Chamber and committees

The Residential Rehabilitation Development Working Group defines residential rehab as facilities offering programmes which aim to support individuals to attain an alcohol or drug-free lifestyle and to be re-integrated into society, provide intensive psychosocial support and a structured programme of daily activities, and which residents are required to attend over a fixed period of time.

The Scottish Government recognises that diversity of treatment options is important to empower individuals to have more choice and to meet the needs of individuals seeking different types of recovery, and this includes taking a person-centred approach to the duration of treatment.

We commissioned The Gate Worldwide to develop and launch a National Directory of Residential Rehab providers. This directory will be announced soon and will include details on standard programme lengths for each provider listed.

The Scottish Government survey of residential rehab providers, published in November 2021, found that the duration of treatment programmes varied substantially across providers, with an average core treatment duration of 23 weeks. Some providers suggested that this was flexible based on individual need. Typically, private providers reported shorter (5–12 weeks) programmes, while third-sector providers reported longer (14–156 weeks) programmes. Further breakdown of treatment duration by facility is available in the published report.

This report was referenced in Public Health Scotland’s interim evaluation of the Residential Rehabilitation Programme, published 13 February 2024.

As set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Action: Policy Package, Climate change action: policy package - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , we are developing a package of incentives schemes for deer management to pilot across Scotland. These local schemes will be implemented this year in different parts of Scotland to test different approaches to incentives and to better understand the barriers to deer management.

In addition to this the Managing Deer for Climate and Nature: consultation closed on 29 March 2024. This consultation sought views on proposed legislative changes to Scotland’s systems of deer management, including in relation to a number of recommendations made by the Deer Working Group (DWG) in their 2020 report. The responses are currently being analysed and an update will be provided in due course.

The Scottish Government’s future legislative programme will be set out as part of the upcoming Programme for Government in due course. In the meantime we are working on those DWG recommendations that do not require primary legislation through the Strategic Deer Board. Deer Management Strategic Board - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

I will be responding directly to the EIS on the important issues raised around teacher workload in their most recent report.

I have also strengthened teacher union engagement in recent months through the creation of the Professional Association Forum, which allows for more routine engagement to discuss issues such as workload.

Any changes to teachers’ terms and conditions require tripartite agreement through the SNCT.

Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) are valued stakeholders and my officials at Transport Scotland engage frequently with the RTPs on various matters. However, whilst Strathclyde Partnership for Transport manages the Glasgow Subway, RTPs have no formal role in governance of ScotRail or Caledonian Sleeper services.

Similarly, as bus services operate in a deregulated market, they are not subject to governance from local authorities or RTPs. However, local transport authorities, which include the model 3 RTPs, have a range of powers available to them in relation to bus services, including flexible tools available through the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 and the ability to subsidise services, where they consider these to be socially necessary. As such, my officials engage with them regularly in relation to bus services.

The Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) provides a total of at least £65 million for nature restoration projects led from communities across Scotland over this parliament. Financial decisions beyond that time will be announced as part of the annual budget process in the next parliament.

Scottish Government loss and damage funding of £10m is fully committed for the lifetime of this parliament, through to 2026.

We will utilise learning from our programmes to demonstrate to the world that funding loss and damage can take many forms, which we hope will inspire other governments, organisations and NGOs to be equally aspirational in their work to address loss and damage.

On aviation, the Scottish Government continues to explore all options to implement Air Departure Tax (ADT) in a way that protects Highlands & Islands connectivity and complies with the UK Government’s subsidy control regime. A Frequent-Flyer Levy has previously been discounted on the grounds that it would be disproportionately resource-intensive to administer. Upon implementation, the Scottish Government’s Air Departure Tax will apply to all affected flights, but without the need for recording the number of flights an individual has taken.

As a well-respected Global North Government, we continue to engage in discussions with governments, organisations and NGOs around the world who are also eager to ensure action on loss and damage is suitably funded. We continue to build meaningful and lasting international partnerships to mobilise action and ambition, and find solutions to address some of the key climate change issues; including through our position as co-chair of the Under 2 Coalition and engagement via the Regions4 Network.

The Scottish Government will continue to use its position to amplify the voices of the Global South and address the unequal impacts of climate change on marginalised people, especially young people and women. We continue to push for global ambition, recognising that $650m dollars of pledges so far is significant, but insufficient.

The Scottish Government welcomes the results of the More in Common survey. Nature is important to everyone. It is our world’s life support system. The twin crises of climate change and nature loss need urgent action across Government and society. The 2023 State of Nature report for Scotland shows the effect that a changing climate is having on our natural world. We face twin reinforcing crises – a decline in biodiversity will make the climate crisis worse and a changing climate will increase the rate of biodiversity loss. Halting and reversing biodiversity loss is critical for adapting to climate change and to ensure we can all continue to enjoy nature's benefits, on which we all depend.

The evidence tells us that Scotland, in common with the rest of the UK, has not done enough over the last 20 years to prevent the continuing decline in biodiversity. We remain firmly committed to tackling the twin crises by taking decisive actions to protect and restore the natural environment. Our ambitious new biodiversity strategy sets out our goals to halt nature loss by 2030 and reverse it by 2045 and provides a long-term vision of what our natural environment needs to look like in order to reverse biodiversity decline. We have committed to invest at least an additional £500 million in the natural economy over the course of this Parliament. Our £65 million Nature Restoration Fund is a key lever in delivering our Biodiversity Strategy, alongside investment in nature-based solutions, like peatland restoration and woodland creation, to tackle the twin crises, and create green jobs.

The Fair Fares Review was undertaken to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares that supports the future long-term viability of a public transport system that is accessible, available, and affordable for people throughout Scotland.

The review considered the scope of both the Young Persons’ Scheme and Older and Disabled Persons Scheme, which provide free bus travel and were established under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005.

The Fair Fares Review was published on 22 March 2024 and is available on the Transport Scotland website Fair Fares Review | Transport Scotland .

The Fair Fares Review was undertaken to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares that supports the future long-term viability of a public transport system that is accessible, available, and affordable for people throughout Scotland.

The review considered the current provision of concessionary travel schemes, including both the Young Persons’ Scheme and Older and Disabled Persons Scheme, which provide free bus travel and were established under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005.

The Fair Fares Review was published on 22 March 2024 and is available on the Transport Scotland website. Fair Fares Review | Transport Scotland .