Chamber and committees

The NDSP pilot is in the initial business case stage, with Police Scotland currently looking at the internal processing, handling and storage of digital images and how that best fits with current and projected processes.

I have requested a meeting with Police Scotland to discuss progress on the pilot and would be happy to write to the member subsequently.

Our commitment is for all pupils to have access to a digital device by the end of this Parliament. The following table shows how many devices have been distributed by each local authority using the £25m digital inclusion funding made available by Scottish Government in 2020/21. This funding supported the provision of 14,000 internet connections and over 72,000 tablets or laptops in total for learners across all local authorities.

At present, there is no deadline for unlocking the full £200 million investment ambition. However, it is anticipated that the first six Green Growth Accelerator (GGA) pathfinder projects will collectively unlock more than £50 million investment in low carbon infrastructure over the next two years.

No clear timetable has been provided by the UK Government on this matter.

Land reform is a matter of longstanding public concern and there are a number of established stakeholders in this area. They cover a variety of interests, and include landowners, tenants, and community groups and their respective representative organisations, charities and third sector groups, academics, as well as solicitors and other professionals concerned with property law and taxation.

Engagement with stakeholders has so far taken place primarily through the formal consultation process. The consultation, Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation , was published on 4 July 2022, setting out our proposals for the next Land Reform Bill. During the consultation period a programme of Ministerial public meetings took place, with five in-person meetings (in Langholm, Invermoriston, Helmsdale, Stornoway, and Ballater) and an online meeting, which attracted over 100 participants from across Scotland.

Approximately 540 responses to the consultation have been received and these are currently being analysed. We remain committed to continuing to engage with stakeholders throughout the Bill process.

Over the course of the last Parliament, there was demonstrable progress on a number of long-term measures to close the poverty related attainment gap, with attainment gaps in literacy and numeracy narrowing pre-pandemic in primary schools. We know that the pandemic and cost of living crisis has made our ambition of achieving equity in education harder but we are committed to substantially eliminating the poverty related attainment gap and are investing
‎ £1 billion over the course of this parliamentary term in the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) – a substantial increase on last term’s £750 million funding.

The Scottish Government gathers a range of data via the National Improvement Framework, which includes 11 key measures of particular relevance to the attainment gap in both the Broad General Education and Senior Phase. A detailed breakdown of attainment and the poverty related attainment gap can be found on the Scottish Government website - Supporting documents - Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels 2020-21 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and Supporting documents - Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No. 4: 2022 Edition - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

From 2015-16 to 2021-22, £97.6 million was allocated to local authorities in Mid Scotland and Fife region, through a range of funding streams that contribute to the SAC: Pupil Equity Funding (PEF), Care Experienced Children and Young People (CECYP), Challenge Authority and Schools Programme.

From 2022-23 onwards, investment in the refreshed SAC programme is continuing with all Local Authorities now receiving direct funding for the first time through Strategic Equity Funding (SEF) along with the continuing of PEF and CECYP. In 2022-23, £16.8 million has been allocated to Clackmannanshire, Fife, Perth & Kinross and Stirling. Through the introduction of SEF, Fife, Perth & Kinross and Stirling Councils are receiving funding for the first time to develop strategic local authority plans to close the poverty related attainment gap. This funding empowers schools and Councils to drive education recovery and accelerate progress in tackling the poverty related attainment gap.

Through the SAC Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress , all local authorities are now required to set ambitious stretch aims for progress closing the gap. These should be published on local platforms as part of local authority education service improvement plans. A national aggregation of these aims will be published later this month and will be available to access here .

Further to our response to S6W-12054, the Scottish Government has the power to operate lifeline ferry services and has been doing so through the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract since 2007. We are currently considering the most appropriate route for continuity of these services supported by the engagement with local communities to be taken forward by the Chair of the Ferries Community Board in the near future and will provide further advice once our plans have been finalised.

The national strategy for 20 mph continues to make good progress with the Scottish Government supporting local authorities with an additional £1.4 million in funding to undertake the necessary assessments to identify the number of roads affected and the financial implications. This work is scheduled to conclude in Spring 2023 and will enable the multi-partner 20 mph Task Group to then scope the next steps and options for implementation.

Transport Scotland and local authority partners are also exploring the potential for some early adopter schemes. These would enable the Task Group to assess the opportunities, impacts and promotion of 20 mph limits ahead of the 2025 deadline.

In addition Transport Scotland is working with the Scottish Government Marketing and Insight Unit to develop a national campaign that will focus on promoting the benefits of lower speeds and encourage behaviour change pre and post implementation.

As of the end of the day on 21 November 2022, there had been a total of 34,018,746 journeys made under the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel Scheme.

There are currently three working groups, nine advisory groups and one that is both a working and advisory group within the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture portfolio. These are as follows:

‎ Working Groups

‎ • Public Interest Journalism Working Group: Public Interest Journalism Working Group
‎ • Measuring Change Group: National Partnership for Culture: National Partnership for Culture: Workshop 4 – measuring change information paper - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

• Local and National Delivery Group – newly established working group to improve local and national government collaborative working on Culture. Terms of reference in development so not currently published.

‎ Advisory Groups

‎ • Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population: https://www.gov.scot/groups/migration-and-population-expert-advisory-group/

• The Global South Panel
‎ • Creative Industries Leadership Group: https://www.gov.scot/groups/creative-industries-leadership-group/
‎ • National Partnership for Culture: National Partnership for Culture - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

• Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel(SAFAP): SAFAP - Treasure Trove (treasuretrovescotland.co.uk)

• 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships Policy Advisory Group: Governance | 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships (cyclingworldchamps.com)

• Event Industry Advisory Group (EIAG): Event Industry Advisory Group - Updates & Guidance | VisitScotland.org

• 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships Cabinet: Governance | 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships (cyclingworldchamps.com)

• Culture Convenors – group jointly chaired by SG and COSLA as described in the Culture Strategy: A Culture Strategy for Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Both Advisory and Working Group

‎ • Scotland’s Historic Environment Forum (SHEF): https://www.historicenvironment.scot/media/8668/shef-290622-event-report.pdf

In addition to the groups listed above, Portfolio officials frequently meet with stakeholders across a number of other groups and one to one meetings.