Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has regular communication with the UK Government on a range of issues relating to human trafficking and exploitation, including the vacant role of Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

Section 40 of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 sets out that the Secretary of State must appoint an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

While we understand that a second appointment round is now underway, the delay in replacing the former Commissioner is unacceptable at a time of UK Government legislation which seeks to prohibit access to vital support and assistance for victims of human trafficking and exploitation in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s Code of Practice for the Welfare of Cats recommends that all cat owners should consider neutering and microchipping their pets as the best way of being reunited with their rightful owners, should they be separated.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission has established a working group to consider the microchipping of cats and the UK Government’s recently published draft legislation. Scottish Ministers will carefully consider their findings once published.

The Scottish Government remains willing to consider areas where consistent changes to legislation in all GB administrations will improve the welfare of kept animals and strengthen the prospects of separated animals being returned to their families.

Social Security Scotland’s administration costs are published in our Annual Report and Accounts . This document is laid before the Scottish Parliament annually.

Since 2018 our Annual Report and Accounts have recorded administration costs of:

2018-2019 - £12.8 million (part year)

2019-2020 - £36.0 million

2020-2021 - £130.3 million

2021-2022 - £194.9 million

These figures are the total cost of the organisation, which includes the cost of administering the Scottish Child Payment.

As Social Security Scotland staff and systems are organised to provide more than one form of assistance, it is not possible to separately identify the cost of Scottish Child Payment administration.

The Scottish Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development met with the UK Minister for Development and Africa on 15 March, where they discussed a number of key international development issues including climate justice. In particular, in relation to loss and damage, the Bridgetown Initiative and the Scottish Government’s recently published report , Practical Action for Addressing Loss and Damage were covered. Additionally, Scottish Government officials meet on a semi-regular basis with UK Government officials to discuss international climate change matters, including loss and damage.

The Scottish Government thanks all those who submitted proposals in response to the Climate Just Communities invitation to tender. The Scottish Government anticipates announcing the contract winner early into next financial year.

Up to £24 million will be awarded from the Climate Justice Fund (CJF) to the Climate Just Communities programme, making it the largest programme launched under the CJF. This will be split across the three countries of Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia through three separate contracts equalling up to £8 million each over 3 years.

Scottish Child Payment was fully rolled out on 14 November 2022 on which date it opened for new applications to all eligible people in receipt of a qualifying benefit with responsibility for children under 16, and for people who wished to add children aged under 16 to an existing claim for children aged under 6.

The third sector is hugely diverse and works alongside the public and private sectors across all services and industries, often providing lifeline services in our most vulnerable communities. It faces many pressures but we know that there are particular challenges given fixed grants and falling donations.

We recognise that the third sector needs stability of funding and the opportunity for longer term planning and development. We are committed to delivering a Fairer Funding approach for the third sector, the cornerstone of which is multi-year funding, and we are now beginning the roll out of this commitment. We hope this will provide a much needed stable platform to enable the sector to work to its full potential.

As Social Security Scotland staff and systems are organised to provide more than one form of assistance, it is not possible to separately identify the cost of Scottish Child Payment administration.

In November 2022 the Scottish Child Payment was increased from £20 to £25 and extended to under 16s providing support to thousands of low income households.

The Scottish Government expect to spend £442 million on directly tackling child poverty through the Scottish Child Payment during 2023-24, this is significantly more than the £226 million expected to be spent in 2022-23.

Zero Waste Scotland are currently working with businesses from the initial round of applications and an announcement on the outcome will be made in due course.

Within Transport Scotland, we only have FTE records available from 2016, due to data retention policies. From 2016 to December 2022, Ferries existed as a team within the Aviation, Maritime, Freight and Canals (AMFC) Directorate. I have provided the FTE separately for both the Ferries team and the AMFC directorate as a whole. From December 2022, a new Ferries Directorate was formed, this FTE figure is shown below. All figures are as at March of each year.