed by robust needs assessment) evidence-based, person-centred and recovery-focused prevention and treatment services to meet the needs of their resident populations.

We have made a record investment of £237 million to tackle alcohol misuse since 2008, the bulk of the funding (£211 million) being invested in local prevention, treatment and support services. and £38.6 million in 2013-14.

We have also invested record amounts in frontline drug treatment and support services to help people recover, £30.3 million in 2013-14, an increase of more than 20 per cent since 2006-07.

We continue to work with national and local organisations to ensure that interventions are in place at every possible stage to tackle problem drug and alcohol use in Scotland.

We have introduced a national take home naloxone programme which can temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdose. Naloxone is an important intervention, within a range of available treatment and support, which can help to reduce harm, support people towards recovery and save lives. 3,445 life-saving naloxone kits were provided to people, at risk of opioid overdose, in the community and on release from prison (2011-12).

Needle Exchange:

The Scottish Government has a longstanding commitment to increase the quantity and quality of injecting equipment provided to injecting drug users.

The provision of syringes is a public health priority particularly when the cost of providing injecting equipment is highly cost effective when compared against the treatment costs of hepatitis C and/or HIV infection.

Under the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Framework the government continues to provide almost £27 mililon a year to NHS boards which includes funding specifically for prevention services and injecting equipment provision.

Mental Health:

The Mental Health Strategy for Scotland 2012-15 recognises the importance of tackling the distress which underlies “a group of disorders, illnesses and behaviours which present particular challenges to services and to families”, including self-harm.

We have recently completed a public engagement process on developing a new strategy on suicide prevention and reducing self-harm. The results of this are currently being analysed to inform the development of a new strategy on suicide prevention due for publication in the autumn.

Consideration is being given to continuing work in relation to Responding to Self-Harm in Scotland: Final Report – Mapping out the Next Stage of Activity in Developing Services and Health Improvement Approaches and to improving our knowledge about identifying suicidal self-harm and how best to intervene and deliver better outcomes for people at this level of distress.

Domestic Abuse:

The Scottish Government continues to work with key partners including COSLA, Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and voluntary organisations to tackle domestic abuse and to reduce harm

We have allocated £34.5 million funding over the next three years to tackle violence against women, including domestic abuse.

This funding demonstrates strong commitment to this area at a time of unprecedented financial constraint. It enables us to support a wide variety of projects and organisations, like Scottish Women’s Aid, which focus on supporting victims.

The Caledonian System (£3.5 million), which works with perpetrators to change behaviours, reduce reoffending and to improve the lives of women and children. Domestic Abuse Court Advocacy Service (£3.15 million) which supports the victims of domestic abuse who are taking cases through the specialist domestic court in Glasgow

Training for up to 300 domestic abuse advocates (£180k) providing specialist case work for high risk victims. This will ensure that specialist court provision and multi-agency risk assessment conferences across Scotland will have a consistent, trained, accredited advocacy service available (£180k 2012-15)

The Domestic Abuse Court Advocacy Service supports the victims of domestic.

The Scottish Government, in collaboration with COSLA, is producing a more comprehensive blueprint for reducing, and ultimately ending, violence against women, including domestic abuse as opposed to a simple refresh of Safer Lives Changed Lives which was published in 2009.

This is because developments such as, the creation of a single police force for Scotland and the re-establishment of the cross government strategy group on Violence Against Women (VAW) all present unparalleled opportunities for embedding, and mainstreaming, work to tackle VAW into a wide range of areas. It is anticipated that the document will be published for consultation by the end of 2013.