Chamber and committees

We expect staff providing care for individuals who have had a stroke to be fully trained in providing stroke care. However, in smaller Health Boards, it is not always possible to maintain a dedicated stroke unit.

A range of online stroke care competency training programmes are available and as part of the Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme review process all NHS Boards are asked to complete an education template highlighting the training stroke staff have undertaken.

We expect staff providing care for individuals who have had a stroke to be fully trained in providing stroke care. However, in smaller Health Boards, it is not always.

A key aim of Phase 2 of the Democracy Matters engagement process was ensuring that as many voices were involved as possible in the national conversation on the future of community decision-making. Therefore, resources were invested to remove barriers to participation, ensuring that under-represented groups, participants with protected characteristics, rural and remote communities and young people were all able to contribute.

A full breakdown of the Democracy Matters Phase 2 spend over the 2021-22 to 2024-25 financial years can be found in the following table:

Section 25 of the UK Fisheries Act 2020 obliges the Scottish Government (and other UK national fisheries authorities) to utilise objective and transparent criteria related to social, environmental and economic factors when allocating quota. It also requires that national fisheries authorities seek to incentivise the use of selective fishing gear and the use of fishing techniques that have a reduced impact on the environment.

The Fair Work First policy applies fair work criteria to grants, other funding and public contracts awarded by and across the public sector. In distributing fishing quota, the Scottish Government is not making an award of a grant, contract or other funding, so this policy is not a direct consideration.

In our recent consultation on the allocation of Additional Quota, we sought views on crew welfare as a criterion for distributing quota. In the consultation outcome report we recognise that the ILO188 Work in Fishing Convention, enforced by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, is the appropriate framework for monitoring crew welfare.

There is no requirement under the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 for guidance made under section 23 of the Act to be published before a local authority consults on potential visitor levy scheme.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering medium and long term solutions to address the landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful.

Delivery of a permanent and resilient solution is a priority and we will continue to seek ways to achieve that as quickly as possible. Following identification of a preferred option last year, the next step for the permanent solution, which is the detailed development and assessment of the preferred option, is progressing at pace and will conclude with the publication of draft Orders for comment, currently expected by the end of this year. As with all infrastructure projects, delivery of the scheme can only commence if approved under the relevant statutory authorisation procedures and thereafter a timetable for construction can be set.

At the same time, improvements to the existing Old Military Road (OMR) through the Glen Croe corridor are being made to make it a more resilient diversion route until the long term solution is in place.

The Scottish Government has spent the following amounts each year on the necessary design and assessment work for the A83 Rest and Be Thankful project:

Through the £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund, the Scottish Government has provided each Local Authority with up to £140,000 to support the cost of carrying out analysis to identify future public EV charging requirements for cars and light commercial vehicles. This analysis is being used by each Local Authority to support bids for further funding to partner with private sector charge point operators to continue to expand the network. Funding for Dundee, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland Councils has already been announced, with further announcements expected later this year.

The Scottish Government will publish a draft Vision Implementation Plan by the end of 2024 for a public charging infrastructure network that works for all. The plan is being developed with input from owners and operators of light commercial vehicles, among others, to ensure that public charging meets the needs of users of cars and vans.

Electric charging for heavy vehicles is likely to be owned and operated by the private sector. The Scottish Government is working with transport operators including the HGV sector, charge point providers, electricity networks and trade bodies to develop a shared understanding of the energy infrastructure that will be required in the future. The first iteration of this work will be published shortly. Scottish Government will convene discussions with interested parties following this research to explore how to progress.

The second phase of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund, announced in July 2024, will deliver more than 200 new charger guns in bus depots across Scotland before 2026. Where possible these will be made available to other road users in addition to supporting the 252 new zero-emission buses delivered through the scheme.

Pension Credit is reserved to the UK Government and is the responsibility of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice has written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to ask her to do more to increase take up rates. We have also offered to work with the DWP to improve take-up rates. This will include working with stakeholders across Scotland to increase awareness of Pension Credit and the link to eligibility for Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.

Our welfare advice services, supported by Scottish Government investment, also work very closely with people who may be entitled to benefits, devolved or reserved, but have not yet applied. These efforts include increasing the awareness and take-up of assistance to support people who are struggling financially.

This is why we have committed to investing over £12 million for the provision of free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice services in 2024-25, including support for the Citizens Advice Scotland Money Talk Team Service, which last year supported over 9,000 older people.

The Scottish Government remains committed to developing plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children.

The Scottish Government worked with AssistFM and the Improvement Service from September 2023 to June 2024 to map breakfast provision across Scotland at both local authority and school level. A survey of all primary and special schools showed that almost half are already delivering breakfast provision. We will use the information provided by this mapping exercise to develop plans to build on this provision in line with our commitment.

In addition, we are delivering free or subsidised school age childcare through our Early Adopter Communities and Scottish Football Association ‘Extra Time’ projects, many of which include free breakfast club places for children from families most at risk of living in poverty.

The work to define a Minimum Income Guarantee for Scotland, including the role of social security, continues to be led by an independent Expert Group. the Expert Group’s Interim report which published in March 2024, contained recommendations for actions around social security elements of a Minimum Income Guarantee. The report is available at: Minimum Income Guarantee Expert Group: Interim report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). The Chair of the Expert Group also brought early thinking on the vision for the social security aspects of a Minimum Income Guarantee to the Steering Group meeting on 27 March this year. The minutes for that meeting can be found at Minimum Income Guarantee Steering Group minutes: March 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). The Scottish Government look forward to receiving the recommendations for the Expert Group’s final report later this year and will respond in due course.

Transport Scotland will consider suitable reliability targets in the next contract. As part of monitoring performance we will ensure these reflect the lived customer experiences. Using enhanced Performance Indicators, reliability statistics will be reported through the Enhancement and Change Plan, which has been developed in collaboration with CalMac and was published on 25 July 2024.