Chamber and committees

The SPCB is proud to work with colleagues across all UK and Ireland legislatures to share best practice, innovative ideas, opportunities for shared learning and shared events (e.g., Mental Health Month, Trans and Non-Binary Awareness Week, National Inclusion Week during which seminars and information events are available to all).

The SPCB seeks to ensure that the training opportunities offered to MSP staff in the Scottish Parliament meet both the needs of the individual, their employer and the Parliament as a whole.  It would not be possible to offer the same training as colleagues in the UK Parliament and other UK legislatures as our needs will be different as is the context (training provided to the Scottish Parliament must be considered in the Scottish context within which we operate).  The team that supports MSP staff training regularly conduct reviews of the providers and their content to ensure that quality, effectiveness and value is maintained and where required will seek alternative provision.  The team operates within our procurement guidelines and uses their knowledge and expertise to ensure a quality provider is selected to work with colleagues and maintain our standards in providing relevant, quality training to MSP staff.  

The SPCB can confirm that they are committed to ensuring that all training offered to MSP staff is of the highest quality and that it meets our procurement standards.  As such we will continue to engage with MSP staff to ensure that the training meets their needs and that of their employing MSP.  MSPs and their staff can contact People and Culture colleagues for further support.  Delegates that attend training courses are asked to complete an evaluation form, which is reviewed and acted upon should any issues be raised.

The SPCB will continue to oversee engagement with MSP staff colleagues to review and continually improve our training offering.  We are in the final stages of seeking representation from all groups in order to re-establish the MSP Staff Training Forum, which will provide a mechanism for two-way engagement on training needs and effectiveness.  We will also continue to utilise other feedback mechanisms, including the Caseworker Forum, to ensure that we continue to provide what colleagues need and what represents the greatest return on investment for the Parliament.

Scotland’s National Parks support the communities living and working within them. They work with a wide range of local partners – including farmers, local businesses, third sector organisations, landowners and managers – to support a thriving local economy and maximise benefits for the environment, climate, economy and people. They can play a role in generating investment, creating new employment opportunities and bringing farmers, land managers and communities together.

Any nomination for a new National Park should be founded upon local community demand. We are asking groups to demonstrate evidence of local support and engagement with local communities and stakeholders in the development of their proposals.

To ensure the nomination and appraisal process for selecting a new National Park is open, fair and transparent, we consulted on an appraisal framework with broad criteria that will help us select the area or areas to be taken forward as a National Park proposal. In order to meet these criteria, nominating groups should demonstrate how designating their area as a National Park will help to meet the special needs of the area, including the social and economic needs. Groups also need to provide evidence of local community engagement and participation in the development of the proposal and they should provide details of support from local interest groups and communities. We have also asked groups to set out how their proposal will bring wider benefits to Scotland as a whole, for example by promoting nature-friendly farming and responsible investment in natural capital which will support the local economy.

Following the appraisal process, subject to at least one nomination being selected to proceed as a National Park proposal, we expect to appoint a reporter to undertake a more detailed investigation and report on the proposal. The reporter investigation will include extensive consultation and engagement with local communities, businesses, relevant local authorities and other interested parties – including those from the agricultural sector and farming and crofting community. The report and the outcome of these consultations will inform our final decision on Scotland’s next National Park.

In addition to these consultations, we are undertaking a range of impact assessments in order to assess the likely impacts of our policy to designate at least one new National Park by 2026. This will include a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment.

On 27 October 2023 I wrote to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee about the scope of a 2024 update on implementation, which confirms that the purpose of the update is not to amend the types of licence i.e. home-sharing, home-letting and secondary let because it is important that safety standards apply to all visitor accommodation. I have had no discussions which commit to suspending either of these accommodation types from the scheme.

We have been responsive throughout our implementation of the short-term let licensing scheme. We consulted three times over three years and engaged extensively to develop the detail of the scheme, which was scrutinised by Parliament prior to its approval in January 2022. Since local schemes became operational in October 2022, thousands of short-term let hosts and operators have applied for home-sharing, home-letting and secondary let licences under this scheme.

