Chamber and committees

At the present time, the Scottish Government collects and maintains data annually in respect of Child Protection in Scotland. This data is collected and published as part of the annual Children’s Social Work Statistics Official Statistics publication. Each Scottish Local Authority is asked to submit a return providing information on the children who were involved in the Child Protection process during the year. This includes the following information on Child Protection.

1. Number of Child Protection Investigations and outcomes of the investigation.

2. Number of Child Protection Case Conferences (also known as Child Protection Planning Meetings). This includes the type of Case conference (i.e. Pre-Birth, Initial, Review, Transfer In) and the type of concern(s) identified at the Case Conference (e.g. domestic abuse, parental substance misuse). This also includes the child's primary known/suspected abuser at the time of the Case Conference.

3. Number of children on the Child Protection Register.

4. Number of Child Protection registrations and de-registrations.

5. Sociodemographic details on each child involved in any of the above (age; gender; ethnic group; religion; disability).

In addition to this, the Children and Families Analysis Team also collects and publishes monthly Management Information data in respect of Child Protection in Scotland. This data is collected and published as part of the monthly Vulnerable Children and Adult Monitoring Report data collection and publication. This includes the following information on Child Protection concerns and interventions:

1. Number of child protection concerns and child wellbeing concerns.

2. Number of inter-agency referral discussions.

3. Number of children on the Child Protection Register.

4. Number of Child Protection registrations and de-registrations.

5. Number of registrations where domestic abuse was recorded as a significant factor.

6. Number of referrals to the Reporter on offence and non-offence grounds.

7. Number of arrange Hearing decisions and number of Hearings held.

8. Number of Compulsory Supervision Orders granted.

The OBC from NHS Lanarkshire considered in great detail the impact of the pandemic within their design. The new facility has considered best use of space and layout alongside ventilation to ensure consideration has been given to any future pandemic so that areas like Critical Care and Operating Theatre suites can accommodate reconfiguration to continue to provide services to high-risk infected patients. NHS Lanarkshire continues to embrace digital technology, brought on as a requirement in the pandemic, to reduce unnecessary patient attendances.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25429 on 4 March 2024.All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I visited the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity’s (ECHC) wellbeing centre, The Hub, based in the Edinburgh Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, on 24 October 2023. During my visit I met with some of the charity’s team members and spoke to them about their new wellbeing and resilience service, The Haven, based in East Lothian.

In addition, Scottish Government officials are currently liaising with ECHC staff to arrange a visit for the Cabinet Secretary of NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, who has recently been invited to the service.

The Scottish Government does not undertake assessments of available community spaces to local community groups and clubs. This is a matter for the relevant public authorities with responsibility for the land or buildings available in their authority area and the decision to undertake an assessment would be for them to consider. Under the Community Empowerment Act (2015), communities are, however, able to request a right to buy, lease, manage or use land and buildings belonging to local authorities, Scottish public bodies or Scottish Ministers. Scottish Government encourages relevant authorities to work with their communities to make sure they can access and make use of available spaces.

Routine monitoring is not carried out in all Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The Scottish MPA Monitoring Strategy sets out a framework for a risk-based approach to planning and prioritising monitoring activities. Prioritisation of MPA monitoring effort is guided by principles defined in the strategy. These principles firstly identify target features based on criteria including risk from negative impacts, importance within Scotland and functional importance within the ecosystem. Additionally, location of monitoring is prioritised using criteria including site management characteristics, covering feature geographical range and existing data availability.

Evidence-gathering in accordance with the principles of the strategy is then carried out by government, agencies, academics and often supported by citizen science projects. This information underpins assessment and reporting obligations, as well as enabling monitoring of the ecological benefits the network provides.

The annexes to the MPA Monitoring Strategy are regularly updated with details of recent and upcoming surveys. The latest update detailing plans for surveying in the next two years will be available soon on the Scottish Government website: MPA monitoring strategy - Marine environment - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

As required by Section 103 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, the next report to the Scottish Parliament on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) will be published in 2024. The Scottish Government intends to publish the next report in December 2024. Reporting occurs in a 6-year cycle. The last report was published in December 2018, and is available here: Marine Protected Area Network - 2018 Report to the Scottish Parliament - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The Just Transition Fund has allocated £75 million to date, supporting projects and communities across the North East and Moray to create jobs, support innovation, and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future.

The Scottish Government has faced its most challenging budgetary settlement since devolution began – a settlement which has not been inflation-proofed, and which has subsequently required difficult decisions to be made, due to the pressures on our public services. Mindful of our missions and priorities for Scotland, we have had to prioritise legal and contractual obligations in determining how to deploy this budget across Education and Skills priorities. Our children, young people, families and learners of all ages continue to be a key priority for this Government and we will continue to focus on our three central missions of equality, opportunity, and community.

We remain committed to supporting a high quality post-school education, research and skills system with over £2.4 billion investment. This includes honouring this government’s commitment to free tuition and a £2,400 increase in student financial support for higher education students from the next academic year.

We have also made clear our commitment to reform our lifelong education and skills system. This is demonstrated within our 2023-24 Programme for Government where we committed to lead the development of a new funding model for Post-School education provision.

We look forward to receiving the subsequent reports where NUS will set out their roadmap towards an education system that’s collectively shaped by students’ views, values and ambitions which we hope will offer some robust proposals, including funding suggestions to drive forward our commitment to reforming the post-16 landscape.

We are deeply concerned by the allegations arising in January 2024 that UNRWA staff may have been involved in the October 7 attacks on Israel. Ahead of Scottish Government awarding funding to UNRWA in November 2023, UNRWA provided a copy of the regulatory framework which governs financial management and staff conduct within the organisation. That regulatory framework was scrutinised by Scottish Government officials as part of our due diligence process ahead of awarding funding.

Immediately after these allegations emerged, Scottish Government officials contacted UNWRA with specific reference to the serious allegations that had been made public to seek assurance on finance, and to enquire about the investigation as a matter of urgency. In particular, Scottish Government officials asked UNRWA for an update on what Scottish Government’s contribution to the UNRWA appeal had been spent on and assurance that it had not contributed to funding any proscribed terrorist groups. UNWRA responded to that Scottish Government enquiry, confirming that the Scottish funding within the UNRWA appeal had been used to contribute towards supporting lifesaving activities targeting vulnerable groups (children, women, and elderly) with protection and emergency hygiene needs.

As part of the agreement governing the contribution to this appeal, UNRWA is required to provide Scottish Government with the UNRWA Annual Operational Report for the period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 no later than 31st July 2024.

In February, Scottish Government officials received an update from UNRWA that the UN Secretary-General, in consultation with the UNRWA Commissioner-General, commissioned an independent review to assess if the Agency is doing everything it can to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches. A final report is expected in April and will be made publicly available.

UNRWA released a press statement on 26 February 2024 stating that it is not aware of and has received no specific allegations regarding any systemic diversion of aid in Gaza by Hamas or other armed groups.

UNRWA is the largest humanitarian actor in Gaza and the primary source of life-saving aid for 2.3 million people. In pausing support for UNRWA, the lives of millions are being put at risk. The UK Government and the international community must work with the UN to find mechanisms to sustain and increase the levels of life-saving aid getting into Gaza.