Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14802 on‎ 27 January 2023 which outlines that the IGG is committed to being open and transparent about its work. Documents and minutes of meetings are published on the IGG webpage: Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure

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

The Interim Governance Group (IGG) is a short-life working group with a specific remit to provide advice and feedback to Scottish Ministers on establishing long-term anti-racism infrastructure. Its membership includes those with experiences of intersecting marginalisation(s) and the realities of systemic racism, and expertise in tackling it. Individuals were also appointed on the basis of having extensive knowledge and/or experience of policy-making processes in Scotland, and design and implementation of policy/systems. More information on the remit and membership of the group is available here: Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure

Members of the IGG were appointed on merit in accordance with the Ministerial Code, taking into account the views of the co-chairs and ensuring membership comprised of people with expertise and lived experience of racism. Membership reflects a gender balance, and includes those with experiences of intersecting marginalisation(s) and the realities of systemic racism and expertise in tackling it. Membership also includes:

- community members and community-led organisations

- young people

- scrutiny and governance expertise

- expertise in gathering and using inequality data

- expertise/leadership from the public, private and third sector

Two national membership organisations were invited to nominate community-led organisations to be involved in the IGG in order to provide grassroots perspectives.

The Scottish Government is using a range of interventions across its policies to advance the Race Equality Framework and human rights for all minority ethnic groups, one of which is the Interim Governance Group (IGG).

The IGG is a short-life working group with a specific remit to provide advice and feedback to Scottish Ministers on establishing long-term anti-racism infrastructure. Its membership includes those with experiences of intersecting marginalisation(s) and the realities of systemic racism and expertise in tackling it. Individuals were also appointed on the basis of having extensive knowledge and/or experience of policy-making processes in Scotland, and design and implementation of policy/systems. More information on the remit and membership of the group is available here: Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure

The IGG is supporting the government’s development of improved infrastructure and accountability that has a positive impact on the lives of all racialised minority communities. Racialised outcomes are not experienced uniformly, and effective interventions need to take specific experiences into account. In Scotland, this includes important disparities impacting Black/minority ethnic groups.

Ensuring that communities are engaged with policy development and in long-term oversight and accountability, is of utmost importance, and we use mechanisms and routes to achieve that in the best way possible. Policy areas focussed on anti-racism and race equality actively engage with a range of stakeholders and communities as part of their work. The IGG has commissioned a programme of community engagement, to both disseminate information about forthcoming anti-racism infrastructure and to gather community members' and stakeholders’ perspectives on how it can work best to deliver genuine change-making policy and practice in Scotland.

Costs for computerised cognitive behavioural therapies are paid at the national level rather than split between NHS Boards. National costs are provided in the following table.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that stakeholders and communities are engaged with on policy developments, including long-term oversight and governance. The Interim Governance Group to Develop Anti-Racist Infrastructure (IGG) has commissioned a programme of community engagement to both disseminate information about the establishment of an independent Race Observatory, and to gather community members' and stakeholders’ perspectives about the Observatory and how it can work best to contribute to genuine change-making policy and practice in Scotland.

Through its community engagement work, the IGG is actively disseminating information, and seeking the views of stakeholders and communities so that they can be incorporated into the development of the forthcoming anti-racism infrastructure.

The IGG is committed to being open and transparent about its work. Documents and minutes of meetings are published on the IGG webpage: Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racist Infrastructure

We established the Digital Mental Health Programme in late 2020 to oversee ongoing development of cCBT and other digital mental health services. The development and expansion of digital services was supported by a national implementation team.

The number of available cCBT treatments has increased from 1 in 2019 to 27 in 2022. The introduction of self-referral treatments, Sleepio and Daylight have greatly increased access to digital treatments with 25,668 self-referrals in 2022, compared to 12,356 the year before.

These numbers continue to rise, with usage of cCBT programs increasing from 22,385 in 2020 to 66,163 in 2022. We continue to invest in the long term sustainability of digital therapies (including cCBT), including innovation, staff training, evaluation and inclusion.

In June 2020, the Expert Reference Group on COVID-19 and Ethnicity was established to consider and inform the Scottish Government’s approach in relation to the impacts of COVID-19 on Minority Ethnic (ME) communities. This was in response to reports at a UK-wide and international level that some ME groups may be at risk of experiencing disproportionate effects, both in terms of adverse health outcomes and in a wider context, including economically.

Our current priorities are rooted in the delivery of the recommendations of our Expert Reference Group on COVID-19 and Ethnicity (ERG). Specifically, these actions cover the ongoing work to implement the data and systemic recommendations of the Expert Reference Group (ERG) for COVID-19 and Ethnicity, as agreed to by the Scottish Government in November 2020 .

Recommendation 7 from the ERG outlined the need to establish a more effective accountability and governance infrastructure in Scotland, namely an independent Race Observatory. The Scottish Government required specific expertise to help move forward with establishing the Observatory and therefore formed a short-life working group, now known as the IGG, to provide advice and feedback to Scottish Ministers.

Improving the accessibility of elections is a key element of the Scottish Government’s electoral reform agenda. It is our ambition to remove or reduce barriers that some voters face and to improve the accessibility of elections.

We have been working with RNIB Scotland and the Forth Valley Sensory Centre over several months to consider potential solutions and technology to assist people with sight loss to cast their votes, including testing audio devices. RNIB Scotland will also shortly undertake testing of a tactile ballot paper solution at the Centre. We will then consider feedback from these initial trials of the tactile ballots papers and, working in collaboration with our partners in Local Government, electoral administrators and the Electoral Commission, produce proposals for next steps. I anticipate we should be in a position to report progress and set out future proposals and plans to Parliament in the summer.

In addition, as part of the Government’s current consultation on electoral reform we are asking for views on how the accessibility of elections could be improved and what changes might be made in law. The consultation closes on 15 March - available at https://consult.gov.scot/constitution-and-cabinet/electoral-reform/ . I look forward to reading the responses which will help inform our work going forward.

As set out in our recent draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan the Scottish Government’s position on traditional nuclear energy has not and will not change.

Given our long-standing position on nuclear, any such analysis would not be value for money and has not been pursued. Recent examples of Hinkley Point C and Sizewell clearly demonstrate that nuclear is considerably more expensive than renewables, which is why our position is to focus on renewables, coupled with storage and flexibility options.