Chamber and committees

Where possible the policy decisions are taken on a four nations basis – guidance is developed as a result of those policy decisions, with officials discussing with the UK Government when necessary. This includes working with the UK government for guidance as part of UK-wide systems such as Passenger Locator Form and the CTM booking system.

We regularly update the Scottish Government website to reflect changes to policy, and have aligned with the UK Government on guidance for international travel, including directions for completing Passenger Locator Forms, isolation requirements once in Scotland and advice on country list changes. Some guidance varies where necessary where Scotland has different rules – for example Scottish guidance does not refer to private testing or ‘test to release’.

Scottish Enterprise green jobs funding is being delivered through rounds that open and close periodically for fixed amounts of time and from which the best projects will be chosen for support. Details , including eligibility criteria, are published on Scottish Enterprise’s website, at https://www.scottish-enterprise.com/support-for-businesses/funding-and-grants/business-grants/green-jobs .

Data from National Records of Scotland show that over the ten year period 2010 to 2019 inclusive there were three instances of death certificate records (one each in 2016, 2018 and 2019) that mention either exposure to natural heat or the effects of heat and light.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to build resilience to the impacts of global climate change, as part of a just transition to being a net-zero nation. This includes managing the risks to human health, wellbeing and productivity from exposure to heat in homes and other buildings, the increasing urgency of which has been identified by the Climate Change Committee in its Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk published in June 2021.

Our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy, published in February 2021, recognises the impact that climate change may have on the need for cooling in Scotland’s buildings. The draft Strategy sets out our proposals to introduce regulations requiring existing buildings to achieve a good level of energy efficiency and to install zero emissions heating and cooling systems. We will be consulting in 2021-22 on the assessment of the energy performance of existing buildings as a basis for future standards, and such assessments will continue to take into account issues of ventilation, heating and cooling of buildings. In addition, we will now take forward further research to better understand the future cooling needs of Scotland’s building stock in order to strengthen our policy response. We will also consult later this year on a new Housing Standard for Scotland, which will support measures being developed in the Heat in Buildings Strategy and include consideration of additional safety standards.

For new residential buildings, including care homes, we are considering an assessment of overheating risk to be carried out through Scottish building regulations. Such an assessment could help identify instances where passive cooling measures may need to be introduced.

We know that people experiencing homelessness are more likely to have chronic health problems, which can increase the risk of heat-related illness. We are working in partnership with local authorities and frontline homelessness services, who provide year-round health and wellbeing support to people who are rough sleeping. During hot weather this includes the provision of water, sun-cream and well-being checks. Anyone who is suspected to be suffering from a heat-related illness will be supported to access the appropriate medical support.

The HMICS Assurance review of Police Scotland demand analysis and management offers a positive outlook on Police Scotland’s efforts to develop its understanding of demand put on its resources. Its recommendations are for the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland to consider.

The HMICS Assurance Review - Policing of COP26, published on 26 June 2021, provides a high level of confidence in the preparation and planning to date for COP26 and I have no doubt this work will continue at pace. The single recommendation in that report and the areas for continued development are for Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority to consider and where appropriate, act upon.

The easiest way to mitigate microplastic presence in waste water from laundries is to ensure appropriate lint filters are fitted to washers before the water is discharged into the drain. Most NHS Laundries are using appropriate lint filters already, the remaining are due to be replaced.

In addition, NHS Highland is currently testing water coming into and out of their on-site laundry and will assess the levels of microplastic. Results from the project are expected in late summer 2021 and will be used to identify any necessary remedial work required.

NHS Scotland National Procurement works with NHS Boards to assess and evaluate all supply requirements, this includes an assessment of product substitution and material choice. Where replacement of a single use item is practical and meets infection control and regulatory requirements, then this is undertaken. Where product substitution is not possible, National Procurement works with manufacturers and suppliers to look at increasing recyclability and circular supply systems, ensuring the value in the material is maintained.

Scottish Ministers fully recognise the importance of reliable ferry services to the economic, social and cultural development of island and remote mainland communities.

The recent breakdown of the MV Loch Seaforth, and the impacts felt across the network, caused unacceptable disruption for our island communities. During the disruption, Transport Scotland worked with CalMac and engaged with local stakeholders in order to ensure everything was done to return the vessel to service as soon as possible. CalMac redeployed vessels in order to minimise the impacts across the network and put in place measures to maximise capacity, such as deploying a second vessel on the route from Kintyre to Arran. It is imperative the causes of that breakdown are understood and lessons properly learned so that we avoid this situation arising again in future.

Ferry passengers, whether travelling for tourism or other purposes, can apply for compensation for disruption under Passenger Rights Legislation. No other compensation for travel disruption is available for the tourism industry or wider sectors of the economy. However, Scottish Ministers have provided £3.6 billion of support during Covid to tourism businesses and we are committed to investing at least £580 million in ports and vessels over the next five years.

We welcome the publication of The Change Programme, which sets out what needs to happen over the next year to ensure Scotland keeps its Promise to improve the lives of children and young people in or on the edges of care.

I wrote an open letter to Fiona Duncan, Chair of The Promise Scotland, setting out the Scottish Government’s response to the publication of The Change Programme. A copy of the letter can be found here .

We recognise that there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure full implementation of The Promise by 2030 and we will continue to work with The Promise Scotland, Local Authorities, partners, families, children and young people to deliver the ambition of making Scotland the best place to grow up where every child feels loved, safe, respected and able to reach their full potential. We will #KeepThePromise.

The reports of a possible decline in the capercaillie population are concerning and underline the need to continue to focus efforts on partnership work to tackle threats to the species. We recognise the central importance of biodiversity and our commitment to addressing the twin challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change is unwavering.

We are taking action to address the decline in capercaillie by providing specific support from the forestry grant scheme with funding of over £300,000 between 2016 and 2025, as well as funding of £780,000 through the previous rural priority scheme’s capercaillie package.

NatureScot is also supporting the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project, which is piloting innovative community-led capercaillie conservation. Empowering local communities to develop solutions to recreation management in capercaillie woods is a new approach that has real potential to help the birds. NatureScot will also review the scientific evidence on the key factors affecting capercaillie and feed this into its work with all project partners going forward.

The Scottish Government expects 81,000 hectares of new woodland to be created over the lifetime of the Parliament; that’s well over 150 million new trees, making a critical contribution to our ambitions to become a net-zero nation.

We are accelerating woodland creation rates, going from the current 12,000 hectares per year to 18,000 hectares of new planting by 2024-25. This is an ambitious and stretching target and will require huge efforts from everyone in the public and private forestry sectors, building on our existing successes. Currently, Scotland produces around 80% of all new woodland creation across the UK, tackling climate change, improving biodiversity and supporting a billion-pound industry.

Furthermore, whilst these are very ambitious plans, we will be looking closely at what more is possible, as part of our commitment to publish a catch-up report on the Climate Change Plan within six months of the 2019 statistics being published.

During the recent debate on the Climate Emergency, on the 9 June, we supported the principle of the next full Climate Change Plan being brought forward as soon as possible during this Parliamentary session. This reflects our commitment to ever increasing action in response to the climate emergency.