Chamber and committees

As of 30 June 2023, (a) 2,345 parents or carers in the Stirling local authority area, and (b) 2,160 parents or carers in the Clackmannanshire local authority area had received at least one Scottish Child Payment since its introduction on 14 February 2021.

These figures are based on secondary analysis of the most recently published statistics on Scottish Child Payment published by Social Security Scotland. Whilst these include information on the number of children currently benefitting from Scottish Child Payment by local authority area, we do not currently produce a breakdown of the total number of parents or carers who have received payment.

The latest Scottish Child Payment Official statistics publication can be found at:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications .

The next release of Scottish Child Payment statistics which will cover the period to the end of September 2023, is due to be published on 28 November 2023.

The first release of Official Statistics on Winter Heating Payment was published on 6 June 2023. It provides information on Winter Heating Payment, including the number of payments issued by local authority, from launch up to 30 April 2023. The publication shows that there were 4,110 payments issued to clients in the Clackmannanshire local authority and 5,030 payments issued to clients in the Stirling local authority.

The Official Statistics for Winter Heating Payment can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/winter-heating-payment-statistics-winter-2022-2023 .

The Scottish Government has a long history of providing support for town centre regeneration and continues to provide a strong policy framework, with clear priorities and actions to help facilitate and deliver change. This includes our world leading Town Centre First Principle, which was first developed in Scotland.

Our regeneration strategy published in 2011 reflects our support for town centres as a central part of community life and as the backbone of Scotland’s economy. We further strengthened our ambitions for town centres through the Town Centre Action Plan in 2013 and re-affirmed our commitment in collaboration with COSLA for the Town Centre Action Plan 2 published in April 2022. TCAP 2 is a call to action and sets out some of the ways in which we can all seek to do our part, locally and nationally.

The Scottish Government supports Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) as the ‘go to’ body for town centre advice and support. STP works collaboratively with the Scottish Government, local authorities, and other stakeholder groups on engagement, implementation, and delivery of short and long-term town centre strategies.

Town centre regeneration in Scotland has also been backed by multiple investment programmes. Our Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) established in 2021/22, backed with over £300m over 5 years makes an important contribution to supporting ambitions for place, community regeneration, town centres and 20-minute neighbourhoods. PBIP is also complemented by the low carbon Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP) and Regeneration and Capital Grant Fund (RGCF), now in its tenth year. Information on the RCGF funding awarded is publicly available.

Though by no means exhaustive, previous programmes that have supported town centre regeneration since 1999 also include:

The Scottish Government seeks to support the adoption of innovative aquaculture practices and recognises the role which legislative frameworks and other incentives play in fostering innovation. A recent example is the reduction of SEPA’s CAR licence fees by 50% for sites which plan to utilise innovative waste capture technologies.

The potential for a Scottish marine aquaculture innovation site was explored by the previous Aquaculture Industry Leadership Group. The Scottish Government remains open to discussing the purpose and aims of a marine innovation site further with stakeholders.

We are developing a new digital strategy to support our ongoing commitment to improve digital access for learners. This strategy will define the key elements for successful digital learning and seek to deliver the right technology, in the right place, with a workforce that knows how to use it.

Officials will engage with key partners across the education sector in development and implementation of the strategy, which we will publish in 2024.

The Scottish Government did not provide any funding directly to Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway in 2022.

Relationships Scotland operate a network of 21 member services across Scotland, including Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway.

In 2022, the Scottish Government provided Relationships Scotland with core funding via the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning & Empowering Communities third sector fund.

Scottish Government provide direct funding to Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs. The objectives for delivery during 2022-23 through this funding are as follows:

The appearance of nitazenes and other synthetic opioids in the drug supply has been a concern for Scottish Government for some time. Public Health Scotland issued an alert regarding nitazenes in January 2023 and the UK Government have since issued a similar alert. Following the issuing of these alerts, we are working alongside colleagues across the UK to identify areas for collaborative working with the various UK administrations, national police forces and the National Crime Agency.

Nitazenes are extremely potent opioid receptor agonists, however, naloxone is still effective in the treatment of any overdose. This is why we have invested over £3 million in widening access to naloxone, making it easier for people to access and supporting Police Scotland and our other emergency services to carry kits.

Recognising the global challenge around the appearance of new synthetic opioids, the Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy and members of the Scottish Governments National Mission Oversight Group on Drugs are meeting with international colleagues to hear about their experience of dealing with the appearance of fentanyl and synthetic opioids in the drug supply, and their response, in early November. A further meeting is being organised to discuss operational level issues with international colleagues and Scottish drug service delivery providers.

Having reliable data about substances of concern in the drug supply is key and is why we have supported Public Health Scotland to establish the RADAR (Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response) system. We also continue to progress plans with local partners to establish drug checking facilities as this will also provide up-to-date information about the substances in the drug supply.

Scottish Ministers recognise that Atlantic salmon returning to Scottish rivers have been declining and that predation is a complex pressure impacting on the species. That is why the Scottish Government continues to support research into non-lethal solutions to address seal-salmon interactions in rivers. The accompanying Implementation Plan to our Wild Salmon Strategy was published in February 2023 which sets out the collective actions to be taken across government, business and charitable sectors for the protection of wild Atlantic salmon.

Licences to kill or take seals can be granted under Part 6 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) determine such licence applications on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. Licences may besought in some circumstances to conserve seals or other wild animals (including wild birds) or plants. One instance in which an application would be considered is the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon.

MD-LOT consider applications on a case-by-case basis, based on information submitted by the applicant and input from consultees. Where sufficient evidence is provided to justify the need to kill or take a seal, for the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon in a particular location, a licence may be granted.

Data about the number of charges resulting in a conviction has been extracted from the management information used to publish the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard (Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard ).

The number of charges under the new Protection of Retail Workers (Scotland) Act that have received a conviction in criminal court from August 2021 up to March 2023 was 543.

Taking into account that an individual can have multiple charges and each charge can have different disposals (for example a custodial and a monetary disposal), 250 charges (of the total 543 charges) resulted in the person convicted going to prison and 189 charges received a community sentence as main disposal.