Chamber and committees

A campaign report evaluating the campaign on Endometriosis for young people in Scotland was provided by Young Scot in April 2023 which measured young people’s engagement with the campaign.

High engagement was achieved across the campaign webpages through social media and paid marketing:

• 2.3 million impressions which is the number of times a user sees a piece of content, regardless of whether they interact with it;
• 56,000 social media engagements which represents number of people interacting with the social media accounts and content; and
• 84,000 video views which reflects the number of times the video content was watched.

With regard to ensuring menstrual health, including endometriosis is included in the school curriculum, I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-30034, on 3 October 2024, and S6W-32189, on 23 December 2024. 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

I understand the concerns around increasing competition for marine space and the different pressures on various marine activities.

I welcomed publication of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations’ and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation’s joint report, ‘Spatial Squeeze in Fisheries’ in June 2022. I am very aware of the potential cumulative impacts on the fishing industry and my officials and I continue to engage stakeholders to explore this issue within the policy development process.

Effectively managing how we use our marine space is critical in our transition to net zero, the achievement of our national and international biodiversity commitments and to maximise the opportunities a blue economy approach can deliver for our marine industries and communities.

That is why we have committed to developing a new National Marine Plan for Scotland (NMP2). Marine planning is a powerful tool for managing multiple uses of our seas by bringing together different interests and seeks to balance the needs of people and our environment through decision-making. Encouraging economic growth across both developing and existing marine sectors is a key priority.

A new planning framework as part of NMP2 must help facilitate this, and further action aimed at tackling the climate and nature emergency. Delivering a new National Marine Plan relies on speaking and working with those who know our seas best. We have taken forward a number of engagement events that have discussed the full range of marine planning issues, of which pressures on the marine space has been a high level topic. Please find details of these below:

Fisheries stakeholders present:

• 22-06-2023 – NMP Forum, in-person event at EICC, Edinburgh
• 20-06-2024 – NMP2 HLO Fisheries workshop, virtual
• 22-8-2024 – NMP2 Fisheries in-person workshop at FSS offices in Aberdeen
• 13-11-2024 - NMP Forum, in-person event in Stirling
• 21-01-2025 – NMP2 Community Engagement drop-in session, virtual meeting

Environmental stakeholders present:

• 22-06-2023 – NMP Forum, in-person event at EICC, Edinburg
• 11-01-2024 – NMP2 consultation authorities workshop, VQ
• 02-02-2024 – Meeting with consultation authorities, VQ
• 23-4-2024 – NMP2 HLO workshop with Consultation authorities, VQ
• 25-8-2024 – NMP2 HLO and draft policy ideas workshop with eNGOs, virtual
• 30-5-2024 – NMP2 HLO Workshop with young Environmentalists, virtual
• 13-8-2024 – NMP2 HLO follow-up discussion with Young Environmentalists, virtual
• 15-8-2024 - NMP2 Environment follow-up discussion on HLO and draft policy ideas, virtual meeting
• 13-11-2024 - NMP Forum, in-person event in Stirling
• 21-01-2025 – NMP2 Community Engagement drop-in session, virtual meeting

We are aware that the fishing sector is not always understood as welcoming to women which can discourage women from entry. There are also reports of sexist attitudes, behaviour and language and this is unacceptable.

We would benefit from further research into views of men (of different ages) working in seafood jobs towards women and how these are changing, and we would be happy to explore options for collaborative working and for actions to be developed in partnership with the fishing industry and the wider research communities.

The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition( (Scotland) Act 2007 makes health promotion a central purpose of schooling and places duties on all education authority and grant aided schools including those in rural communities. A school is health promoting if it provides activities and an environment which promote the physical, social, mental and emotional health and wellbeing of pupils in attendance at the school.

It is up to local authorities and schools to choose which policies, initiatives and programmes they put in place to meet these duties recognising they are best placed to decide what will best serve local needs, priorities and circumstances.

Guidance was developed to support schools as they take action to meet their duties under the 2007 Act.

Health and wellbeing is an integral part of Curriculum for Excellence, helping to ensure that children and young people are provide with the skills, knowledge and experience they need to take responsibility for their health and wellbeing as they grow into adulthood. Children and young people should know where to go to get relevant support and help them make informed decisions about their health.

