Chamber and committees

I am pleased to inform Parliament that Scotland’s Climate Assembly has today published its interim report.

I am grateful for the commitment shown by Assembly members, and to those that organised and contributed to this Assembly. It has been inspiring to see how the Assembly has come together during the pandemic and delivered its work entirely online.

Scotland’s Climate Assembly exemplifies how we are putting people at the heart of policy making, by consulting, engaging and involving citizens in decision-making. This was a key recommendation highlighted in the findings of the Just Transition Commission, published yesterday.

Our Climate Change Plan update, which sets us on a pathway to achieving our targets up to 2032 and contributes to a just transition to net-zero, has now been finalised, but this is not the end of our journey. Our regular review of progress will provide an opportunity to consider the potential need for further action to complement and build on the policies and proposals included in the Climate Change Plan update. The Assembly’s interim report provides support for the societal transformation we know will be needed for Scotland to become a net zero nation.

We therefore welcome the ambitious findings of the Climate Assembly, and recognise that the full report will follow in the next Parliamentary session. If this administration is returned after the election, we will take the necessary time to reflect on the recommendations and issue a considered, comprehensive and cross-Government response in line with the requirements of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act.

The Scottish Government is making good progress with the development of a Women’s Health Plan. The aim of the plan is to reduce women’s health inequalities by raising awareness around women's health and improving access to healthcare for women throughout life. The present Government plans for it to be published later in 2021.

The Scottish Government has made progress to implement early actions in advance of publication, to improve information and support for women. A priority of the plan is to improve access for women to appropriate support, speedy diagnosis and best treatment for endometriosis. In 2020-21 the Scottish Government has invested £25,000 in work being led by Endometriosis UK to inform how reduction in diagnosis time can be achieved including timeframes and targets. An endometriosis collaborative forum has been established to support policy development in this area and members of the forum include representatives from patient support groups. Third sector representatives and clinicians have also helped to review NHS Inform pages relating to endometriosis. The pages have recently been updated to ensure information is accurate, accessible and supportive.

A Menopause Specialists Network has been established and is meeting regularly online. The Network is supporting primary care teams, by providing access to a menopause specialist for advice, support, onward referral, leadership and training.

In addition, work has begun to develop a comprehensive women’s health information platform on NHS Inform and two women’s health information campaigns have been launched on the NHS Inform website, one in relation to women’s general health throughout different life stages. The second campaign, launched in February to mark heart health awareness month, aimed to raise awareness of importance of heart health for women and encouraged women to know the signs and symptoms of heart attack, heart disease in pregnancy and other heart conditions which predominantly affect women.

The Scottish Government has consistently called for clarity from the UK Government on post-Brexit funding arrangements; whether on the so-called “UK Shared Prosperity Fund”, or on replacements for vital funds such as the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

In doing so, we have also called for the powers of the Scottish Parliament and of Scottish Ministers to be respected. That is a call, however, which has been repeatedly ignored by a UK Government seemingly intent on riding roughshod over devolved competence whenever and wherever it is convenient to do so; as evidenced by their cack-handed approach to seafood sector compensation for the mess the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal created.

Against that challenging backdrop, I am pleased to announce that we are now launching the new Marine Fund Scotland which will replace the EMFF. Full details will be made available on the Scottish Government website from 16:00 today.

Funding will support the delivery of the Blue Economy Action plan, providing vital welcomed investment in the Scottish marine industries; supporting investments in the seafood sectors, the marine environment and coastal communities, while protecting jobs at a time when many businesses are facing acute hardship due to Brexit and Covid.

Our clear and longstanding view remains, however, that the funding provided by the UK Government must match the scale of Scotland’s marine responsibilities and the value of our marine industries; with the funding that the UK Government has provided for Marine Fund Scotland therefore being wholly inadequate.

Based on the EMFF budget for 2021-2027, and on our sea area alone, an equitable and evidence-based funding share would be £62m per annum. Alongside that, the UK Government must also deliver on its promise to provide £100m to support fishing industry innovation and modernisation, with an equitable share for the Scottish catching and processing sectors.

Anything less would effectively mean that Scottish businesses and coastal communities being short-changed; adding insult to the injury of new trade barriers arising from the Brexit deal.

By imposing a one year funding settlement, the UK Government has also significantly and needlessly constrained the long term certainty that marine industries need to make key investment decisions.

The UK Government simply must honour both its commitments on marine funding and its wider legal obligations, and provide the long term clarity that industry expects and deserves. Going forward, that means both ensuring equitable funding, and allowing delivery of such funding in line with devolved competence, and we will continue to hold their feet to the fire on both of those.

I am delighted to announce that today, on International Women’s Day, we have published progress reports on our Fair Work , A Fairer Scotland for Women Gender Pay Gap , and A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People - Employment action plans . Creating fair, inclusive and diverse workplaces is a key theme which runs through and connects this suite of action plans.

Over the past year we have seen the devastating impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on employers and workers – particularly on certain groups such as disabled and minority ethnic people as well as women. This demonstrates why Fair Work is more important than ever and why we must keep Fair Work at the heart of Scotland’s economic recovery and renewal.

While there is much work to be done our annual reports show that despite these unprecedented circumstances, the Scottish Government remains steadfast in our ambition for Scotland to be a leading Fair Work Nation by 2025.

Good progress has already been made: we have made good headway in implementing Fair Work First and we have achieved our headline goal to reduce the gender pay gap by 2021. We have also made steady progress towards our ambition to at least halve the disability employment gap – however, emerging evidence of the impact of COVID-19 indicates that the gap is starting to widen again, although it remains lower than in previous years.

Amending Regulations were made to the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 today. These Regulations prohibit mortgage repossession evictions from taking place in Level 3 and 4 areas from 23 January 2021.

This change will ensure mortgage repossessions cannot be executed within an area under level 3 or 4 restrictions. These provisions will provide home owners with similar protection as those in the rented housing sector. The key purpose in stopping mortgage repossessions at this time is to prevent households becoming at risk of homelessness and being forced to enter (possibly multiple) other households at a time when household mixing is otherwise prohibited.

The Regulations have been published at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2021/35/contents/made.