Chamber and committees

As per the Scottish Government statement in May 2021, we will take action to ban single-use plastic cutlery (forks, knives, spoons, and chopsticks), as well as other problematic single-use plastic items such as plates, straws, balloon sticks, stirrers and expanded polystyrene food and beverage containers and cups for beverages.

The Scottish Government is committed to matching or exceeding the standards set out by the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive and recently concluded a public consultation on our draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products and Oxo-degradable Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 . The draft regulations will now be made available to the World Trade Organisation for comments, in compliance with our commitments under the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement. Final regulations will be laid before Parliament later this year.

The following tables show a breakdown of the number of children in households reassessed as homeless within one year, between one and two years, between two and three years, between three and four years and between four and five years for the years 2015-16 to 2020-21.

In order for a household with children to be reassessed as homeless all adults on the application must be the same as a previous application and children (any number of) must also have been present on the previous application. It is possible for the number of children to have changed between applications.

Information at individual household level cannot be provided due to data confidentiality.

Data on the number of cases of child abuse reported to social services are not collected centrally by the Scottish Government.

You may wish to note that Children’s Social Work Statistics are published annually, and although these do not give the information you have asked for, they do show the number of children on the child protection register and the number of concerns at the case conferences at which they were registered.

The Scottish Government currently only allows travellers returning from green and amber list countries to use NHS tests, which are reserved and paid for through the booking portal, CTM. These PCR tests are sent to individuals’ home addresses anywhere in Scotland, including rural areas. The individual should use a Royal Mail priority post box to return their test to the laboratory if they have access to one.

Individuals in Scotland are able to book PCR tests and request lateral flow home devices free of charge via the government portal, however these cannot be used for international travel.

Our thoughts and condolences are with the families and loved ones of those who have recently lost their lives in water-related incidents.

Ensuring that every child learns to swim is a priority for both Scottish Swimming and the Scottish Government. The National Learn to Swim Framework, which is supported by Scottish Water and delivered by aquatic partners every week, already helps children to become safe, competent, and confident swimmers and these water safety themed lessons are an essential part of the Framework to help educate on water safety.

Within schools, Curriculum for Excellence’s flexible guidelines allow teachers to decide upon the content of lessons that best meets the local needs and circumstances of all children and young people in attendance. However, we are working with stakeholders consider the greater opportunities for children and young people to engage in community swimming lessons.

Attendance and absence information is only collected every two years so no figures are available for 2017-18 or 2019-20.

Figures for 2018-19 and 2020-21 show that:

Primary Schools

• 14.6% of primary pupils were absent more than 10% of the time in 2018-19. In 2020/21, 25.4% of primary pupils were not in school more than 10% of the time.
• 0.2% of primary pupils were absent more than 50% of the time in 2018-19. In 2020/21, 1.0% of primary pupils were not in school more than 50% of the time.

Secondary Schools

• 29.3% of secondary pupils were absent more than 10% of the time in 2018-19. In 2020-21, 49.6% of secondary pupils were not in school more than 10% of the time.
• 2.0% of secondary pupils were absent more than 50% of the time in 2018/19. In 2020-21, 4.0% of secondary pupils were not in school more than 50% of the time.

The 2018-19 figures refer to absences from school. Pupils may be recorded as attending school without being in class in situations including attendance at school trips or work experience, when receiving educational provision outside of their school, when attending short medical or dental appointments or when physically in school but not in their class. These figures are from the biennial Attendance and Absence data collection and cover the entire school year. Published outputs from this collection are classed as National Statistics and data are subject to robust quality assurance procedures.

Whereas, figures for 2020-21 are based on daily management information and have only been subjected to limited quality checking. The results only cover the period from 17 August 2020 - 23 December 2020 (inclusive - primary and secondary schools), 15 March 2021 – 2 April 2021 (inclusive - primary schools only) and 12 April 2021 – 25 June 2021 (inclusive - primary and secondary schools) - as these were the periods when schools were fully open to all pupils in a particular school sector. Also, only pupils who had a total of at least 100 half-day sessions have been included in the analysis (note: where half-day sessions refer to mornings/afternoons when schools were providing learning).

Most schools operate 9 or 10 openings a week.

Figures from the 2020-21 daily management information are not directly comparable to the 2018-19 National Statistics due to differences in collection methods, the level of quality assurance undertaken and COVID-19 related school closures in 2020-21. The National Statistics on attendance and absence in 2020-21 are due to be published later this year.

On 23 July 2021, the Scottish Government set out the catch limits that would apply in the various management areas for the North Sea handline mackerel fishery. The notifications took effect on 0001 hours on 25 July 2021.

This change was a routine adjustment for these longstanding fisheries and did not constitute a new activity or change in policy in Scottish seas. No new licences were issued.

Catch limits for the handline mackerel fishery and the other 10 metre and under non-sector fisheries are managed in line with the strategic objectives of the Scotland’s Future Fisheries Management Strategy (Scotland’s Future Fisheries Management Strategy 2020-2030) and the National Marine Plan.

The handline mackerel fishery is a distinct pool fishery. Due to the nature of the fishery, including the migratory nature of the species, Marine Scotland allocates and manages this stock by four separate geographic areas to take account of variation in the pattern of the fishery and the level of uptake. The fishery is an important income source for many hundreds of inshore vessels across the east coast and Northern Isles of Scotland.

Our long-standing policy intention in the management of the 10 metre and under handline mackerel fishery is to balance the requirement to ensure that we do not fish outwith sustainable limits with maximising socio-economic return in the fishery. The Scottish Government attempts to ensure that the fishing opportunity is utilised while seeking to ensure the opportunity extends as long as possible throughout the year and maximise market conditions for the fishery.

To deliver this, the Scottish Government analyses the uptake for the various areas and where necessary seeks to engage with local stakeholders.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (“The 2014 Act”) first introduced and defined the term ‘early learning and childcare’ (ELC). Prior to the 2014 Act, there was no statutory duty to provide pre-school education to 2 year olds.

The 2014 Act increased the number of funded ELC hours for all 3 and 4 year olds and introduced the statutory duty to provide access to funded ELC for eligible 2 year olds.

Since 2014, data on the number of registrations of 2 year olds receiving funded ELC has been collected for the annual census of ELC [1] . Prior to 2014, data was collected on registrations for funded pre-school education . Prior to 2012, data was not collected on registrations for children aged 2.

confirmed on 11 June 2021 that all international students in Scotland will be included in the national coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination programme. Universities and colleges are already encouraging students to get vaccinated as soon as possible so they will be fully vaccinated before arriving on campus. We have also agreed with Health Boards, universities and colleges to appoint single points of contact in universities and colleges who will support the delivery of the vaccination to students, including international students across Scotland, including through the use of on-campus vaccination clinics.

All vaccinations will take place in line with guidelines from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). We have provided information on vaccines for international students on the NHS Inform website and have published an FAQ document on vaccines for international students on the Student Information Scotland website.

In designing Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), we were mindful of the potential for future growth in the proportion of single-use drinks containers sold online. To ensure that our DRS is successful and fair, it is important that online retailers charge the deposit and provide a service to allow it to be redeemed and the container returned.