Chamber and committees

The report by Scottish Ministers on the operation and effect of minimum unit pricing of alcohol during its first five years was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 20 September 2023 and is available at Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 - operation and effect 2018 to 2023: report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government takes the environmental impact of single-use vapes very seriously. Last year I commissioned an urgent review of the environmental impact of single-use vapes, which found that up to 26 million disposable vapes were consumed and thrown away in Scotland in just one year, of which an estimated 10 per cent were littered and more than half were incorrectly disposed.

Our Programme for Government committed to taking action to tackle the environmental impact of single use vapes, including consulting on a proposal to ban them. In September 2023, at the initiation of the Scottish Government, Ministers and senior officials from across the UK met to discuss single-use vapes. They discussed the available evidence, recognised shared challenges, and committed to work together on a range of options to tackle the impacts, up to and including a ban.

Following this, the Scottish Government, along with the UK Government, Welsh Government, and Department for Health and Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland held a four nations consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping which ran from October-December 2023. The consultation included a range of proposals, including consideration of a ban on single-use vapes and other measures to reduce their environmental impact. In November 2023 I wrote to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, to update the Committee on the government’s approach to tackling the issue.

I am pleased to announce that today, that the Scottish Government will take forward the legislation needed to the ban the sale and supply of single use vapes in Scotland, with a view to a ban coming into force at the earliest opportunity.

The four nations consultation response, published today, shows clear support for this measure. We are encouraged that the responses from Scotland accounted for 11% of the 28,000 responses received in total, exceeding expectations for comprehensive representation and highlighting the need for action on these issues. In Scotland, 82.3% supported restrictions on single-use vapes (79.3% UK-wide), and 73.4% favoured an outright ban (68.1% UK-wide).

We will continue to work with UK Government and other Devolved Governments as we develop this legislation, and will engage with Parliament as appropriate and necessary during this process.

Today, the Scottish Government has published its latest Major Capital Projects Progress Update associated with the Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) for 2021-22 to 2025-26, which sets out progress on the delivery of infrastructure projects with a value over £5 million which have agreed Outline Business Cases or equivalent. The update can be viewed via the following link: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835218976

The UK Government did not inflation-proof their Capital Budget which has resulted in nearly a 10% real-terms cut in our capital funding over the medium-term between 2023-24 and 2027-28. The decisions made by the UK Government to reduce our capital funding in real terms year on year, alongside the construction supply chain issues, labour shortages and high inflation means that we cannot deliver on all our capital projects within the funding available.

Further work is therefore underway to update the full pipeline of projects and programmes relating to the current IIP to ensure it is affordable and deliverable and provides best value for money. A refresh of the overall infrastructure pipeline is intended to be published alongside the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) in May 2024.

As set out in the May 2023 MTFS, we plan to extend the current IIP period by one year, to 2026-27. This will ensure spending is aligned to the three missions for this Parliament and that it takes account of the fiscal and economic reality at the time. Work with stakeholders and colleagues is ongoing to develop the next IIP, which will be published in due course and in plenty of time to be adopted in 2027-28.

Our 2023 Tobacco and Vaping Framework includes action to raise the age limit for the sale of tobacco, and review what action is needed to limit the appeal of vapes to children, young people and non-smokers. Key to this work were the proposals consulted on in the four nations “Smokefree Generation and Tackling Youth Vaping” consultation.

I am pleased to announce that today, the four-nation government response to this consultation has been published.

The response sets out our intention to regulate, through a UK-wide Bill, on raising the age of sale for tobacco year-on-year so that a child born in 2009 or younger can never legally be sold tobacco products. The Bill will also provide a number of powers to tackle youth vaping in Scotland, including restrictions on flavours; regulating point of sale displays; regulating product packaging and presentation.

We will continue to work with UK Government and other Devolved administrations to develop legislation, and will engage with Parliament as appropriate and necessary during this process.

