Chamber and committees

We are seeking further clarification from the Home Office to fully understand the operational impact of the Nationality and Borders Act.

We have no current plans to make regulations under section 9(8) and (9) of the 2015 Act.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that women can access comprehensive universal healthcare, including abortion services, without fear of intimidation or harassment. The First Minister has convened an emergency summit on abortion rights which take place on 27 June, and will consider what can be done in the short, medium and long term to ensure that women accessing abortion care can do so safely and without fear of harassment.

Additionally, I convened a working group in December 2021 with the sole purpose of finding solutions that would address the issue of protests and vigils outside of abortion clinics. The working group has members including Police Scotland, CoSLA and affected councils and Health Boards. To date, the working group has agreed to explore dialogue between the various parties involved with protests, and commission independent research into the impacts of protest and vigils.

In light of the recent protests, Police Scotland have agreed to a number of measures to reduce the impact of protests at Sandyford clinic. These measures include, but are not limited to, agreeing a designated space for protests to take place, a single point of contact in Police Scotland for staff when protests occur and confiscating voice implication devices used by protestors.

No assessment has been made if the impact on business revenues in the Highlands as a result of ScotRail’s temporary timetable.

We do recognise that the current temporary timetable is causing inconvenience and frustration to travellers, especially to people who need early and late services to get to and from work, and those sectors and businesses in the economy that depend on people being able to travel in the evenings. However, ScotRail conducted its formal review on 3 June and as a result, more services particularly in the evenings are now being added back into the timetable. In addition with the positive progress made on pay negotiations with ASLEF in Scotland, it is to be hoped more services will be added back in the near future.

No formal consultation by (a) Transport Scotland and (b) ScotRail took place with (i) workers and (ii) unions before the temporary timetable was implemented. ScotRail utilised the time available to them, during this challenging period, to compile the temporary timetable which is aimed at providing the best possible service to as many passengers as possible with the available resources. The major determining factor is driver availability by rostered hours, location and with the necessary competencies, which fluctuates daily.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08835 on 17 June 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

There have been two Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) specialised committee meetings so far this year:

• The Specialised Committee on Energy, on 30 March 2022
• The Specialised Committee on Fisheries, on 27 April 2022

Scottish Government officials accepted invitations as observers to these meetings from the UK delegation.

In 2021 Scottish Government officials accepted invitations, from the UK delegation, as observers to 18 TCA specialised committee meetings:

• Social Security Coordination, on 6t July
• Fisheries, on 20 July
• Energy, on 14 July
• Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, on 22-23 September
• Customs Cooperation and Rules of Origin, on 7 October
• Trade in Goods, on 8 October
• Services, Investment and Digital Trade, on 11 October
• Level Playing Field for Open and Fair Competition and Sustainable Development, on 12 October
• Regulatory Cooperation, on 13 October
• Air Transport, on 14 October
• Technical Barriers to Trade, on 15 October
• Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation, on 19 October
• Fisheries, on 27 October
• Trade Partnership Committee, on 15 November
• Aviation Safety, on 23 November
• Road Transport, on 24 November
• VAT and Recovery of Taxes and Duties, on 15 December
• Participation in Union Programmes, on 21 December

There were a further two TCA specialised committee meetings during 2021 that Scottish Government officials did not observe:

• Public Procurement, on 12 October
•  Intellectual Property, on 13 October

The £1 million International Students’ Emergency Fund announced on 14 April was introduced to support international students who had already chosen to study a course of Further or Higher Education in Scotland who were facing financial hardship as a result of a significant change in circumstances, such as but not limited to global conflict. These funds are administered directly by Scottish colleges and universities so could not be used to support students who are studying remotely with a university out with Scotland.

Scottish domiciled students who are studying via distance learning are considered for funding purposes as part-time students reflecting the fact that students undertaking part-time or distance learning courses are generally more likely to be able to support their studies through some form of paid employment or will be entitled to support from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

We are aware that some Ukrainian nationals who are now resettled in Scotland who are continuing studies with a Ukrainian intuitions remotely studying remotely with their Ukrainian university may be unable to access financial support that other Ukrainian nationals are due to their being categorised as full-time students by the DWP.

We consider that Ukrainian students who are studying via distance learning at a Ukrainian institution should be treated in the same fashion as Scottish domiciled students. Accordingly, I have written to the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to urge her to review the DWP position.

We also continue to consider how we might be able to provide further support for Ukrainian nationals studying in Scotland.

Transport Scotland has not held any discussions with (a) ScotRail and (b) NHS Highland regarding how to ensure that people living outside of the Inverness area are able to travel to medical appointments by public transport without requiring an overnight stay.

There is a total of 193 charge points registered on the ChargePlace Scotland network for the Central Scotland Parliamentary Region. Location of sites for the charge points can be provided separately by contacting ChargePlace Scotland if required.

Out of the 193 charge points in the Central Scotland Parliamentary Region 131 are free to use.

The Partnership Council has met once to date, on 9 June 2021. Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth MSP attended the meeting as an observer to the UK delegation.