Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01617 on 18 August 2016. In addition, the Scottish Government provides local authorities with the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland to support practitioners when a child protection concern has been identified. The national circumstances raised by the member. The guidance stresses that decisions relating to children should be placed firmly in the context of Getting it Right for Every Child, and that the GIRFEC approach means that the risks and needs of individual children should be understood in terms of the child’s wellbeing.

The Scottish Government has put together a working group of stakeholders in order to create national guidance on contact for children who are looked after away from home. This contact can be with the child’s parents, siblings or other family members or important people in the child’s life. Representatives from local authorities are a part of this group to ensure key aspects such as the assessment and planning for contact arrangements are clearly outlined. Within the guidance we intend to include a general reminder to practitioners to be aware of the impact of domestic abuse between parents, in addition to physical, sexual and emotional abuse – as well as neglect – has on the child and that this must inform the arrangements for contact.

The guidance is now at an advanced stage with the intention to publish this in autumn 2016.

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 paramount consideration in any recommendation or decision about a contact arrangement is the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child. Where children are looked after by the local authority away from their parents’ care, local authority social work practitioners must make recommendations on what level of contact (if any) is appropriate and if there is a need for contact to be supervised.

In cases involving children, the Scottish Government considers that the key issue is the welfare and wellbeing of the child. Where possible, the views of the child should be taken into account. When there is a dispute about whether or not a separated parent should have contact with their children, an application can be made to the courts to determine the matter. The relevant legislation is section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. Section 11 provides that in considering whether or not to make an order, the court shall regard the welfare of the child concerned as its paramount consideration. Section 11 also makes provision on the voice of the child being heard so far as practicable, taking account of the child’s age and maturity. Section 11 was amended by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 to make it clear that when carrying out its duties under section 11, the court must have regard to the need to protect the child from abuse or the risk of any abuse which affects or might affect the child. 'Abuse' is defined widely, and includes abuse of a person other than the child.

The Scottish Government notes the recommendations of the National Prisoner Healthcare Network report, ‘Brain Injury and Offending’. NHS Boards are responsible for the provision of healthcare in prisons, in line with national guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment.

The Scottish Government is committed to reviewing the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to ensure the interests of children and their need to form and maintain relationships with key adults in their lives, such as grandparents, are at the heart of any new statutory measures. In reviewing the 1995 Act, the Scottish Government will continue to ensure that the welfare of the child in these cases remains paramount. The Scottish Government is currently considering how best to carry out this review.

Under Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, people have a right of access to most land and inland water in Scotland, so long as they act responsibly as detailed in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.

With regard to sports or playing fields, the Act provides that access rights are not exercisable on:

grass sports pitches or playing fields whilst they are in use for their intended purpose;

golf greens, bowling greens, cricket squares, lawn tennis courts or other similar area on which grass is grown and prepared for a particular recreational purpose, whether or not in use;

sports pitches or playing fields with certain types of artificial surfaces, whether or not in use.

The Scottish Government does not have any plans to review Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

The focus of the Scottish Government’s work on land reform is on implementing the provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, which received Royal Assent on 22 April 2016, and on our commitment to promote and facilitate community land ownership across the whole of Scotland.

Some of the provisions in the Act have already been commenced and our next implementation steps include appointing Scottish Land Commissioners by the end of 2016 and having a Scottish Land Commission operational by April 2017, the publication of a draft Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement for consultation this autumn before laying it before the Scottish Parliament in autumn 2017, publishing guidance in 2017 for landlords on how to engage with community groups, and consulting this summer on a register of persons with controlling interests in landowners and tenants, before laying draft Regulations in the Scottish Parliament.

There are no plans to introduce another Land Reform Bill to the Scottish Parliament at this stage.

In total there have been five tobacco banning orders in the five years since the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 has been introduced.

In 2012–2013 one banning order was issued to a retailer who persistently sold illicit and counterfeit tobacco. In 2013–2014 two banning orders were issued to two different retailers who had sold packets of cigarettes to persons under 18 years old. In 2014–2015 one banning order was issued to a retailer who had sold tobacco to a person under 18 years old. In 2015–2016 one banning order was issued to a retailer selling tobacco in a premises which was not registered.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01336 on 29 July 2016. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01336 on 29 July 2016. 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