Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government provides over £2m of our Equality and Human Rights Fund to older people’s organisations to deliver work focused on tackling inequality and enable older people to live independent and fulfilling lives. These organisations deliver work to highlight abuse and neglect of older people, offering advice and help.

The concept of elder abuse is very broad. The World Health Organisation has defined it as ‘a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person' ( Elder abuse (who.int) ). The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 is designed to protect people; aged 16 years and over who are unable to safeguard their own well-being, property, rights or other interests; are at risk of harm; and, because they are affected by disability, mental disorder, illness or physical or mental infirmity, are more vulnerable to being harmed than adults who are not so affected.

While the Scottish Government doesn’t hold information on elder abuse, specifically, it does hold information on adults at risk of harm (or who have been harmed) by age; where an Adult Support and Protection investigation commenced. The figures, along with many data quality issues explained, were published on our website on 9 May 2023. The release indicated that, in 2021-22, about 40% of those subject to an ASP investigation were over the age of 75 (15% were men and 25% were women). These figures are national estimates due to differing local processes.

In addition, there are a number of data developments aimed at strengthening the information available, including:

• The Scottish Government has developed an improvement plan for adult support and protection which includes reviewing current ASP data to develop more robust, meaningful and comparable data. The review and development of an ASP minimum dataset is being taken forward by The Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS). The minimum dataset will provide a clearer picture of Adult Support and Protection in Scotland.
• The Official Statistics on police recorded crime and criminal proceedings do not include details on whether the victim was an older person, or their relationship to the perpetrator. However, the new crime system will allow crime stats by victim age, therefore a measure of recorded crimes against older people.
• The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey are developing a new Fraud and Computer Misuse module. This module will help estimate the prevalence of victimisation from these crimes in Scotland for the first time and will allow for a breakdown by age.
• The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 requires information about police recorded hate crime and convictions data to be published annually, and with greater detail where known. When the Act comes into force it will, for the first time, introduce new protections against offences aggravated by prejudice towards a person’s age.

Across Scotland, safety cameras are deployed through the Scottish Safety Camera Programme primarily at locations where they have the greatest potential to reduce injury collisions, and where there is evidence of both collisions and speeding.

National management of the Programme is shared between Transport Scotland and Police Scotland. Operational delivery of the Programme is the responsibility of Police Scotland and is managed through three regional Safety Camera Units, North, East and West. The following data is based on information submitted by Police Scotland to Transport Scotland.

We recognise the significant impact on people, businesses and communities in areas affected by storm Babet. The Scottish Government is committed to playing its part in helping them through this horrible experience which has destroyed so many people’s property and belongings and established the Storm Babet Ministerial Taskforce to co-ordinate its support for local recovery efforts.

The package of support Scottish Government is providing includes Flood Recovery Grants to assist people whose homes and businesses have been flooded; initiating the Bellwin Scheme to help all Councils cover eligible expenditure for urgent repairs; grants for farmers affected by severe flooding in parts of Scotland to help repair man-made flood banks; and an additional £100,000 for Angus Council’s homelessness prevention efforts to help those families who have lost everything to resettle and rebuild their lives.

Letters offering additional funding have been supplied to each Storm Babet local authority within the red warning area for rain. Residents and businesses impacted can claim grants of £1,500 for damage to their homes and property, businesses can claim £3,000, and should contact their Local Authority for advice.

Details on the Flood Recovery Grants were posted on social media and published on the Scottish Government website on 30 November 2023. The grants and information on how to apply were also publicised on Local Authority websites.

The Clyde Marine Planning Partnership (CMPP) are currently undertaking a governance review including the make-up of the CMPP Board. This process is ongoing and is yet to conclude. When and if changes are agreed and adopted by the partnership, they will notify Scottish Ministers of these as soon as reasonably practicable and without delay as per Schedule 1 of the Delegation of Functions (Regional Marine Plan for the Scottish Marine Region for the Clyde) Direction 2017. As previously communicated, the CMPP's governance is primarily a matter for the CMPP itself as part of delegated powers and function under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Current membership is published on the CMPP website: www.clydemarineplan.scot 

Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with Falkirk Council officials, working collaboratively to ensure that the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme delivers for local communities and businesses.

The UK Government has not provided any consequential funding to the Scottish Government to enable additional resources to be provided to NHS boards where the Home Office has chosen to procure contingency asylum accommodation. The Scottish Government provides funding to GP practices upon registration of new patients (including asylum seekers) for ongoing costs.

The Renewables Installer Finder tool, funded by Scottish Government, provides information on Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certified companies who operate in Scotland and wish to list their information on the tool. The tool can be found at: Renewables Installer Finder (est.org.uk) According to the MCS, the certified companies typically have, on average, an estimated workforce of three installers. Since MCS certification is not a mandatory requirement for heat pump contractor companies, these figures will not capture all companies in Scotland.

The pace of the Heat in Buildings transition requires a substantial growth in supply chains, including heat pump installation and maintenance. Supporting Scotland’s current and future workforce to develop the skills needed for the net zero transition is a priority for this government. Our Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan sets out practical steps that we will take to support the growth of the green heat sector. We continue to work in partnership with the sector to ensure that the appropriate support and training provision are aligned at a local level with business needs and future local demands.

Training provision is available across both the public and private sector with scope to increase capacities to match increase in demand. In many cases, existing workers can be upskilled through relatively short training courses. For example, there are currently 4475 businesses listed on the Gas Safe Register in Scotland, with 8651 distinct engineers in Scotland qualified to work on domestic central heating. Many of these engineers will be capable of transitioning to heat pump installations through short training courses.

The consultation on a Heat in Buildings Bill will help to provide the certainty that industry has asked for to invest in skills. Ministers will host a supply chain round table as part of the consultation, to hear from the supply chain directly.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail, and the information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The member may note that to ensure transparency, ScotRail Trains Ltd publishes data with regards to the paid compensations on its website: Delay Repay | Train Fare Compensation Scheme (scotrail.co.uk)

The Scottish National Investment Bank (the Bank) is extensively engaged in work to understand the market gaps and areas of opportunity in the offshore wind supply chain.

Details of each of the Bank’s investments are published online in the Bank’s portfolio webpage. This webpage provides a breakdown of the Bank’s investments by primary mission and also provides further details on each investment such as listing any co-investors and a summary of what the investment will achieve.

The Bank has, to date, made investment commitments of £463.2 million across 29 investments. As the Bank’s Impact Report 2023 sets out, from launch to 31 December 2022 these investments have generated approximately 1.8 GWh of renewable energy, powering the equivalent of 472 homes in a year.

The Bank has concluded a number of offshore wind supply chain investments.

The £35m investment into the Port of Aberdeen (concluded in January 2022) to support the development of the new South Harbour facility. This expansion will provide greater land and water access for offshore wind developers, playing a vital role in the ScotWind supply chain.

The £50m investment into North Star Renewables (concluded in December 2022), as part of a wider £140m finance facility, to build service operation vessels. These vessels are critical in supporting the installation, operation and maintenance of wind farms as they increase in size and distance from shore.

Furthermore the Bank’s £6.6m investment in Verlume (concluded in April 2023) demonstrates the importance of innovative technology in supporting offshore wind developments. Verlume uses intelligent energy management to deliver a constant output of power from renewable sources and minimises energy loss from electricity generated from offshore wind.

The Scottish Government commissioned NHS Education Scotland (NES) to develop and run the National Digital Platform. The following table details spend incurred by NES by financial year on the design, development, and support for the National Digital Platform (NDP) since the initial commission in 2018.