Chamber and committees

The breakdown of Scottish Government funding through Zero Waste Scotland, to support Local Authorities aligning their services with the Household Recycling Charter, is outlined in the following table:

The spending plans for 2022-23 will be announced in the Scottish Government budget which will be published on 9 December and plans for future years will be considered as part of the Resource Spending Review .

The winter funding will be used by Health and Social Care Partnerships to fund a range of options to support the timely discharge of patients from hospital. This includes £62 million for enhancing care at home capacity, £20 million to develop multi-disciplinary teams, £40 million for the development of alternative, interim care options and up to £48 million to increase the hourly rate of pay for social care staff.

In addition to this funding, in March 2021 we issued a £20 million Community Living Change Fund to be used during 2021–2024. Funding will be used to redesign services for people with complex needs including intellectual disabilities and autism, and for people who have enduring mental health problems, avoiding the need for out of area placements and reducing delayed discharges from hospital.

Estimated spend on dementia by each Integration Joint Board in each year since 2016 is as follows:-

Since my answer to question S6W-03274, a further £24.5 million has been provided from the £120 million Recovery and Renewal Fund, bringing total allocations to date to over £74.5 million, including:

• £40 million for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to address waiting times this year, increase access to and enhance services, including for those with complex needs;
• £15 million to grass roots community groups via a Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund to help tackle the impact of social isolation, loneliness and mental health inequalities;
• £5 million to address Psychological Therapies waiting times this year;
• £5 million to implement the recommendations of the Eating Disorders Review;
• Almost £2 million to roll out digital innovations, including online access to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

The following table provides a breakdown of allocations by the key themes in the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan, as well as funding provided for key dementia, learning disability and autism priorities.

Our clear ambition is that no one should be inappropriately delayed in hospital once they are clinically ready for discharge. However, given the current challenges health and social care partnerships are experiencing in relation to recruitment of care staff, and the increased level of needs people are presenting with, we need to set a realistic trajectory for reduction. Our intention is therefore to see a return to the position seen between the Summer of 2020 and Spring of 2021, freeing up at least 500 beds for winter.

The Scottish Government supports implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and agrees with others in the international community that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law; making it harder for a peaceful two state solution to be reached.

In 2018, the Scottish Government published Guidance on Due Diligence: Human Rights [1] , setting out how we, our executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should undertake appropriate due diligence on companies, including their human rights record, before entering into an investment relationship with them. This list of 112 companies identified by the UN Human Rights Office as being involved in activities related to illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine, during the period from 1 January 2018 to 1 August 2019, is one piece of information to be considered in that due diligence process.

Existing policy guidance on procurement outlines actions that public bodies can take if they believe there are grounds to exclude companies active in any illegal settlements from bidding for public contracts [2] .

I have asked officials to write to the Chief Executives of relevant public bodies to remind them of the policy guidance, make them aware of this UN list and ask them to provide information to officials on any relationships they have with companies on this list. Following this, I will write to any companies, thus identified, seeking an update on their activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and what they are doing to cease those specific activities- as identified by the independent international fact-finding mission, which provided the basis for their inclusion in this list.

On account management services or other support, as noted in response to question S6W-00182 on 27 October 2021, Scottish Enterprise is confident that it has acted in full accordance with their internal due diligence procedure, introduced in 2019. This procedure follows from the 2018 Scottish Government guidance.

As policies and procedures on due diligence and procurement are updated the Scottish Government takes account of the latest findings and recommendations of international bodies such as the UN.

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

[1] https://www.gov.scot/publications/due-diligence-checks-good-practice-guidance/

[2] https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20160106214501/http:/www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/Procurement/policy/SPPNSSPANS/policy-notes/SPPN2014/SPPN42014

Our 2018 Guidance on Due Diligence: Human Rights sets out how the Scottish Government, our executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should undertake appropriate due diligence on companies, including their human rights record, before entering into an investment relationship with them. Building on this, Scottish Enterprise’s Customer Due Diligence Procedure, introduced in 2019, sets out the process that it follows to undertake human rights due diligence checks on companies it works with. Such checks are based on a rigorous process and independent evidence. Scottish Enterprise is confident that it has acted in full accordance with this Procedure.

The Scottish Government supports implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and agrees with others in the international community that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law; making it harder for a peaceful two state solution to be reached.

In 2018, the Scottish Government published Guidance on Due Diligence: Human Rights [1] , setting out how we, our executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should undertake appropriate due diligence on companies, including their human rights record, before entering into an investment relationship with them. This list of 112 companies identified by the UN Human Rights Office as being involved in activities related to illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine, during the period from 1 January 2018 to 1 August 2019, is one piece of information to be considered in that due diligence process.

Existing policy guidance on procurement outlines actions that public bodies can take if they believe there are grounds to exclude companies active in any illegal settlements from bidding for public contracts [2] .

I have asked officials to write to the Chief Executives of relevant public bodies to remind them of the policy guidance, make them aware of this UN list and ask them to provide information to officials on any relationships they have with companies on this list. Following this, I will write to any companies, thus identified, seeking an update on their activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and what they are doing to cease those specific activities- as identified by the independent international fact-finding mission, which provided the basis for their inclusion in this list.

On account management services or other support, as noted in response to question S6W-00182, Scottish Enterprise is confident that it has acted in full accordance with their internal due diligence procedure, introduced in 2019. This procedure follows from the 2018 Scottish Government guidance.

As policies and procedures on due diligence and procurement are updated the Scottish Government takes account of the latest findings and recommendations of international bodies such as the UN.

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

[1] https://www.gov.scot/publications/due-diligence-checks-good-practice-guidance/

[2] https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20160106214501/http:/www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/Procurement/policy/SPPNSSPANS/policy-notes/SPPN2014/SPPN42014

The Scottish Government is required by law to regularly review all protective measures that are currently in place, such as the mandatory requirement for the wearing of face coverings in most indoor settings, including places of worship. This measure will continue to be monitored and reviewed in relation to evidence on the four harms : the direct impact of COVID-19, other health impacts, societal impacts, and economic impacts.

After a recent review, during which there was careful consideration of all of the current evidence as well as the options available, Ministers determined that the regulations on face coverings remain proportionate and should not change for the present.

At this stage of the pandemic many of the more intrusive restrictions have been lifted, but the virus and the harms that it causes have not gone away. We still continue to see hospital admissions and deaths as a result of COVID and the impacts of long COVID can be significant. That is why it remains important to maximise the use of the remaining measures such as face coverings.

While the vaccination has significantly weakened the link between new cases and serious health harms, it has not been completely broken. It is therefore important that places of worship, along with many other indoor settings, continue their good practice to reduce the spread of the virus.

We are grateful to faith and belief communities for their important role in protecting their congregations and enabling everyone, particularly those at higher risk, to access worship safely.