Chamber and committees

To meet our commitment to increasing Residential Rehabilitation capacity by 50%, from 425 beds to 650 beds by the end of the parliamentary term in 2026, over £38 million has been made available through two rounds of the Residential Rehabilitation Rapid Capacity Programme (RRRCP). Investment in these projects combined will provide a total increase of 172 beds by 2025/26, boosting the current rehab capacity in Scotland from 425 to 597 – an increase of over 40%.

Despite there being no further openings of the projects funded through the RRRCP during the time frame you asked about, some are expected to be completed later this year. Aberlour’s Mother and Child recovery unit in Dundee opened in January 2023, with their second house in Falkirk opening in summer 2024. The expansion at Maxie Richards, Tighnabruaich is due to be complete summer 2024 and CrossReach, Inverness in January 2025. There is also the development of a new Residential Rehabilitation service for the North East run by Phoenix Futures which is due to open in early 2025.

Since the establishment, the Nursing and Midwifery taskforce has held four ministerial led meetings in April, July, December 2023 and March 2024. The taskforce has also held two official led meetings in June 2023 and March 2024.

The Scottish Government publishes the agreed minutes and actions from each meeting on its website: www.gov.scot/groups/nursing-and-midwifery-taskforce/

Estimating carbon sequestration rates for different land uses falls under the remit of the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory and the Scottish Government does not make these kinds of estimates.

The Scottish Government has commissioned research through the ClimateXChange which considers how grassland management can impact carbon stocks. “ Understanding carbon sequestration from nature-based solutions ” concluded that further evidence is needed on the impact of the restoration of species-rich grassland on carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions, and “ Managing permanent grasslands for carbon sequestration in Scottish soils ” found that grazing rates, grass species, application of fertiliser, and tillage affect sequestration potential.

The NHS Scotland Youth Academy aims to enhance opportunity for Scotland’s young people to join the health and social care workforce. It is currently engaged in developing learner pathways, raising awareness of career opportunities and creating connections between schools and employers.

The Youth Academy is bringing together local partners from public and third sector organisations to further opportunities for young people in Health and Social Care. A key focus of work includes the delivery, in collaboration with Skills Development Scotland (SDS), of a new pathway pilot qualification. It will prepare and inspire senior secondary school pupils for entering into careers in health and social care. The pathway pilot is running during the 2023-24 academic year across Highland, Tayside and Clydebank (NHS Golden Jubilee). Additionally, the Youth Academy is supporting the relaunch of the Future Nurse Programme. This aims to raise awareness of nursing careers with primary-aged young people in the Highlands and Clydebank initially.

The Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 amended regulation 8 of the building regulations so that "highly combustible metal composite material" panels, combustible cladding and combustible insulation can no longer be used for new building work captured in the scope of the ban.

The Business Support Partnership (BSP) is a commitment from Scottish Government, Scotland’s Enterprise and Skills Agencies, Business Gateway, and Local Government to develop a streamlined, efficient, and effective business support system that drives collaboration at a local, regional, and national level. Partners are committed to including the voice of businesses and communities and delivering inclusive and fair support that is underpinned by shared research, aligned customer surveying and data.

In its Strategic Delivery Plan 2023-2026, the BSP sets out its goal to ensure that the business support system in Scotland is inclusive, accessible and responsive, and that it recognises underrepresented groups, targets priority areas and supports socio-economic growth in response to data and the views of customers.

This is a long term undertaking, but one that is central to closing the gap in entrepreneurial participation. Better collection and reporting of data will provide us with essential information, which will allow us to prioritise and target support to under-represented and under-supported groups and to measure our progress.

Alongside this work we continue to develop our response to the broader recommendations of the Pathways report with emphasis on the establishment of Pre-Start support, with the Pathways Pre-Start Fund awarding £1.3m in partner led programmes aimed at widening entrepreneurial participation in 2023-24.

On 18 April the Scottish Government published a new package of climate action measures, this included the intention to establish a pilot scheme to support the roll out of methane supressing feed products to reduce emissions from livestock.

Officials are currently exploring the options for delivering such a scheme. Methane supressing feed products offer opportunities for emissions reduction in Scottish livestock systems and evidence on the efficacy and appropriate application of these products will be considered in developing the pilot scheme. Further details on the pilot scheme will be provided in due course, including a timescale for establishing the pilot scheme.

The Scottish Government carries out Equality Impact Assessments on all new policies as required under the Equality Act 2010 and the associated Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). PSED requires public authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations across all the protected characteristics, including age. These assessments draw upon existing research and data on equality issues, as well as the lived experience of those impacted. Specifically for older people, the assessments analyse and identify any potential impacts using evidence from relevant sources and direct feedback from older people's organisations.

Where relevant impacts on older people are identified through this evidence-based process, mitigating actions are carefully considered. The Scottish Government also directly engages with stakeholder groups representing older people, such as our trusted partners in the Older People’s Strategic Action Forum (OPSAF), to ensure their real-world views and experiences inform policymaking from the outset.

Corporate governance and accountability arrangements for public bodies are in place and built around an established series of statutory and administrative mechanisms. These ensure consistent processes and parameters, based on the principles in the Scottish Public Finance Manual, within which public bodies are required to operate in terms of the stewardship of public money, propriety and ethics.

This is supplemented by framework agreements that Scottish Government has in place with most public bodies setting out respective roles and responsibilities, including requirement for bodies to set plans which contribute to achievement of the National Performance Framework outcomes, including tackling poverty. These activities and the sponsorship and relationship arrangements the Scottish Government has with public bodies helps ensure that Scottish Ministers priorities are delivered.

Scottish Government funding to local authorities is allocated using a relative needs-based formula, taking into account disadvantage and various other considerations, including levels of deprivation. While local authorities decide how to spend their available finances they are guided by a set of national and local outcomes, with the Equality Act and associated specific duties providing a framework to help local authorities pay due regard to equality issues.

Specifically, local authorises, and other certain public bodies, in Scotland are subject to the Fairer Scotland Duty, which places a legal responsibility on them to actively consider how they can reduce inequalities of outcome caused by socio-economic disadvantage, when making strategic decisions.

The taskforce has established four subgroups to focus on attraction, education and development, leadership and culture, and wellbeing. All subgroups are considering retention as part of their remit. Each subgroup will formulate and provide recommended actions to the main taskforce. The Taskforce is making good progress with the development of its recommended actions and will continue to work until members have agreed a comprehensive action plan. We anticipate the publication of a report later in 2024.