Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is taking forward a number of new measures to tackle wildlife crime throughout Scotland. These include working with Police Scotland to implement additional resources for the detection and investigation of wildlife crime and a commitment to increase the maximum penalties for wildlife offences during the current Parliament.

The Police Scotland Lothians and Scottish Borders Division has a dedicated full-time Wildlife Crime Liaison Officer who works closely with local communities to raise awareness, promote best practice and enforce legislation.

All wild birds are protected under law, and it is an offence to kill a wild bird unless under licence. The investigation of suspected wildlife crime incidents is a matter for Police Scotland, who are aware of the reported shooting of a goosander on the River Tweed in August 2017, and have opened an investigation.

The Scottish Government has taken forward a range of actions through Changing Scotland's Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action. This includes improved substance misuse education in schools through Curriculum for Excellence and improved identification of, and support for, children affected by parental substance misuse. Good practice guidance has been developed for practitioners and commissioners based on the literature review ‘What works in drug education and prevention’ (Scottish Government, 2016).

The Scottish Government provides support for diversionary activities for young people and guidance for parents and carers about young people and alcohol. Since 2008 we have committed £92 million to CashBack and other community initiatives, funding community activities and facilities largely, but not exclusively, for young people. The independent evaluation report published on 10 June 2014 showed how CashBack is changing individual young people’s lives for the better and that significant impact is being made on participation, diversion, and progression pathways; and engagement outcomes for young people and communities across Scotland. This positive impact was further evidenced within the Research Scotland evaluation of the first year of Phase 3 (2014-15) published in February 2016. Our full phase 3 (2014-15 – 2016-17) is due to be published in October. The impact of the programme is highlighted on our website http://cashbackforcommunities.org/regions/ and the Scottish Government site http://sh45inta/Topics/Justice/policies/community-engagement/cashback/Evaluation.

In addition the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act 2010 imposed a mandatory condition onto licences to have an age verification policy (Challenge 25) to make it harder for under-age drinkers to gain access to alcohol and the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 has made it an offence from 15 May 2017 to give or make available alcohol to children or young people for consumption in a public place, helping the Police to address the scourge of drinking dens.

The most recent Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) was published in October 2016 and analyses drinking behaviour in
13 and 15 year olds. It shows that the proportion of pupils who have ever had an alcoholic drink is at its lowest figure for both age groups since the survey began in 1990 (28% of 13 year olds and 66% of 15 year olds). The survey shows that the proportion of 15 year olds who made successful direct purchases (i.e. from shops, supermarkets, off-licences, pubs, clubs and nightclubs) decreased considerably between 2006 and 2013.

An assessment of impacts of Cloich wind farm on hydrology and private water supplies was undertaken by the applicant. This was reported in chapter 11 of the environmental statement which accompanied the application. Ministers consulted a range of interested parties on the application, including SEPA and Scottish Water on the terms of the hydrology and private water supply assessments. Neither consultee with an interest in hydrology and water quality maintained an objection to the proposal. Scottish Ministers held an inquiry in relation to the proposed development over various dates in May and June 2015, which included examination of evidence in relation to hydrology and private water supplies, all as reported in the Scottish Ministers’ decision to grant section 36 consent and direct that planning permission be deemed to be granted on 8 July 2016.

The section 36 consent and deemed planning permission for Cloich wind farm was granted subject to a number of conditions to control construction and operation of the wind farm to control environmental effects of the development. These include express prohibitions on commencement of development until a method statement for delivery of mitigation measures on private water supplies and details of water and flood risk mitigation measures have been approved by the planning authority.

The consent for Cloich wind farm has not yet been implemented and Scottish Ministers have been informed that the Company has not yet submitted its pre-commencement method statements for approval by Scottish Borders Council.

The decision letter for Cloich can be viewed at: www.energyconsents.scot

As set out in my answer to S5W-10957 on 14 September 2017, an assessment of impacts of Cloich wind farm on private water supplies was undertaken by the applicant. This was reported in chapter 11 of the environmental statement which accompanied the application. Ministers consulted a range of interested parties on the application, including SEPA and Scottish Water on the terms of private water supply assessments. Neither consultee with an interest in water quality maintained an objection to the proposal. Scottish Ministers held an inquiry in relation to the proposed development over various dates in May and June 2015, which included examination of evidence in relation to private water supplies, all as reported in the Scottish Ministers’ decision to grant section 36 consent and direct that planning permission be deemed to be granted on 8 July 2016.

The Cloich wind farm consent issued on 8 July 2016 is subject to conditions.

Condition No: 5 attached to the deemed planning permission requires the consent and deemed planning permission to be implemented in accordance with the full particulars specified in the environmental statement which accompanied the application, including the details in relation to private water supplies.

Condition no: 20 attached to the deemed planning permission refers to Private Water supply.

