Chamber and committees

The Rural Communities Ideas into Action (RCIA) fund was part of a Community Led Local Development (CLLD) test of change pilot developed and delivered in 2021-22 by Scottish Government. The fund made available a total of £3.3 million of CLLD funding to rural and island communities across Scotland.

The learning from this pilot and, previous CLLD funding through the former LEADER fund, has informed development of a new Scottish Government CLLD fund which will deliver £11.6 million in two tranches over 2022-23.

I can confirm that the tranche one phase is progressing and will see £7.6 million allocated to Local Action Groups (LAG) representing rural and island communities who will be responsible for project funding decisions.

Details of tranche two for the delivery of the remaining £4 million within the current financial year are being finalised.

In ‘A Fairer, Greener Scotland: Programme for Government 2021-22’, the Scottish Government committed to begin work on establishing a register of interests for the judiciary to increase public confidence and improve transparency.

To date, preparatory work on developing proposals for a judicial register of interests has been undertaken and my officials are currently developing options and next steps with the intention of engaging with stakeholders towards the end of 2022.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The Scottish Court Custody and Prisoner Escort Service Contract (SCCPES) provides the requirements of the service provider to ensure safe and secure transfer of prisoners between court appearances and mainland prisons.

1. The escort provider has clear processes and Standard Operating Procedures that have been agreed with SPS including:-

• the management of all transfers, regardless of location, including the use of public transport where the use of their vehicle fleet is not possible and other transport is required, such as Ferries, Boats and use of Aircraft.
• agreement of the protocols with Scottish airports for the facilitation of the movement of prisoners through the terminal buildings to facilitate the flight to and from all Scottish Islands where a flight is necessary, timeous and has been deemed to be required.

1. The current service provider has established a robust working relationship with all Scottish airports to facilitate the movement of individuals through the airport and terminal buildings.

In the scenario where an airport is unable to facilitate the transfer, the service provider will arrange, where possible, a flight to another Scottish airport and manage the ongoing movement via road transport if necessary, taking into consideration the impact of the person being escorted and the time spent in transit.

The Scottish Government has not been requested to research a headcount reduction in the Scottish civil service.

The Scottish Government regularly reviews its workforce numbers to ensure affordability, and that the organisation is delivering for the people of Scotland as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The UK Government has not provided details on how their plans to reduce the number of civil servants by 91,000 will affect their staff working in Scotland. There are around 24,800 [1] Civil Servants who are part of the reserved Public Sector in Scotland.

The UK Government plans do not have a direct impact on civil servants who serve the Scottish Government, as the responsibility lies with Scottish Ministers and the Permanent Secretary when it comes to determining our workforce size.

[1] Source: Public Sector Employment In Scotland Statistics For 1st Quarter 2022 .

The Pig Producers Hardship Support Scheme was first published in August 2021, when a £715,000 fund was made available. All 39 applications received were successful, totalling a spend of approximately £654,000.

In February 2022, the scheme was extended to offer a further £680,000 and had 32 applicants, leading to a total spend of c£675,000. There were no unsuccessful applications.

In June 2022, a further extension to the scheme of £410,000 saw 32 applications, with no unsuccessful applicants. The total spend for this third and final round of the Pig Hardship Scheme is estimated at £406,000 with payments to be made by the end of August.

This amounts to c£654,000 being paid out in 2021 and approximately £1,081,000960 to be paid in total this calendar year. Due to the nature of the scheme, the same applicants could apply for multiple rounds of support.

We are aware that a number of local authorities in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK are considering setting up warm banks this coming winter, to ensure people who cannot afford to heat their own home have a place they can access to stay warm. This is a relatively new concept, which we will continue to monitor, working together with our local government partners, alongside other measures that we may be able to deploy to provide support to those most affected by the rising cost of energy prices.

Our foremost concern is to support people worried about heating their homes to access the information and support they need to reduce their energy bills, and we have expanded the capacity of our Home Energy Scotland advice service this year to help an extra 12,000 households a year receive free, impartial advice.

Within our limited budget, we have allocated almost £3 billion in this financial year to help families and households face the increased cost of living. This includes support for energy bills, childcare, health and travel, as well as social security payments not available anywhere else in the UK. We will continue to monitor the best ways we, along with our local government partners, can provide support.

In further response to the cost of living crisis and our winter preparedness, the Scottish Government has already committed £10 million towards our Fuel Insecurity Fund across 2022/23, which provides direct support to people who are at risk of self-rationing their energy use, or self-disconnecting entirely. From winter 2022-23, we will also introduce our Low Income Winter Heating Assistance, which will guarantee a £50 annual payment to around 400,000 low-income households each winter.

Work is ongoing on the Islands Connectivity Plan, with priority being given to a long-term plan and investment programme for vessels and ports, with the aim of publishing a draft consultation by the end of 2022.