I recognise the cross-party interest in these measures, so commit to a providing an opportunity for discussion with Parliament through a ministerial statement, the date of which will be confirmed as soon as possible.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24682 on 29 January 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 refer the member to the answer to question S6W-24444 on‎ 22 January 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 .

Whilst this is an operational matter for ScotRail and the previous Franchisee, Abellio ScotRail prior to 1 April 2022, ScotRail advises that, as part of the Grant Agreement, ScotRail conducts an annual survey of ticketless travel. The fieldwork for the most recent survey was carried out between 9 September and 23 September 2023 and the results reported that ticketless travel was 5.9%, down from 8.8% in 2022, a reduction of 2.9%.

ScotRail also advises that it invested in a mobile revenue protection team of 42 officers in 2023 who conduct revenue protection experience across the network to ensure that passengers pay their fares. In addition, over 130 frontline roles were recruited to ensure trains and automatic ticket gates are staffed.

There is no quick fix for the challenges leading to depopulation and the Scottish Government is committed to delivering, through its Addressing Depopulation Action Plan, a range of actions which are pragmatic, targeted, and affordable, and respond to what we have heard from communities and stakeholders during policy engagement and development.

The Addressing Depopulation Action Plan will be published shortly, and will ensure that within a challenging budget environment we are able to maximise the impact that our interventions can have in supporting the sustainability of communities affected by population decline.

We are dedicated to tackling inequalities in maternity experience and outcomes. That is why we asked NHS Boards to prioritise the roll-out of continuity of carer in maternity care, that underpins The Best Start programme leading to improved outcomes, for women from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds, as well as for women experiencing multiple social complexity.

In January 2023, we launched a programme of work with a focus on racialised inequalities in maternity, informed by data and evidence from reports, including MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK) confidential enquiries, audit reports, and third sector reports on the lived experiences of service users. We have established a short-life working group, bringing together third sector organisations, healthcare professionals, professional bodies and national networks to identify and take evidence-based actions addressing inequalities, with the voice of those with lived experience at the centre.

Orders for Lifelong Restriction (OLRs) are a long-standing valuable sentencing option for courts to use for the most dangerous offenders. The OLR is an exceptional risk based sentence which is only used by the most senior judges in Scotland in the High Court following a risk assessment process carried out by accredited experts.

In order for the High Court to impose an OLR, they must be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the nature of, or the circumstances of the commission of, the offence of which the convicted person has been found guilty - either in the circumstances themselves or as part of a pattern of behaviour - are such as to demonstrate that there is a likelihood that he or she, if at liberty, will seriously endanger the lives, or physical or psychological well-being, of members of the public at large.

Decisions on the release of OLR prisoners are taken by the Parole Board for Scotland. New rules were introduced last year which require that the latest Risk Management Plan (RMP) or the Risk Assessment Report is available to the Board when consideration is made for the release of a person subject to an OLR. The Board will only direct release when they are satisfied that imprisonment is no longer necessary for the protection of the public but in circumstances where their decision differs from the recommendations in the RMP, they must provide a reason for that decision.

The Risk Management Authority (RMA) have a legislative responsibility around the evaluation and approval of RMPs and can make recommendations around the role of social work and psychologists involved in those cases. The RMA have produced evidence-based Standards and Guidelines for Risk Assessment and Management to support criminal justice partners in consistent risk practice. Last year, they also published extensive research into the Order for Lifelong Restriction sentence, a report which is available on their website, and the Scottish Government continues to reflect on these findings.

Professional standards bodies such as the Scottish Social Services Council sets out national standards of conduct and practice that apply to all social service workers and their employers.

Over the last few years, there have been changes to pilot delivery of two new national offender programmes, an expanded Self-Change programme to address intimate partner violence and sexual offending and a redesigned Moving Forward to Change (MF2C) sex offender programme. It is expected that MF2C will support a greater throughput of prisoners through the programme, optimising access to it.