Chamber and committees

The monitoring of the impact of gambling across the UK during the pandemic, is carried out by the Gambling Commission, which published and updated the following report . The Commission also alerts stakeholders to other academic assessments carried out across both the UK and internationally.

Gambling has the potential to negatively affect physical, psychological health, and the social functioning of the people who gamble and others around them. In April 2019 the Gambling Commission, with the support of GambleAware, published its “National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms”. That new industry-led strategy for England, Wales and Scotland aims to respond to growing concerns about the harm caused by gambling through improving prevention and educative approaches, and through developing and increasing access to evidenced-informed effective treatment and support.

The Scottish Government are currently working with the Commission and other stakeholders in Scotland, to assess existing evidence on which pathways to treatment are likely to be most successful in Scotland, this includes the evaluation of pathways being trialled in other nations. In addition, we are keen to understand why some people with problematic gambling are not accessing treatment and support services, to ensure our pathway options take these reasons into account to provide the correct approach for the people of Scotland.

Further positive change will be progressed through in how fireworks are sold and used in Scotland, subject to the outcome of the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections. This will contribute towards a fundamental shift in the relationship that Scotland has with fireworks, as recommended by the Firework Review Group, and reduce the negative impact experienced by animals, individuals and communities due to fireworks.

The regulations laid in Parliament on 19 February 2021 are an important first step and will, along with a package of measures focussing on awareness raising and prevention, allow tangible change to be in place for autumn 2021.

The First Minister announced on 16 March that Stay at Home regulations will be lifted on 2 April and replaced with guidance to Stay Local, with more services able to open from 5 April. The First Minister also announced further expected easing’s from 26 April including the anticipated restarting of driving lessons and tests. The only current exceptions for driving lessons are lessons provided by a member of the same household and where an organisation has delegated authority to do so from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. This includes Scottish Fire and Rescue Services, Police Scotland and bus operators.

Green port operators and businesses directly benefitting from new tax incentives will be required to adopt Fair Work First. In doing so, they will be encouraged to use the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First guidance to inform their approach and to advance Fair Work as they develop. We recommend that employers within the green port zone engage constructively with relevant trade unions and where a union is not present, with appropriate worker representatives to ensure effective decisions are made about workplace matters.

All Fair Work First criteria will be incorporated into the design and operation of green ports in Scotland. Fair Work First asks employers to commit to:

• appropriate channels for effective voice, such as trade union recognition.
• investment in workforce development
• no inappropriate use of zero hours contracts.
• action to tackle the gender pay gap and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
• payment of the real Living Wage.

We recognise the financial challenges being experienced by businesses in the construction sector, particularly smaller firms and tradespeople whose business relies on doing work in domestic premises. The limited funding made available to us to support businesses means that we are simply unable to support all sectors experiencing disruption as a result of restrictions. We therefore have no plans at present to provide direct financial support to small building and construction firms.

I would, however, encourage businesses in this sector and whose trade has been impacted by the pandemic to access the UK Government's Self Employment Income Support Scheme and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which will support them in meeting staffing costs and addressing salary shortfalls. We continue to do all we can to support the sector through these difficult times through the Construction Leadership Forum and our Construction Recovery Plan.

The Scottish Government will require green port operators and businesses directly benefitting from new tax incentives to adopt the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First approach, as a condition of their designation or eligibility respectively.

We expect to see detailed plans on the actions the operator and businesses will take to ensure the Fair Work First approach and criteria are embedded within and across the green port environment and individual organisations.

The Scottish Government is clear that green port operators and businesses benefitting from linked tax incentives or any other government funding must continue to adhere to the conditions of their designation or eligibility. This is a key matter that we have been very clear with the UK Government on, as we have developed the Applicant Prospectus for green ports in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not investigated or undertaken any feasibility work for a fixed link (bridge, sea crossing or tunnel) between Scotland and Northern Ireland and has no current plans to do so.

Transport Scotland officials have had limited discussions with the UK Government regarding the publication of the interim report of their Union Connectivity Review (UCR). On 26 November 2020 I spoke to Sir Peter Hendy, who is leading the UCR, to discuss this work. Subsequently, on 9 March 2021, I (separately) spoke with the UK Government as well as with Sir Peter Hendy, and relevant officials from the Department for Transport – the matter was discussed in that context on each occasion. I have also had various discussions with Nichola Mallon, Minister for Infrastructure in the Northern Ireland Assembly, on the UCR, some of which have made reference to a potential fixed link – on 6 March 2020 we both wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport setting out joint views on the matter.

We seek to engage constructively with the UK Government, however, not in a way that undermines the devolution settlement. The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) is ongoing and is the method by which the Scottish Government will assess how best to influence the demand for travel, how to better maintain and make best use of existing transport assets, what new capacity is needed, and what may or may not need to be built. This work will appraise potential transport interventions and make recommendations for investment in transport in Scotland over the next 20 years – a fixed link to NI has not been identified as a priority throughout the course of STPR2.

The Scottish Government does not hold data about how many businesses have been ineligible for any form of assistance from its COVID-19 support schemes.

We expect Health Boards to ensure their staff are appropriately trained and developed for their roles, as per the Staff Governance Standard. The standard complements the training expectations set out in individual professional and regulatory requirements.

Introduced in February 2018, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) developed a clinical guideline, about the use of medication to manage migraines. The clinical guidance is based on what we know from current medical research. It also gives advice based on the opinion of healthcare professionals who are trained on how best to manage people's care.

All boards have been encouraged by the Scottish Government to establish care interface groups, which will cover work in improving the management of headaches. the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland have also been supported by the Scottish Government to develop tools and resources to support boards establish these groups.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving neurological care and support in Scotland, including for people with migraine. The Neurological Care and Support Framework includes a commitment to promote and support the implementation of Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) General Standards for Neurological Care and Support 2019. General standards for neurological care and support (healthcareimprovementscotland.org)

These standards articulate what people with neurological conditions should expect to receive in terms of high quality care from the health and social care organisations that support them, and it is intended that organisations use these standards to demonstrate that they are delivering this. Standard 3 states that organisations should ensure that staff have the education, training and information to deliver care and support to people living with neurological conditions, appropriate to roles and workplace setting. The accompanying criteria states that this should be aligned to appropriate guidance, standards and best practice, where available. Discussions to explore the introduction of quality assurance arrangements for the standards are being taken forward with HIS. The Scottish Government expect Health Boards to ensure their staff are appropriately trained and developed for their roles, as per the Staff Governance Standard. The standard complements the training expectations set out in individual professional and regulatory requirements.

Work to review the Minimum Unit Price (MUP) level was paused in order to respond to the urgent demands of handling the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This has restarted in order to review the level of the MUP in the course of this year. The price level will be considered in line with the latest evidence on the affordability of alcohol. Should the Scottish Government consider that an amendment is required to the MUP level, any proposals would of course be brought to Parliament for full consideration.