Chamber and committees

Ukrainians who arrive in Scotland and wish to undertake a course of study in Further or Higher Education will be entitled to home tuition fee status and living cost support for the duration of their studies.

The Scottish Government has also established a new £1 million International Students’ Emergency Fund, which will be open to all international students facing financial hardship as a result of a significant change of circumstances. Ukrainian students who are presently undertaking their course of study in Scotland will be eligible to apply.

As outlined in S6W-03519 answered on 5 October 2021, the Scottish Government will continue to take forward our No One Left Behind approach to employability from 1 April 2022.

No One Left Behind is transforming employment support in Scotland to deliver a system that is more tailored and responsive to the needs of people of all ages who want help and support on their journey towards and into work.

The local governance approach within No One Left Behind funds services through Local Employability Partnership’s (LEPs). LEPs bring together a range of partners including Skills Development Scotland, Department for Work and Pensions, Colleges, NHS, the third sector and other partners to design and deliver services that meet both individual and labour market needs in each local area. This type of partnership and collaboration is crucial if we are to tackle poverty and inequalities that impact too many people in Scotland.

Helping families to increase incomes from employment and earnings is central to a balanced and sustained approach to tackling poverty. The Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-26: ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’, recognises the value of the No One Left Behind approach and the opportunity to increase investment in services which provide the holistic and connected support parents need to enter and progress in employment.

We are committed to continuing to work collaboratively with our partners in local government, the third sector, the private sector and others to tackle poverty and secure better outcomes for people, employers and communities across Scotland.

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

We know that childcare providers are concerned about the impact of the new Omicron variant on their businesses. The Scottish Government is working as a matter of urgency to assess the implications of the most recent public health interventions on the sector.

The Scottish Government is limited as to what additional financial support can be provided as our budget is fully committed at this late stage of the financial year. That is why we have urged the UK Government to make further funding available to support our public health interventions and the impacts of restrictions.

Since the start of the pandemic the Scottish Government has made more than £22 million of dedicated support available to day care of children services through the Temporary Restrictions Fund and the Transitional Support Fund. Round 3 of the Temporary Restrictions Fund was targeted at school age childcare services recognising the specific impacts for those services. We have also provided up to £3.2 million to childminding services, in particular through the Childminding Business Sustainability Fund.

Our Financial Sustainability Health Check, published on 31 August, sets out the further actions that we will take to build on the substantial targeted financial support made available to the sector since March 2020.

This includes commitments to review the administrative requirements on providers, to develop a five-year workforce strategy for the childcare sector, and to deliver a programme of targeted business, financial management, marketing, and human resources support. We will also work with COSLA and local authority childcare teams in order to map the various existing approaches to the contract management of let agreements, understanding how important that is to financial sustainability.

The Scottish Government has committed to build a system of school age childcare by the end of this Parliament, free to those families on the lowest incomes. We will continue to work closely with school age childcare services to do all that we can to offer support, within the budgetary constraints that we face.

The additional £40 million for the culture sector was announced in light of the consequential funding expected from the £300 million uplift to the Culture Recovery Fund in March 2021 UK Budget. The Scottish Government has so far only received £9 million of these consequentials. We are still seeking clarity from HM Treasury on why the £40 million has not yet been passed on in full to us and are continuing to press the UK Government to deliver the remaining £31 million.

Despite only receiving to date £9 million of the consequentials, we have made available £25 million to support recovery in the culture sector, principally through the Cultural Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund (COVRF) and the Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund (PAVRF). £17.2 million has been awarded to performing arts venues and culture organisations via Creative Scotland. £1.25m has also been announced for funding for the Public Library Covid Relief Fund. This leaves £6.55m remaining to be allocated, £2m of which is capital. We are working with the culture sector to understand ongoing needs, and announcements on the final allocations will be made in the coming weeks.

A robust, impartial procurement process has been undertaken in accordance with regulations and best practice to identify a partner to undertake work on this commitment.

Following the procurement exercise, EY has been awarded the programme of work and analysis to better understand our energy requirements as we transition to net zero and how this aligns with our climate change targets and the goal of the Paris agreement.

It is expected that this work will supplement a wide range of evidence that will be considered to take an informed policy decision on the contribution of North Sea production to the global climate emergency and to Scotland’s economy, security and wellbeing within Scotland’s wider energy system.

The Programme of Work will inform the forthcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, which brings together our commitment to refresh the 2017 Energy Strategy and to deliver Scotland’s first sectoral Just Transition Plan.

Work to develop the policy of removal of non-residential social care charging is progressing and charges will be removed as soon as is practicable The Scottish Government’s approach is to work with key stakeholders to achieve the best outcome for the people of Scotland. We continue to work with COSLA and other stakeholders on this.

The Sectoral Marine Plan – Offshore Wind for Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (“INTOG”) is at an early stage and the Scottish Government is currently consulting on the Areas of Search, areas where projects under this planning process may be located, and on the details of the Plan Specification. This includes the 100 MW cap for Innovation and Test and Demonstration projects. The consultation will close on 20 October and all views will be considered before the next stage of the planning process commences.

It is important to clarify that the INTOG plan allows for any scale of project to proceed, provided it meets the purpose of the plan – to decarbonise oil and gas infrastructure, through electrification of platforms. The 100 MW threshold applies only to smaller projects seeking to test and demonstrate new technology or innovative solutions in the real environment. The planning process allows for both categories of projects to proceed in a sustainable manner with minimal impact to the environment or other sea users.

The Scottish Government has published the Evaluation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism 2011-21 today. In response I am delighted to announce £650k this financial year, for tests of change on adult neurodevelopmental pathways. Additionally I can announce new funding of £425k to trial the Scottish Government’s new Learning Disability and Autism leadership and engagement work, from the Recovery and Renewal fund. I would also like to announce £400k for the understanding autism project charity funding. This represents a substantive package of support of £1.4m, £1m of which is new funding from the Recovery and Renewal fund.

The evaluation is available to view at: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802013696

Bus services played an essential role in keeping Scotland moving safely during the coronavirus pandemic – and have an equally important part to play as we gradually start to return to some sense of normality.

Today I am announcing that up to £42 million in funding will be made available between 4 October 2021 and 31 March 2022 to support bus operators to maintain services.

With the easing of restrictions, more people are now using local bus services and I continue to encourage people to do so safely and in particular, to continue adhering to rules on the wearing of face coverings unless exempt.

In total, we had made up to £96.8 million available in 2021-22. Because passenger numbers have risen, I am pleased to report that the required funding for this financial year is now forecast at £88.2 million. We will continue to monitor that closely to ensure that bus operators have the funding they need to continue to maintain services, but also to ensure that we are not over or under paying them.

Any assessment of the number of employees required to carry out future trading standards work is a matter for councils and their national body COSLA to undertake. Trading Standards Officers are employed by Scotland’s local authorities, who are independent corporate bodies, responsible for the management and sustainability of their workforce. Scottish Ministers engage routinely with COSLA which provides an opportunity for areas of concern for local government to be raised should our partners in local government believe this issue requires further discussion in future.