Work on the other elements of the Islands Connectivity Plan will follow, with a view to further publications in 2023.

Crown Estate Scotland contributed £150K funding towards the data collection component of the National Electrofishing Programme (NEPS) for Scotland 2021.

The total cost of data collection for NEPS 2021 was ca. £416,337 and was issued as a Grant to Fisheries Management Scotland. Marine Scotland covered the remaining costs of data collection and will cover the costs of analysis and publication.

The Crown Estate Scotland grant covered some modest project management time from Fisheries Management Scotland (£5,100) and the costs incurred by local fisheries managers (e.g. staff time, travel) in sampling fish populations at 810 sites across Scotland in 2021.

Payment was made on a “per-site” basis at £460 for electrofishing and a further £43.33 for genetic sampling, which underpins the National Introgression Programme for Scotland (NIPS).

The Crown Estates Scotland funding was not ring-fenced for specific regions or components of the data collection and, therefore, should be considered a contribution to the overall project.

Since 2016, the Scottish Government has worked with 63 individuals who are public figures on 104 occasions as part of communication campaigns delivered via the central Scottish Government Marketing Team. Of those 63 individuals, 4 have been part of a Scottish Government television advert. The remaining 59 have been involved through social media advertising, digital or public relations activity only. The Scottish Government does not hold details of communications activity undertaken by agencies.

The public figures who have worked with the Scottish Government on communications campaigns since 2016 are: Amber Zoe (Presenter); Arabella Weir (Actress); Barbara Dickson (Singer); Boogie (DJ); Bruce Fumey (Comedian); Callum Gallacher (DJ); Carol Smillie (TV Presenter); Cassi Gillespie (Radio Presenter); Cat Cubie (Presenter); Cat Harvey (Presenter); Charlie Reid (Musician); Chris Brookmyre (Author); Clare Grogan (Singer); Craig Reid (Musician); Des Clarke (Comedian); Dougray Scott (Actor); Dr Punam Krishan (TV Doctor); Edith Bowman (DJ/Presenter); Edward Reid (Performer); Elaine C Smith (Actress); Eunice Olumide (Model); Ewen Cameron (Presenter); Fred MacCauley (Comedian); Gail Porter (Presenter); Gary Maclean (Chef); Gavin Mitchell (Actor); Gordon Clark (Musician); Grant Stott (Presenter); Hayley Scanlan (Fashion Designer); Heather MacRae (Golfer); Huw Jones (Rugby Player); Iain Stirling (Comedian); Jackie MacNamara (Footballer); Jai McDowall (Singer); Jane McCarry (Actor); Janey Godley (Comedian); Jennifer Reoch (Presenter); Keryn Matthew (Miss Scotland); Kieron Achara (Basketball Player); Laura Boyd (Reporter); Laura Fraser (Actress); Lawrence Chaney (Drag Queen); Leah MacRae (Actress); Lee Craigie (Cyclist); Les McKeown (Musician); Lorraine Kelly (Presenter); Lorraine McIntosh (Musician); Mac Twins (DJ/Authors); Mark Cox (Comedian); Mollie Hughes (Explorer); Moyo Akande (Actress); Nicola Roy (Actress); Peter Sawkins (Baker); Raman Bhardwaj (Reporter); Ricky Ross (Musician); River City Cast (TV); Ruaridh Jackson (Rugby Player); Sanjeev Kohli (Comedian); Scott Hastings (Rugby Player); Shaheeda Sinckler (Singer); Simon Donnelly (Footballer); Sir Alex Ferguson (Football Manager); Stuart Hogg (Rugby Player).

On 44 occasions there was no payment to the public figure. For the balance, the fee paid to each individual is part of a commercial negotiation between the appointed agency to produce the campaign, within an overall agreed production budget, and the relevant individual. Therefore, this is either information not held by the Scottish Government or it cannot be disclosed as this would release confidential financial information relating to the services offered by each individual. However, historical Freedom of Information requests relating to the “Stop The Spike” campaign featuring Janey Godley has resulted in that fee being published following agreement it could be released. The fee in that instance was £10,000.

Treatment at the specialist service provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is targeted specifically at those who have experienced transvaginal mesh complications. This is in recognition of the painful and life changing side effects experienced by some women who have received transvaginal mesh implants. The creation of specialist centres of this nature was a recommendation of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, and the centre in Glasgow forms part of a network of similar centres in other parts of the UK.

I would strongly encourage anyone who suspects that their mesh implant is related to symptoms they are experiencing to contact their GP in the first instance, regardless of whether that is a transvaginal implant or another form of mesh. GPs act as a gateway to care provided by other parts of the NHS and can therefore ensure that patients can see the right person at the right place at the right time, in a safe, effective and efficient manner.