Chamber and committees

The Highway Code changes which came into effect at the start of the year were supported by a nationwide multi-media campaign in February 2022. Amendments to The Highway Code are reserved to the UK Government, and DfT is responsible for marketing these changes. The Scottish Government and road safety partners across Scotland support the latest changes.

The Scottish Government was disappointed the UK Government felt unable to promote those changes ahead of 29 January, so we took the proactive decision to do so ourselves in Scotland, and Transport Scotland funded the initial campaign. The second-phase campaign, in August, focused on encouraging mutual respect between road users to help embed the changes to the Code and to deliver behaviour change. This phase was funded by DfT. Transport Scotland continues to work with partners across the UK, including DfT, to align future awareness campaigns for any further changes to the Highway Code.

The public communication campaign consists of two distinct phases.

The first, is aimed at business and has started already.

The second, which is aimed at the general public will begin closer to the launch of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme and is currently being developed. This is consistent with international best practice.

As independent Scheme Administrator established by businesses, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) is responsible for setting the fees for businesses who wish CSL to administer their DRS obligations on their behalf.

The rationale behind a higher fee for producers who use UK-wide labels instead of Scotland-specific ones is to compensate for any drinks containers purchased elsewhere in the UK where a deposit is not paid, but then returned in Scotland for a deposit.

CSL will actively monitor such returns and adjust the higher fee per individual product to reflect the number of such containers processed through its network that were purchased out with Scotland.

NRS will publish the first census outputs approximately one year after conclusion of the census data collection phases.

NRS will consult with data users over the coming months to ensure that census outputs are accessible and provided in a format which meets the needs of census data users.

We are progressing the recommendations made in the independent Deer Working Group (DWG) report , published in December 2020. The DWG report made recommendations to improve deer management and included recommendations 19-21 which propose legislative amendments to modernise the licensing of venison dealers and improve information gathering. The Scottish Government response to the DWG report is at the following link: https://www.gov.scot/news/deer-working-group-response/ .

The recommendations relating to game and venison dealer licensing are being taken forward via the legislative work stream of the Deer Management Strategic Board which has been established under the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Programme. We will provide further information on timing of changes to the legislation on venison licensing in due course. We expect to consult on any proposed changes to primary legislation in the normal way.

Regular updates on all of the work from the Deer Management Strategic Board can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.scot/groups/strategic-deer-management-board/ .

The Scottish Government does not make assessments of those who are homeless.

The Scottish Government collects information from local authorities that is recorded as part of the of the homelessness application process. This data includes ethnicity and some limited information on nationality of the main applicant and partner (where applicable), which is self-reported by the homelessness applicant.

Information on the detailed categories of ethnicity/nationality that are collected are set out in section 10 of the homelessness data specification . These are grouped together for publication purposes (due to low numbers) as below:

White: Scottish,

White: Other British,

White: Irish,

White: Other,

White: Polish,

African,

Caribbean or Black,

Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British,

Mixed or multiple ethnic groups,

Other ethnic group,

Not known or Refused.

The most recently published data can be found in the equalities tables on the supporting documents page of our annual homelessness statistics with time series starting in 2002-2003. Data is presented for the main applicant.

In September 2022, the Scottish Government, in agreement with Local Authorities, has added the following ethnicity/nationality categories to the homelessness data collection:

Ukrainian

White: Roma

White: Showman/Showwoman

This data will be included in future publications.

CMAL has confirmed that it is not aware of any contractual obligations that would at this time prohibit the successful handover and delivery of MV Glen Sannox and Hull 802. CMAL will only accept the vessels if they are fit for purpose.

In addition, the vessel will not be able to enter service until it has received all clearances required by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Class society approval from Lloyds Register.

The Scottish Government has not provided direct funding to third sector organisations to provide footcare services for vulnerable and older people.

Funding is provided to third sector organisations, including those that support vulnerable and older people, from across Scottish Government portfolios and is not collated centrally.

Remobilisation of Dermatology services within NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (GGC) is continuing across all sites.

In common with many other specialties, services have experienced workforce challenges; however, the dermatology multidisciplinary team are working together to maximise service delivery.

Urgent referrals continue to be prioritised on clinical grounds, while the service is making every effort to work towards a reduction in the maximum waiting times for routine patients.

The GGC Dermatology service are also working nationally with colleagues in the Centre for Sustainable Delivery on new ways of working, with developments in the use of technology to support patient care.

The Scottish Government is clear that any member of staff in NHS Scotland with concerns about any aspect of delivering healthcare has the right to raise their concerns and to have them addressed accordingly.

The Scottish Government expects all Health Boards at a local level to ensure frontline staff from all clinical groups receive the protective equipment they require.

At a national level, where there are a range of sizing options available NHS National Services Scotland buys and makes available a wide range of PPE to ensure that there is a suitable range of items to suit the majority of needs.