Chamber and committees

We welcome this report’s contribution to the growing body of evidence on suicide and its prevention. We expect to publish our new Suicide Prevention Action Plan before the summer recess which will call for improved practice based on evidence and data across a broader spectrum of interests on suicide prevention to further reduce the rate of suicides in Scotland.

The Scottish Government are currently investigating the most effective way to implement further phases of the BEAR scheme. All funded programmes provided by the Scottish Government must be done in accordance with State aid requirements.

Work is currently underway to complete final checks to the guide to small landholding legislation. It is our intention to publish that guide shortly.

Whilst the Scottish Government has not made any assessment of the specific impact of canals on tourism or the wider economy the industry led Strategic Framework for Scotland’s Marine Tourism Sector “Awakening the Giant” estimated that sailing and boating (in which canals play a significant role) is already generating over £101 million of visitor expenditure and directly supporting the employment of almost 2,730 jobs.

Data Protection is a reserved matter which is regulated by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) across the UK and applies to all UK residents. There is a branch office in Scotland who liaise with organisations based in Scotland, and in relation to any UK residents.

The ICO have been very active with and transparent about their actions to investigate the recent events involving data analytics and social media.

The right to privacy is a right which the Scottish Government takes very seriously. We will continue to promote good practice to all public bodies when handling personal information.

According to the Scottish Household Survey, the percentage of adults who travel to work by bike is 2.6%, which is the most common adult everyday journey. Also, cycling is the main mode of travel for 1.2% of all journeys.

Cycling Scotland’s Annual Cycling Report will show that 5% of adults usually or regularly cycle to work and that the 10% shared vision is being exceeded for cycling to work in certain areas - in the Highland council area at 14%, and 11% in both Moray and Edinburgh. The Scottish Household Survey shows that 50% of all journeys are more than 8 kms, which is generally too far to cycle for an everyday journey so we are targeting investment to encourage more people to cycle for shorter journeys.

While it will be challenging to meet the shared vision of 10% of everyday journeys by 2020, and as I stated in the Air Quality Debate, doubling the active travel budget to £80 million this year and for the next two years, will significantly help to reach the vision and ensure the funding is spent in the right way to make the biggest impact.

However, there is still a lot to be done on behavioural change, such as child and adult cycle training, and delivering better, segregated infrastructure to make our towns and cities safer and to encourage more people to try cycling for short journeys.

Recent contact between Scottish Government officials, Scottish Natural Heritage and the UK Government on the topics referred to in the question has been for the purposes of preparing answers to Parliamentary questions and to give and receive prior notification on materials selected for release in response to requests for information. There has been no recent discussion with Highland Council or the Ramsar Convention Secretariat on either of the topics referred to in the question.

We recognise that reliable ferry connections are vital to the remote and island communities which depend on them. CalMac has assured the Scottish Government it is doing all it can to both improve the resilience of the fleet of vessels and to minimise disruption caused by breakdowns within its fleet.

In respect of current disruption to the services, CalMac is seeking to manage the situation by redeploying vessels within the fleet to ensure that lifeline connections are maintained to all the communities it serves on the Clyde and Hebrides network. The frequency of service for some routes will be reduced from normal during the period of disruption. Safety must, of course, be my and CalMac's top priority in delivery of services. Both CalMac and CMAL continue to search for additional tonnage on the open market and CalMac are exploring if they are able to provide additional sailings during this current period of disruption.

For the future, the Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan , published in January 2018, shows how existing, planned and prospective vessels could be deployed across the Clyde and Hebrides network to deliver the commitments set out in the Scottish Ferries Plan, and better address forecast demand. Future vessel provision on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry service network will be based on the conclusions set out in the report and the affordability of those proposals. A copy of the Vessel Replacement and Deployment Plan can be found on the Transport Scotland website by following the link:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/41509/vrdp-annual-report-2016-30-january-2018.pdf

It is estimated from the Annual Population Survey (Jan-Dec 2017), that 23,900 non-UK EU nationals were employed in the Sustainable Tourism sector in Scotland. (Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan 2017 – Dec 2017)

The Annual Population Survey pooled data set for the time period January 2014-December 2016 estimates 18,000 non-EU UK nationals were employed in Sustainable Tourism in Scotland.

The pooled data set provides a larger sample size and allows a more reliable estimate to be produced for smaller groups and therefore has been used in this answer to estimate non-UK EU nationals by local authority area.

The Annual Population Survey pooled data set for the time period January 2014-December 2016 estimates 5,000 (25%) of non-UK EU nationals employed in Sustainable tourism reside in Edinburgh and 4,000 (21%) reside in Glasgow.

It is estimated that 7 local authorities have no non-UK EU nationals living there and working in sustainable tourism including (East Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Eilean Siar, North Ayrshire, Orkney islands, Shetland islands).

The remaining local authorities provide estimates of 2,000 or less non-UK EU nationals. Estimates of this size, from this source have a high degree of variation and cannot be used as a reliable estimate. (Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan 2014 – Dec 2017)

The definition of ‘Sustainable Tourism’ is consistent with the Scottish Government Growth Sectors definition based on 2017 Standard Industrial Classification and includes (Standard Industrial Classification

51.1 Hotels and Restaurants ,

55.2 Holiday and other short stay accommodation,

55.3 Camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks,

56.1 Restaurants and mobile food service activities,

56.3 beverage serving activities,

79.12 Tour operator ,

79.9 Other reservation service and related activities

91.02 Museum activities

91.03 Operation of historical sites and building and similar visitor attractions

91.04 Botanical and zoological gerdens and nature reserve activities

93.11 Operation of sports facilities

93.199 Other sports activities (not including activities of racehorse owners) nec

93.21 Activities of amusement parks and theme parks

93.29 Other amusement and recreation activities).