Chamber and committees

Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls acknowledges the important role specialist and single-sex services play in supporting victim-survivors of violence against women and girls.

There are single sex exceptions in the UK wide Equality Act 2010, and it is the responsibility of service providers to comply with the 2010 Act. The Equality and Human Rights Commission as the body responsible for enforcing the 2010 Act has produced specific guidance to support organisations in their compliance, including a Statutory Code of Practice and a guide for service providers who operate a separate or single-sex service.

The increase in the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) balance relates to Taxpayers’ equity, which represents SFC’s investment in the university sector through low cost loans (SFC’s Financial Transactions programme) issued to universities to support them with longer-term projects since 2018.

Taxpayers’ equity is not a liquid asset which can be spent. It is a measure of the financial position of SFC from the perspective of its stakeholders showing what assets (tangible and intangible) remain after all SFC debts and obligations are met. It reflects the overall net worth of SFC which belongs to the taxpayer.

SFC’s ability to support the college and university sectors is framed by the allocation received in annual Budget Bills and SFC is required to live within the allocation set for that financial year. SFC does not hold any “reserves” of monies.

The Scottish Government meets and engages with Audit Scotland regarding their annual publications on Scotland's Colleges which are published on Audit Scotland’s website. Audit Scotland’s most recent publication can be found here : https://audit.scot/publications/scotlands-colleges-2023 . However, there has not been specific discussion regarding Audit Scotland’s scrutiny of overall staffing budgets and spend in colleges.

The Scottish Government has not made any specific assessments in this regard, the Scottish Funding Council published a report on the impact of the programme of college mergers in Scotland in 2012-13 and 2013-14, available on their website here: https://www.sfc.ac.uk/college_mergers_overarching_report-pdf/?_rt=NXwxfG1lcmdlcnwxNzE2NTQ0NDkw&_rt_nonce=8e88beaf84 .

The Scottish Government and SFC are very conscious of the challenge colleges face. We are working collaboratively as part of the Colleges: Tripartite Alignment Group and the tripartite group provides strategic direction on the pressures and opportunities facing colleges and I take a strong interest in its work as I ensure we do all we can to support colleges. Further detail on the work of this group is available here: Colleges: Tripartite Alignment Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Given the commercial nature of these events the Scottish Government has not undertaken an assessment of the likely economic impact of the Taylor Swift concerts in Edinburgh.

There have been no specific discussions with stakeholders, by either Ministers or Officials, regarding the forecast impacts from the Taylor Swift concerts. VisitScotland however (as the national tourism agency for Scotland) has been undertaking PR and marketing activities to maximise the opportunity for Scotland's visitor economy from Taylor Swift fans attending the Edinburgh concerts - as it does for other major events across Scotland.

The launch of the refreshed “Scotland’s National Events Strategy 2024 – 2035” on Tuesday 28 May reflects the continued commitment by the Scottish Government to sustain and develop a dynamic, resilient, and responsible events sector that is a valued part of Scotland’s wellbeing economy, maintaining Scotland’s reputation as “The Perfect Stage for Events.”

The refreshed National Events Strategy has been the result of a collaborative effort, shaped by voices from across the event sector, Trade Unions, Local Authorities and the wider public sector. Following that consultation and engagement process clear agreed priorities have emerged to shape a strategy that provides focus for the whole sector, bringing everyone together to deliver a shared ambition.

Working with the sector and other partners we will ensure Scotland continues to support a dynamic portfolio of events – from regular local community events to Scotland’s signature events and festivals, to one off international business, cultural and sporting events.

A copy of the National Events Strategy may be found using the URL Scotland's National Events Strategy | VisitScotland.org

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27480 on 4 June 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 .

As set out in our response to our 2022 public consultation, we are considering options for reform of the earnings threshold as part of longer-term plans for improvements to Carer Support Payment. These include increasing the earnings threshold and introducing a run-on of support to mitigate the earnings ‘cliff edge’, both of which were supported by the majority of respondents to the consultation. Given the range of views on how the earnings rules for Carer Support Payment could work differently from Carer’s Allowance, we are continuing to consider the responses received. We are also considering research, recently published by the DWP in May, on carers’ experiences of claiming and receiving Carer’s Allowance to inform our approach.

We have taken on board lessons from Carer’s Allowance in designing Carer Support Payment to better prevent overpayments. Information on earnings rules and when to report changes are much clearer. We are making better use of the ability to average out carers’ earnings, and using data from HMRC and scheduled reviews for self-employed carers to check and track carers’ earnings. Our systems use automated decision making for the most straightforward applications, allowing more time and resource to focus on complex cases and earnings processes. We pay Carer Support Payment four weekly in arrears as standard, reducing the potential for overpayments by allowing more time for a change of circumstances to be reported and reflected in a carer’s award. As part of the case transfer process, we also have processes in place to check earnings once carer’s awards are in payment to reduce the risk of inheriting existing overpayments. We are continuing to take feedback from carers and stakeholders to consider how we can continue to improve our earnings processes.

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) uses a live, operational database to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies throughout Scotland. It is designed to meet business needs in the processing of criminal cases, rather than for statistical purposes and the information within it is structured accordingly. Information provided is at date of extract and may therefore be subject to change as data and systems are updated for operational reasons.

From 1 April to 28 May 2024, 170 hate crime charges and 615 charges with one or more hate crime aggravations in terms of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 have been reported to COPFS for the whole of Scotland. The total, therefore, is 785 charges.

From 1 April to 28 May 2024, 33 hate crime charges and 98 charges with one or more hate crime aggravations in terms of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 have been reported to COPFS in the Lothian region. For the purposes of this answer, the ‘Lothian region’ been restricted to charges reported to COPFS from the Edinburgh and Livingston Sheriff Court Districts. The total 131 hate crime charges and aggravations for Lothian region represents 16.7% of the total for the whole of Scotland.

The Permanent Secretary wrote to the First Minister on 27 May outlining the impact of the UK general election guidance on the Scottish Government’s planned business. In this letter, in line with normal practice, the Permanent Secretary advised on the deferral of strategic policies due to be published in the pre-election period. This includes the publication of the Building a New Scotland papers, which will be paused during the pre-election period. The Scottish Government is continuing to develop material to ensure people have the information they need to make an informed choice about Scotland’s future and will resume publication following the General Election.