The Scottish Government has invested over £29m of Community Led Local Development (CLLD) funding in our rural communities since the closure of the LEADER programme in December 2021, delivering over 1000 grassroots community-led projects across rural and island Scotland in partnership with rural organisations. A place-based approach is the foundation of CLLD. Communities are empowered and supported to design and implement the solutions to the challenges and opportunities they identify in their local area, which may include community led health and social care provision. We have invested £11.4m so far in our rural and island communities to support CLLD and similar initiatives in 2024-25. A further £9m for CLLD was announced in the indicative 2025-26 budget, subject to the passing of the Budget Bill.

The Scottish Government’s understanding of regional trade flows in seafood is informed by a range of sources. Primary data relating to the seafood industry including fisheries, aquaculture, processing, trade, and retail statistics is either collected by the Scottish Government (for example, Scotland’s Sea Fisheries Statistics), collected by relevant UK Government Departments (for example HM Revenue & Custom’s international trade statistics or the Office for National Statistic’s Living Costs and Food Survey), or collected by industry bodies (for example Seafish’s Processing Sector Survey). Relevant HMRC datasets that are of particular relevance include the Overseas Trade Statistics (OTS) and Regional Trade Statistics (RTS) publications.

The member should also note ongoing research as part of the Scottish Government’s Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) 2022-27 research programme which includes a project focused on understanding Scottish food supply chains, including seafood. The project aims to develop a better understanding of seafood being produced in Scotland, what is imported and exported, and how that relates to what we eat and what we should be eating in terms of recommended amounts of seafood consumption.

These various sources all inform Scottish Government’s approach to the seafood industry and seafood trade.

From 2019 the landing obligation requires all species subject to a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) be landed irrespective of whether they are above the required marketable size. It is therefore not illegal to land fish below the minimum size if it is recorded and not sold for human consumption. It can be processed for fishmeal or used as bait in creel fisheries. The following link provides further information Landing obligation and discarding - Sea fisheries - gov.scot

The following table details reports where fish below the relevant minimum size was landed to be sold for human consumption.

We set up the Fisheries Management and Conservation (FMAC) Climate Change Subgroup in early 2023 to help guide us and to build our knowledge and understanding of both climate mitigation and adaptation. The group is formed of industry reps, eNGOs, academia, as well as organisations such as Seafish and Fisheries Innovation and Sustainability.

We will work with the subgroup to understand what options for reducing emissions from fishing can be taken in the short, medium and long-term and develop a plan of actions.

The Chamber Desk processes all items that it receives in as timely a manner as possible. However, a number of factors can impact Chamber Desk processing times in any given week. Priority has to be given to Chamber Business, and to the processing of oral questions, motions and amendments for debate. The demand on Chamber Desk services can also vary, and the volume of items submitted for processing can fluctuate. In recent weeks, relatively high numbers of written questions have been submitted, which may have affected the turnaround time for some items. However, members are reminded that, if they have a motion that may be time sensitive, they can request that Chamber Desk expedite it. Where possible, Chamber Desk will endeavour to do this.

Work volumes and workflows are kept under review and adjustments are made to resource allocation where necessary.

From 1 April 2025, all ScotRail fares will increase by 3.8%, including season tickets and flexipasses.

We want more people to choose to travel by public transport for work, study and leisure but we know that people are still struggling with cost-of-living pressures and don’t always see public transport as affordable or attractive. That is why we have kept the rise this year as low as possible, while also supporting the generation of sufficient revenue to help maintain existing services, and contribute towards investment in infrastructure and fleets.

We are also continuing our 20% discounts on season tickets until September 2025 as planned.

Flexipass will also continue to offer 12 single (6 return) journeys and has recently been expanded to include the following stations: Exhibition Centre (Glasgow), Anderston, Motherwell, High Street (Glasgow), Charing Cross (Glasgow), Perth, Stirling, and Bathgate.

The Marine Directorate has several formal stakeholder engagement forums where there are opportunities to discuss the performance of the Marine Directorate with fishermen, their representatives and fisheries businesses. These include the Fisheries Management and Conservation Group (FMAC), and Regional Inshore Fisheries Management Groups RIFG. Additionally, there are many ad hoc meetings with stakeholders and regular engagement through direct correspondence with relevant officials where the Marine Directorate’s activities and performance can be discussed.

Marine Directorate Compliance Operations portfolio publish inspection data with the latest data being published shortly. (Reporting statistics from marine and fisheries compliance - gov.scot) We will continue to develop the data we publish.