Chamber and committees

The decision to proceed with the single track electrification option and a demand led infrastructure specification from Outline Business Case to Final Business Case was arrived at following an extensive joint railway industry business case development process in line with Scottish Government appraisal guidance.

It was a recommendation based on the evidence presented in the Outline Business Case. The final decision was endorsed by Transport Scotland’s investment decision makers on 7 September 2021.

The Scottish Government grant funds the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) and Migrant Help to provide support and assistance to adult victims of human trafficking and exploitation; and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Psychological Trauma Service to meet their psychological support needs.

Grant funding is also provided to the Scottish Guardianship Service for specialised support for unaccompanied asylum seeking children who are victims, or at risk, of human trafficking.

Grant agreements include a range of conditions requiring compliance in order to support victim care. These are reported against quarterly and regular monitoring meetings are held with officials.

Support providers conduct assessments with clients as they exit services and TARA has recently developed an externally facilitated survivor advisory group to provide open and transparent feedback as part of this process.

The decision to proceed to Final Business Case with full electrification with single track option of the East Kilbride to Busby route was made collaboratively with Network Rail and considering evidence from rail industry partners, as part of the rail projects pipeline business case development process.

The Final Business Case development work will now assess how the existing infrastructure can be optimised to support a more resilient timetable and how the electrification of passengers services along the route can be achieved. This is a key stage in ensuring a robust business case which would underpin any future investment decision by the Scottish Government.

Section 36 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 requires Scottish Ministers to review the Strategy within three years of its publication and following that review, publish a report on the review. The Scottish Government published a review of the Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy in May 2020 in line with this requirement.

National Referral Mechanism (NRM) First Responder organisations play a key role in the identification and recovery of potential victims of human trafficking and exploitation. First Responders in Scotland include Police Scotland, UK Visas and Immigration, Border Force, Home Office Immigration Enforcement, National Crime Agency, local authorities, Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), Migrant Help and the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance.

In March this year, we launched a toolkit for NRM First Responders which aims to improve the formal identification of victims in Scotland. We are also establishing a working group to ensure the ongoing consideration of training and awareness raising resources.

Grant funding of £2million was awarded in the current financial year to organisations providing support for recovery to adult and child victims. It is not possible to accurately cost the wide range of activity undertaken by the Scottish Government and partners to improve identification and recovery, or to express this as a percentage of overall activity to deliver the Strategy.

There are currently no funding programmes which support the retrofit of cars with electric powertrains.

However, there are a range of programmes which support retrofit to other fuel sources and vehicle types, including a recent initiative that supports the trial and demonstration of electrifying a vehicle platform using Hydrogen (H2) fuel cell technology.

We have also supported Glasgow City Council a refuse collection vehicle to operate as a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle. This project is in its final stages and the vehicle is planned to be operational in Glasgow from early 2022.

We will continue to monitor the retrofitting market so that the right support is available for the consumer and businesses.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data for the 2020-21 academic year. Data on local authority instrumental music services is collected by the Improvement Service and their report on the 2020-21 academic year will be published shortly at www.improvementservice.org.uk .

Since the start of the 2021-22 academic year, no charges have been levied on pupils for instrumental music tuition following agreement between Scottish Government and local authorities as part of the implementation of the Scottish Government's 100-day manifesto commitments.

The Scottish Government published its Draft Hydrogen Action Plan for consultation today. This follows the publication of the Hydrogen Policy Statement in December 2020 which outlined the Scottish Government’s policy position on hydrogen and our vision for Scotland to become a Hydrogen Nation.

Draft Hydrogen Action Plan

This Draft Hydrogen Action Plan sets out what the Scottish Government will do and how we will work with others over the next five years to support the development of the hydrogen economy in Scotland which will further our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our energy system, industry, homes and transport, while ensuring a just transition to net zero.

We are seeking views on the Draft Hydrogen Action Plan and the accompanying Strategic Environmental Assessment and Partial Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment. Responses are invited by 19 January 2022 and can be submitted at the Scottish Government's consultation platform, Citizen Space:

Hydrogen Action Plan consultation platform

The Scottish Government will review responses to the consultation to inform development of the final version of the Hydrogen Action Plan.

Specific guidance on Reporting to Parents and Involving / Engaging Parent Councils during COVID–19 was published in November 2020. It states that “alternative methods and approaches to reporting will need to be used” in the current circumstances. Digital and online approaches are suggested as alternatives to in person meetings, and schools will be seeking to ensure engagement takes place such that all parents and carers can participate.

There is no specific guidance on meeting timings. Guidance emphasises that strong communications and collaboration between home and school remain key to ensure parents and carers can support their children and young people. Headteachers and managers will be working to ensure their setting or school continues to involve and engage parents and families .

Guidance states parents or carers may accompany children onto school premises where this is agreed and is considered necessary to support children and young people, including in relation to wellbeing, progress and behaviour.

The Scottish Government intends to launch a consultation on restricting the advertising and promotion of Nicotine Vapour Products (NVPs) by the end of this year.

The precise timings for this launch are dependent on the progress of other Scottish Government and Parliamentary Business and a publication date cannot be provided at this time.