Chamber and committees

Further to my previous response (S6W-26254) we are continuing detailed analysis of all respondents’ feedback to the public consultation and examining the feasibility of all proposals for legislative change. We will keep parliament informed as the process develops.

Whilst the main objective of safer drug consumption facilities (SDCF) is to provide medical attention in the case of an overdose there is also a significant body of evidence for the important role SDCFs play in reducing the sharing of injecting equipment. This reduces the risk of HIV and hepatitis C transmission.

The SDCF in Glasgow will provide people who inject drugs, including cocaine, with sterile injection equipment, advice on injecting technique and other vital harm reduction advice. Current approaches to harm reduction with regards to injecting cocaine will be discussed with academics and presenters from the Cocaine & Crack Cocaine Conference on 4 June 2024.

The Latest data from Public Health Scotland indicate that sexual acquisition is the most common exposure category for new HIV diagnoses in Scotland, however people who inject drugs remain at risk of HIV and other blood borne viruses.

There has been a downward trend in diagnoses among people who inject drugs following the peak of the outbreak in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde in 2015.

The effectiveness of interventions implemented at the height of the outbreak underline the importance of continuing to promote HIV testing, delivery of treatment and care, provision of harm reduction measures and awareness raising initiatives to this particularly vulnerable group.

SDCF provide a further opportunity for delivering these vital interventions and could therefore contribute to ending new transmissions of HIV in Scotland by 2030.

Following the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs on 16 May 2024, the Director of Justice in the Scottish Government wrote to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Area Director for Scotland, to make them aware of the Cabinet Secretary’s statement.

The letter committed to keeping the DWP informed regarding plans for emergency release and other measures as they continue to be developed.

The Scottish Government, with the Scottish Prison Service, has established an Operational Delivery Leads Group, to support planning and delivery in relation to emergency release. Representatives from the DWP have been invited to join the group. The group met for the first time on 30 May 2024.

Publication of the independent review focused on increasing the number of social enterprises, employee-owned businesses and co-operatives in Scotland has now been delayed due to the UK General Election announcement. A new publication timescale will be confirmed in due course.

We are currently prioritising work across the Scottish Government in light of increased budget pressures.

We estimate that establishing a register of child welfare reporters under the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 may cost around £5 million a year. This is based on calculations in the Financial Memorandum Children (Scotland) Bill (parliament.scot) that accompanied the Children (Scotland) Bill (now the Children (Scotland) Act 2020).

This is a significant financial pressure at the current time, and there is insufficient budget available within our 2024-25 allocation to implement the new register.

However, we plan to establish a short-life working group on child welfare reporters later this year with key stakeholders. This will inform further development of policy around the new register.

The proportion of electricity consumed by households that will be generated by nuclear power stations in the rest of the UK is not possible to predict with any level of certainty in 2028. It will depend on a range of market factors.

His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) release accredited official statistics estimating the value of the UK's regional trade in goods, covering both exports and imports. These can be accessed at the following address: uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/regional/ . These statistics include estimates for Scotland and are updated on a quarterly basis.

The Scottish Government provides further analysis of this data which is available on the Scottish Government website: Total trade in goods - Scotland's International Goods Trade: Quarter 3 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The latest report available to date is for quarter three in 2023. This shows that, when looking at the total export value of goods in the year ending quarter three 2023 compared to the year ending quarter three 2019, Scotland's goods exports have increased by 2.1% to £35.1 billion. When looking at Scotland's onshore economy (excluding oil and gas), goods exports have risen by 17.3% over this period, to £23.7 billion.

The Scottish Government also produces estimates of exports which include both goods and services in the accredited official statistics publication Export Statistics Scotland (ESS), Exports statistics Scotland 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The latest statistics currently available in this release are for calendar year 2021. These statistics show that the value of Scotland's international exports was 11.5% lower in calendar year 2021 compared to calendar year 2019, at £31.3 billion (excluding oil and gas).

Differences between these sources of export estimates are described in the Export Statistics Scotland Methodology, Other sources of trade data - Export Statistics Scotland: methodology - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . It is important to note that none of the data sources mentioned above account for the effect of inflation on estimates of the value of exports.

Over the period referenced, Scotland's export performance has been significantly impacted by the shocks of Covid-19, the detrimental impact of existing the EU and the subsequent trade deals, of which negotiations are not devolved. In fact, our analysis shows that in 2019 Scottish exports were growing consistently in all directions - to the rest of the UK, the EU and the rest of the world, and we have clear evidence that is no longer the case, with Brexit resulting in Scotland’s trade in goods to the EU being 12% lower in 2021, the first year of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation agreement.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting exporters and continues to work with its enterprise agencies to deliver A Trading Nation, our export growth plan. Trade results produced by Scottish Development International, one of our main delivery agencies, showed that the support it provided to companies across Scotland in Financial Year 2022-23 will result in £1.73 billion of planned international sales over the next three years – a 20% increase compared to Financial Year 2021-22. This trade support enabled Scottish firms to enter 301 new markets, with a focus on the United States, Germany, Singapore and the UAE. As part of this, 335 new products and services left Scotland for these markets in that year.

Every action is being taken to facilitate an early decision on this funding, following which officials will be in contact with stakeholders.

The Scottish Budget confirmed that the financial outlook for 2024-25 across Government is particularly challenging with future prospects continuing to be volatile. As such, the 2024-25 budget is a single year spending plan and no decisions have been made in relation to the budget for the Strengthening Communities Programme from 1 April 2025.

The Scottish Government fully appreciates the hard work and dedication of partners in Scotland around delivering employability services which support a reduction in child poverty levels and support those facing structural barriers to enter into and sustain employment. Discussions are continuing to finalise allocations, with funding being released as decisions are taken to ensure activities in agreed areas can proceed as soon as possible.