The decision letter for Cloich can be viewed at: www.energyconsents.scot

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The NSPCC report, “How Safe are Our Children, 2017”, makes it clear that there is a trend since 2000 for greater numbers of children be subject to a Child Protection Plan and on the Child Protection Register (CPR) across the UK with Scotland having a lower percentage increase at 35% than any of the other administrations which range from 87 to 46%.

While the figures for 2002 to 2016 show a 116% increase in children added to the CPR each year, during the last two years there has been a decline in the number of children coming onto the CPR. The NSPCC report suggests that these trends may indicate a greater understanding of abuse among both the public and people who work with children.

However, the CPR figures are only one part of a complex picture. The focus of the Scottish Government’s Child Protection Improvement Programme (CPIP) is supporting, strengthening and improving, from a national perspective, activity on child protection across Scotland. This includes the establishment of a Child Protection Data and Evidence Hub which will support the development of a more co-ordinated, strategic approach to sharing learning and evidence to help inform local planning and service development. We will work closely with stakeholders to continue to raise awareness and understanding of different types of abuse, as well as improving access for practitioners to meaningful data and evidence on prevention of abuse for children at risk of harm.

The NSPCC report also shows that all the nations of the United Kingdom have seen an increase in the number of crimes recorded by the police concerning the taking, making, distribution and possession of indecent images of children between 2014-15 and 2015-16. It is likely that increased awareness of child sexual exploitation and abuse leading to an increase in reporting to the police explains a part of the increase.

Our National Action Plan on Internet Safety for Children and Young People, published on 21 April 2017, sets out a number of actions to improve internet safety. Its priorities include early identification and deterrence of perpetrators, equipping children and young people themselves to stay safe online, supporting professionals, parents and carers and continuing to work with digital and social media providers to ensure children are not exposed to harm.

The Scottish Government published the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan in December 2016. This plan set out our vision for enhancing our health and social care services so the people of Scotland can live longer, healthier lives at home or in a homely setting.

The integration of health and social care plays a key part in realising this vision by placing a greater emphasis on community-based and more joined-up, anticipatory and preventative care, which will equip our services for future challenges. Scottish Borders Health and Social Care Partnership's strategic commissioning plan sets out how they plan to work collaboratively to redesign services to improve the wellbeing of communities taking account of the impact of population changes both now and in future.

The Scottish Government in its Programme for Government has committed to establish a new non-domestic rates relief for day nurseries. More detail will be set out in due course, including in an implementation plan which will be published by the end of the year.

As with all our major projects, consideration will be given to mitigating disruption to all road users during construction of the scheme as we progress the development and assessment of the preferred option which is due to culminate in 2019 with the publication of draft Orders.

Delivery of the scheme itself can only commence when the scheme is approved under the statutory procedures and thereafter a timetable for construction can be set.

As part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal the Scottish Government will invest up to £120m to take forward the design work and construct a new flyover enabling free flowing traffic on the A720 Edinburgh City Bypass at Sheriffhall.

The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 provides a wide range of measures for dealing with antisocial behaviour. We also have a national strategy in place which is based on prevention, early intervention and diversionary activities. The Scottish Government is currently working with a small group of local authority representatives to look at the existing guidance to the antisocial behaviour legislation which will bring together expertise and knowledge from across the antisocial behaviour field to inform and drive forward refreshed and clearer up to date guidance on tackling antisocial behaviour.

All data used in the Police Scotland Management Information report are provisional and are not official statistics. This means that the report is unsuitable for drawing longer term trend comparisons of crime types.

To understand longer term trends the Scottish Household Survey results provide us with a more accurate picture of people’s perception of the prevalence of antisocial behaviour and tells us that over the last decade adults in Scotland describing antisocial behaviour issues as very or fairly common in their neighbourhood has remained low:

The 2016 Scottish Household Survey results will be published on 26 September 2017.

In the Scottish Borders, the increase in reported antisocial behaviour can, in part, be explained by the proactive efforts by Police Scotland, Scottish Borders Council and housing providers to encourage residents in certain areas to report incidents of antisocial behaviour so repeat offenders can be identified and the negative behaviours tackled.

Partnership working between the police and Scottish Borders Council has been central to tackling antisocial behaviour and has been successful in reducing and at times eliminating antisocial behaviour calls in identified areas. Scottish Borders Council has a dedicated police officer in the Safer Communities Team who monitors all reported antisocial behaviour incidents, looking for trends, common locations etc. which allows them implement effective early intervention where required.

I have asked my officials to discuss the impact and effectiveness of this approach with the partnership and consider whether there is potential for this approach to be adopted in other areas across the country.

Transport Scotland is currently undertaking a multi modal transport corridor study in the Borders which will examine the case for extending the Borders railway along with potential road improvements to the A1, A7 and A68. This study, which takes account of future housing development, will provide a sound evidence base to be taken forward for further assessment within the Strategic Transport Projects Review which will be delivered during the lifetime of this Parliament.