A copy of the letter is available on the Scottish Parliament website at: https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/local-gov/correspondence/2023/shorttermlets27oct.pdf

The Quarantine mailbox provides a holding area for email messages that are automatically identified as potentially harmful (e.g., potential phishing and malware messages). 

The IT Helpdesk initially sent out emails to all users to raise awareness of the Junk and Quarantine storage areas when it was introduced and most recently in 2020.  Since then, the screens at the BIT Engagement desk at Holyrood have been used to remind Members about the existence of the Quarantine area, and staff have been available to offer advice and assistance on accessing the folder.

Staff in the BIT Office are currently investigating a means of more actively alerting Members and other users of the email system to any quarantined email messages.  The alerts will take the form of a weekly roundup email reminding users to release or delete items as appropriate.

Imprints are a way of stating who is responsible for publishing campaigning or promotional political material and who they are promoting it for.  This point is reflected in the Electoral Commission’s recent statutory guidance on digital imprints under the Elections Act 2022. 

The functions of the SPCB are laid out in the Scotland Act and require the SPCB to provide the property, staff and services required for the Parliament’s purposes.  In principle, the SPCB does not include imprints on its material as it is publishing material for the purpose of these statutory functions and not political campaigning or promoting.   

The SPCB provides support to Members through the Reimbursement of Members Expenses Scheme to produce and distribute parliamentary funded publications to inform constituents of the work of the Member in their electoral area or in Parliament or about the work of the Parliament itself.

As SPCB resources are applied for the Parliament’s purposes, in accordance with the SPCB’s statutory functions, Members must abide by the rules in the SPCB Policy on Members’ Publications where costs are met from the Members’ Expenses Scheme.

The Policy restricts members from including material promoting the political views of any person, political party, the government or other organisation involved in political campaigning in parliamentary funded publications.  The Policy also prohibits the issue of parliamentary funded publications in the immediate run up to elections and referendums. For its purposes, the Policy requires the inclusion of a statement in relation to how the costs were met for such a publication and a header which must include the Parliament’s Corporate Identity, alongside the Member’s name and their area of representation, whether the publication is online or in hard copy.

• The Scottish Government funds five direct delivery partners on an annual basis, based on the government wide capital spending allocations as agreed by Cabinet. These five direct delivery partners are NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority and Scottish Water.
• These delivery partners then sub-contract physical restoration works to organisations in the third sector and private sector contractor companies.
• Contracts for peatland restoration are issued on a composite unit cost basis. Therefore, labour costs – for example machine operator wages – are not itemised separately.
• As each individual project across delivery partner and geographic location can vary significantly, it is not possible to determine an average labour cost across or within the delivery partners.

Scottish Government guidance is reviewed and updated regularly to ensure that information for the public and workplaces aligns to current policy. Policy is driven by the latest data, evidence and expert advice and is reflected in the communication of guidance. Throughout the pandemic public health advice on a range of complementary protective measures has been provided. When restrictions were in place (up to April 2022) advice was in place through guidance to support understanding and adherence of restrictions. Since the lifting of restrictions, guidance offers practical, risk-based advice on how to build infection resilience to respiratory infections including COVID-19, for individuals and workplaces. Any change in response will be driven by the data and evidence gathered, as well as expert advice.

The Scottish Government has a robust process in place for creating, updating and withdrawing COVID-19 guidance. The extended use of face masks and face coverings guidance across health and social care settings was withdrawn on 16 May 2023. This followed advice from Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI) Scotland and Public Health Scotland (PHS) that health and social care settings should revert to the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual and the Care Home Infection Prevention and Control Manual. Both manuals hold personal protective equipment guidance based on clinical need and risk assessment.

ARHAI Scotland and PHS continue to monitor and analyse COVID-19 data, including variants, hospital clusters and deaths. This is considered alongside reviews of the current scientific literature. The Scottish Government regularly reviews this information together with any new emerging evidence. Any change to guidance would consider the epidemiological context and the latest scientific evidence and is continually under review.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23097 on 4 December 2023. 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 .