Chamber and committees

Data about the number of charges resulting in a conviction has been extracted from the management information used to publish the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard (Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard ).

The number of charges under the new Protection of Retail Workers (Scotland) Act that have received a conviction in criminal court from August 2021 up to March 2023 was 543.

Taking into account that an individual can have multiple charges and each charge can have different disposals (for example a custodial and a monetary disposal), 250 charges (of the total 543 charges) resulted in the person convicted going to prison and 189 charges received a community sentence as main disposal.

The Scottish Government did not provide any funding directly to Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway in 2022.

Relationships Scotland operate a network of 21 member services across Scotland, including Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway.

In 2022, the Scottish Government provided Relationships Scotland with core funding via the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning & Empowering Communities third sector fund.

Scottish Ministers recognise that Atlantic salmon returning to Scottish rivers have been declining and that predation is a complex pressure impacting on the species. That is why the Scottish Government continues to support research into non-lethal solutions to address seal-salmon interactions in rivers. The accompanying Implementation Plan to our Wild Salmon Strategy was published in February 2023 which sets out the collective actions to be taken across government, business and charitable sectors for the protection of wild Atlantic salmon.

Licences to kill or take seals can be granted under Part 6 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) determine such licence applications on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. Licences may besought in some circumstances to conserve seals or other wild animals (including wild birds) or plants. One instance in which an application would be considered is the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon.

MD-LOT consider applications on a case-by-case basis, based on information submitted by the applicant and input from consultees. Where sufficient evidence is provided to justify the need to kill or take a seal, for the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon in a particular location, a licence may be granted.

The licensing regime for growing hemp is a reserved matter controlled by the UK Home Office, however we recognise the potential benefit for hemp production in Scotland as a sustainable crop with multiple uses.

The Scottish Government has not engaged in any discussions on this issue with the UK Government. Currently, industrial hemp is not a major crop in Scotland; although there are a small number of independent growers who grow hemp for a variety of reasons and we are keen to speak with those interested in growing hemp to find out more about this crop.

The Scottish Government is interested in understanding the evidence behind the benefits of hemp. As such, as part of the Strategic Research Programme, we have funded several projects via the Scottish Environment, Food and Agriculture Research Institutes (SEFARI) Gateway Fellowship programme. These include a study entitled “Potential Market Opportunities for Hempseed and Fibre in Scotland” published in October 2022 in partnership with the University of Aberdeen and the Scottish Hemp Association. More about this study can be found at the following link: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/16425/ .

The objectives of the grant funding provided to SUSE throughout 2022 were to:

1. Provide the governance and project management function for the PSP.

2. Progress Apt through the PSP stages, which include:

• Designing and developing pilot projects for delivery throughout the grant period;
• Ensuring that those projects are evaluated;
• Refining and finalising pilot projects before outlining procurement options for the public sector.

3. Ensure that the PSP has a public corporate identity, including by:

• Creating and maintaining a website hosting such information that is deemed necessary by the steering group.

4. Appointment of PSP Development Manager to:

• Effectively support employers with "complex" needs;
• Engage an additional 40 employers to the PSP Workstreams;
• Capture baseline data on employers.

5. Ensure that the Apt continues to deliver interventions for employers:

• Continue delivery of pilot projects;
• Further development of a strong evidence base to support each pilot project;
• Production of a design blueprint which describes the range of tools, products and services offered by the PSP across their journey

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22375 on 3 November 2023. 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 .

The National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care launched at the beginning of October, and is currently focused on delivering a programme of work designed to improve the capability of rural, remote and island primary care and community services, and support the improvement and retention of a more highly skilled rural health workforce.

The Centre will be delivered by NHS Education Scotland and is backed by £3m until 2026. The Centre, will be both virtual and local to ensure its availability to all communities, and will provide a resource to support Health Boards and Health and Social Care partnerships in their responsibilities and drive essential improvements in sustainability.

In January 2023, the Scottish Government agreed to produce a retrospective report in relation to the allocation of fish quota to vessels fishing by means associated with a lower environmental impact.

The report will review how quota was allocated to help incentivise selective fishing gear and low impact techniques, and other relevant factors such as the level of uptake of quota, where it was landed across the Scottish coast, and number of vessels involved. We plan to publish this report in the first half of 2024.

I would also take this opportunity to highlight that the Scottish Government recently published a consultation on how we allocate a portion of our fishing quota. This consultation seeks views on how the Additional Quota Scotland receives following the implementation of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement with the European Union and the UK becoming an independent Coastal State are distributed throughout Scotland.

The consultation is available at: https://consult.gov.scot/marine-scotland/fish-stocks-allocation-of-additional-quota/ . It closes on 11 January 2024.

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-22257 on 3 November 2023.

The National Innovation Strategy addresses the challenges and actions we need to take to ensure we deliver across the entire range of innovation activity in Scotland, and how we can best utilise innovation as a driver to grow our economy, create jobs and deliver priority outcomes for all of Scotland's citizens. The Strategy sets out ambitious and transformational programmes on cluster building, investment, productivity, and commercialisation.

The National Innovation Strategy will take a cluster approach to our innovation priorities, and this approach will be a national, regional and local approach. We will work with industry, academia and the public sector to evaluate individual needs to address barriers and opportunities, and providing phased tailored packages of support in each priority area to further stimulate growth and innovation.

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

Scottish Government provide direct funding to Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs. The objectives for delivery during 2022-23 through this funding are as follows: