Chamber and committees

The Inquiries into Fatal Accident and Sudden Deaths Act 2016 places a duty on a person to whom a sheriff’s recommendation is addressed to provide a response to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service within the period of 8 weeks after the respondent receives a copy of the determination.

The respondent must give the SCTS a response in writing either :

• setting out details of what the respondent has done or proposes to do in response to the recommendation, or
• if the respondent has not done, and does not intend to do, anything in response to the recommendation, the reasons for that.

The 2016 Act also place a duty on SCTS to publish responses to the recommendations set out in the determination.

Where a response is given the SCTS must

• publish the response in full,
• publish the response in part, together with a notice explaining that part of the response has been withheld from publication, or
• publish a notice explaining that the whole of the response is being withheld from publication.

The SCTS may withhold the whole of a response from publication only if representations are made to that effect. If no response is given by the end of the 8 week period the SCTS must publish notice of that fact.

Implementation of FAI recommendations are monitored by the annual statistics. The Scottish Parliament receives a copy of the report annually. All responses to recommendations are published and are in the public domain which includes respondents saying what has been done and if the answer is nothing, then explaining why.

The Scottish Government expects all public bodies to respond appropriately to the recommendations of a Fatal Accident Inquiry.

Sport scotland has not made any award of funding to the development of a tennis facility at Park of Keir. Any decision on whether to award funding to this project will only be taken on completion of a full application by the applicant and following a sport scotland assessment process. This assessment process would consider among other issues the strategic need and demand for a facility, the impact it will have on sport and physical activity and whether the project is financially viable in capital and revenue terms.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in Scotland are able to receive the best possible care and support and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put the patient at the centre of their care.

Since 2015, the Scottish Government has provided £2.4 million annually to improve specialist nursing services. NHS Boards make the decision on where to prioritise this funding based on local need. NHS Boards are expected to ensure that patients, including those who require MS services, have access to a range of professionals to provide the appropriate management of their condition.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to create a lead MS nurse post, but is willing to consider and discuss any proposals received.

The following table summarises the number of Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) applications received, applying specifically for Organic Farming options, and of those how many were (a) were approved and (b) are awaiting a decision, in each year since 2015. The figures below exclude those applications that were submitted then subsequently withdrawn by the businesses concerned.

Please note that the 2020 round was not open to new applications, rather a one year’s extension was offered to all Management options that were due to end in 2020. Not all businesses accepted the offer.

The 2021 round that closed at the beginning of July 2021 was also extended. These applications are still being assessed.

1Excludes those applications that were submitted then subsequently withdrawn by the businesses concerned.

The Scottish Government welcomes the publication of the report by the Survivor Reference Group and will consider the findings from this. It is vital that survivors of rape, sexual violence, and abuse are listened to and believed by the police and we are determined to improve the justice system to respond better to the needs of survivors of rape and sexual assault in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the key role that advocacy services play in helping victims come forward and engage with the justice process, like those provided by Rape Crisis Scotland, which is why we fully fund the RCS National Advocacy Project.

A single police force has transformed the way rape and other sexual crimes are investigated in Scotland allowing far greater consistency of approach, including the training of police officers and use of specialist officers.

The preservation of a crime scene is for the purposes of protecting the integrity of forensic evidence. A decision to allow a priest to enter an area designated as a crime scene is therefore an operational matter for Police Scotland.

The following table summarises the number of Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) applications received, applying specifically for Slurry Storage and of those how many were (a) were approved and (b) are awaiting a decision, in each year since 2015. The figures below exclude those applications that were submitted then subsequently withdrawn by the businesses concerned.

Please note that the 2015 round did not include a Slurry Store option and that the 2020 round was not open to new applications, rather a one year’s extension was offered to all Management options that were due to end in 2020. Not all businesses accepted the offer. Slurry Store is not a Management Option, it is capital only, and as such was not included in the round.

The 2021 round that closed at the beginning of July 2021 was also extended. These applications are still being assessed.

1Excludes those applications that were submitted then subsequently withdrawn by the businesses concerned.

* Application type not included in Round.

Court operational matters, including the system for jury service, fall within the remit of the independent Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS).

In November 2019, SCTS announced new services for jurors with a visual impairment or who are hard of hearing as recommended in Lord Matthews 2018 “Enabling Jury Service” report.

These adjustments and measures widened the accessibility for as many people as possible to serve on include:

• easy-to use hearing loop units and magnifiers for use in the courtroom and jury deliberations;
• dedicated and trained Jury Liaison Officers, who can be contacted by persons with a visual impairment or who are hard of hearing in advance of attending court as a juror. This will allow the needs of the individual to be explored and any suitable adjustments to be considered and implemented, where possible; and
• an information sheet in various formats – including a video with British Sign Language and subtitles aimed at encouraging early contact between the person cited for jury service and the Jury Liaison Officer for that court.

In developing these services, SCTS worked closely with deafscotland and the Royal National Institute of Blind People, who contributed to the training of Jury Liaison Officers.

There is, of course, more to do to support greater accessibility for jurors and SCTS have provided assurances that they will consider further initiatives as opportunities arise during the business planning process.

My predecessor chaired the Scottish Steel Sector Round Table (SSRT) on a biannual basis. The SSRT completed the work on a report into the state of the steel sector in Scotland at its last meeting on 2 November 2020.

The main concern for the steel industry continues to be energy prices, especially in the light of recent price rises, and the impact this has on wider developments in the industry. Energy is a matter reserved to the UK Government, which earlier this year revived the UK Steel Council. I am a member of this Council and continue to press for progress on matters key to the success of the steel sector in Scotland.

Any reported increase in Pay to Use ATM’s away from Free to Use ATM’s is a matter of great concern as it undoubtedly adds to the uncertainty faced by communities and businesses on their ability to access cash and other banking facilities.

The Scottish Government has delivered a number of reliefs for ATM sites. This includes ensuring that sites in rural areas are exempt from business rates where the building is only used for the ATM and, more widely, that there is up to 100% rates relief through the Small Business Bonus Scheme. Also, local councils have wide-ranging powers to create rates reliefs to reflect local needs under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

The regulation of financial services is reserved to the UK Government and as such Scottish Ministers are unable to intervene directly in the commercial decisions made by financial services companies. The Scottish Government stands ready to work constructively with the UK Government, banks and other stakeholders to ensure that customers, communities and businesses have access to the banking facilities they need. The Scottish Government will continue to urge banks and ATM providers to listen to, and address, the very real concerns customers have on their ability to access cash and banking services when engaging with the Financial Services industry.