Chamber and committees

Since 2016 the Scottish Government has directly funded or provided the following training specifically aimed at supporting disabled people in using public transport:

• The rail First Time Traveller Programme – supports people with autism in experiencing rail travel for the first time in order to raise awareness of what to expect and to build confidence.
• Railway Awareness Open Days at major stations – ScotRail, working alongside third sector organisations, invite disabled people to come and familiarise themselves with stations and train travel as well as answering any questions they may have.
• Travel training programmes – one in Clackmannanshire and Stirling where trained support workers help young people as well as individuals with dementia and autism access and navigate public transport increasing their confidence to travel independently; and the other in East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Greater Glasgow which did the same for people with learning difficulties or autism.
• Working with Disability Equality Scotland, Transport Scotland has undertaken a series of webinars and polls with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations exploring a range of issues important to disabled people, including how confidence in returning to public transport post-pandemic could be strengthened

In addition, the Scottish Government has funded or provided training for public transport operators and their staff in order to raise awareness of the needs of disabled passengers. For example, sensory packs and staff awareness training were rolled out across the Calmac ferry fleet on behalf of the National Autistic Society, and training has been funded for staff at Scottish airports on a range of topics from British Sign Language to autism awareness.

The Scottish Government meets with COSLA and local authorities on a regular basis to cover a range of issues, including current and future budget pressures. Negotiations on the annual local government finance settlement are conducted between the Scottish Government and COSLA, on behalf of all 32 local authorities.

Statistics on uncollected council tax are published at Statistics on council tax collection rates are available at Statistics on council tax collection rates are available at Council Tax Collection Statistics, 2020-21 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

When making the difficult decision to suspend any non-urgent elective surgery, Health Boards are following local decision making on an daily and weekly basis, dependant on where the most pressures are ensuring urgent elective and Cancer surgery continues.

Where there are any changes being made to a patients treatment plan we expect discussions to take place between patient and clinician. The Clinical Prioritisation Framework is being used by Health Boards to ensure that patients with the greatest clinical need are treated first.

To support elective activity mutual aid is being sought between Health Boards and the NHS Golden Jubilee are supporting various Boards across Scotland undertaking Cancer, Ophthalmology and Cardiology services.

Moving forward we have published our NHS Recovery Plan. Recovery focusses on alternatives pathways of care that allow people to be treated more quickly closer to home and also delivers long term sustainability. The plan is backed by more than £1 billion of investment over the next five years.

As set out in the announcement, the £300 million is both additional and recurring investment, demonstrating Scottish Government’s commitment to enabling longer term planning, particularly on workforce, to ensure a well-supported and resilient health and social care system.

Further detail on planned expenditure will be determined and set out in the forthcoming 2022-23 Scottish Budget. The 2022-23 Scottish Budget will be published on 9 December.

The Scottish Government obtains information which informs how we identify and advise people at highest risk of becoming severely ill or dying from Covid-19 from a variety of reliable UK and international sources. While that evidence is published and readily available, it is not always easy for people at highest risk to understand or to translate into informed choices about individual behaviours. We are therefore planning to publish a summary of the current evidence that underpins our advice in a form that people find accessible this autumn.

The following table shows, in relation to deaths in prison where the deceased was aged 25 or younger, the average and longest time taken to conclude an FAI in each of the last five years. Days are calculated from the date of death to the date evidence at the FAI was concluded.

There is a range of projections as to how far heat pump costs can be brought down, set out in various recent publications by BEIS and the Climate Change Committee.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with the supply chain to maximise cost reductions, and to leverage economic opportunities for Scottish businesses and communities. We have committed to invest at least £1.8 billion over the course of this parliament to kick-start market growth, and will work with industry to co-produce a new ‘Heat in Buildings Supply Chain Delivery Plan’ by Summer 2022. In addition we have been working with the heat pump industry to explore the potential for Heat Pump Sector Deal for Scotland, and will respond to the forthcoming recommendations of an advisory group at the earliest opportunity.

There is no specific offence for 'drink spiking' however the Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database shows there were no people convicted for offences under section 11 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (administering a substance for sexual purposes) or for drugging from 2015-16 to 2019-20.

As part of our Future Skills Action Plan, we will provide more opportunities for the current workforce to upskill and retrain. To support this, we increased our investment in workforce development to £20m per annum from
‎ 2020-21.

The Flexible workforce Development Fund is now open to all employers, with up to £15,000 per year available for UK Government Apprenticeship Levy payers and £5,000 for SMEs to support workforce development supporting business growth.

In some sectors, such as Tourism and Hospitality, Cyber Security, green Construction, Aviation, Aerospace, and Digital, the National Transition Training Fund is supporting in-work skills development to enable economic recovery from Covid-19 and EU exit, as well as helping businesses gain the skills to for the transition to net zero.

In the current financial year, there is also support for businesses in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire through the North East Economic Recovery and Skills Fund. This £14.3m fund recognises the dual impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the downturn in Oil and Gas/ Local partners are working with businesses in key sectors to provide skills support to aid economic recovery in the area.

The need to raise awareness amongst employers on the necessary behaviour changes that will support a just transition to net zero is also recognised as a priority area in the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP), which was published in December 2020.

The current activity taken as part of the CESAP includes training developed by Keep Scotland Beautiful that has helped organisations to better understand the climate emergency and respond to the risks and opportunities it presents and the development of multi-disciplinary training on natural capital approaches. In addition to the actions already being taken, over the next year there will be a ‘toolkit’ developed to help small/micro businesses develop the skills and knowledge they need to adapt to the demands of the transition to net zero.

The Scottish Government’s position is that VAT should not be applied to deposits charged under Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and we have made official and ministerial representations on this issue. It is important that where we can we promote rather than hinder progress towards a circular economy.

As VAT is a reserved matter, the final decision will rest with the UK Government and will be for them to confirm.