Chamber and committees

I met with the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce on 6 April. Members include NHS employers, recognised nursing and midwifery workforce experts, professional organisations and academics.

Members discussed wellbeing and agreed that it will be one of five key workstreams, in building a sustainable, attractive, fair, flexible, respected and empowered workforce for the future. I am due to attend the next taskforce meeting on 28 August.

I refer the member to my statement of 7 June 2023 which has been published on the Scottish Parliament website . The process for considering an exclusion for Scotland’s DRS from the Internal Market Act led to the unilateral UK Government decision on 26 May not to agree a full exclusion by removing glass and imposing uncertain conditions on interoperability. This decision left the Scottish Government with no other option than to delay launch until October 2025 at the earliest, according to UK Government aspirations for their scheme.

The end to end testing plans will have to be adjusted due to these developments. However prior to this announcement, as part of CSL Programme Delivery activity, end to end testing was planned to be carried out to ensure successful completion of agreed outcomes.

We support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that every secondary school has access to counselling services.

Local authorities provide six monthly reports to the Scottish Government on the impact and effectiveness of school counsellors. A summary of the reports is published on the Scottish Government website . The overall picture on improving children and young people’s outcomes is positive.

Officials are also working closely with the Counsellors Co-ordinators Network to ensure ongoing engagement with education authorities on the provision of school counsellors.

School counselling is just one of a range of services that schools may have in place to support the health, emotional and social needs of children and young people.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18598 on 15 June 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18527 on 15 June 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 Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland consulted several organisations including Disability Equality Scotland and Inclusion Scotland in the process of assessing the potential impacts of the Deposit Return Scheme. This was accounted for in the Final Equality Impact Assessment, published in March 2020 and available at A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland : Final Equality Impact Assessment (www.gov.scot).

ChargePlace Scotland’s assets are owned by 400 separate organisations across the public, private and third sectors. These organisations are responsible for commercial decisions relating to their own charge point assets.

Transport Scotland are currently supporting Local Authorities to develop plans that will enable them to work with the private sector to invest in public charging across Scotland.

In January 2022 the Scottish Government published its draft vision for Scotland’s future public electric vehicle charging network that meets the needs of the people of Scotland and which supports a just transition and the delivery of our climate commitments. It recognises the need to attract private sector capital, skills and resources to enable investment and operation of a public charging network that meets the future needs of all of Scotland. A range of public bodies and other organisations, including COSLA, have been engaged over the past year as part of our work to finalise the Vision.

COSLA have also been engaged throughout the development of the EV Infrastructure Fund through which Transport Scotland is supporting Local Authorities to develop public electric vehicle charging strategies and expansion plans. These plans will help to identify future public charging needs, investment requirements and operating models for existing and new local authority owned public charging points.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with Circularity Scotland at each stage of implementing DRS, including following the UK Government’s last minute intervention which has caused a delay to the scheme. Throughout the process, CSL has been a trusted partner with a demonstrated expertise and knowledge in its field and we believe the business sector sees the merits in working to maintain the progress they have made and to be able to use this as a springboard for the future form of DRS.

These figures are for staff directly employed by TS as of 31st May 2023.

Aviation, Maritime, Freight & Canals - 21

Ferries - 45

Bus, Accessibility and Active Travel - 88

Chief Executive Office - 4

Finance and Corporate Services - 67

Low Carbon Economy - 30

Major Projects - 49

Rail - 68

Roads - 102

Transport Strategy and Analysis - 63