Chamber and committees

Official statistics for the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme will be published this Spring, with data up to March 2022. It is therefore too early to assert what uptake for 2021/22 will show, however the Scottish Government is aware that previous years have highlighted the need to improve uptake.

Both the Scottish Government and the Cervical Screening Programme encourage all those eligible for cervical screening to go for a test when invited, and for all those eligible to take up the offer of the HPV vaccine when invited to.

We continue to work with Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust to support their vital campaign work on cervical cancer, having awarded £456,000 in funding to highlight the benefits of screening and to better understand barriers to uptake.

Finally, we understand that increasing uptake alone is not enough, and that we must also strive for equality of uptake. Work is currently underway on a national Equity in Screening Strategy, which is being led by National Screening Oversight. The strategy will provide a focus and commitment to tackle inequalities in screening, to achieve equity of access for all eligible individuals across the whole screening pathway. It will consider the main causes of inequalities and will outline initial actions to address barriers and facilitate access of underserved groups.

The Scottish Government promotes the role of Citizens Advice Scotland and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) in providing free and impartial advice and support on workplace issues, including bullying and harassment.

Everyone has the right to go to work without fear of intimidation. We endorse the Fair Work Convention's Fair Work Framework and agree that every worker, regardless of status or position, should be treated fairly and with respect.

We are committed to supporting strong trade unions and promoting collective bargaining. On 09 December we published our refreshed Fair Work Action Plan and continue to encourage all employers to provide effective voice channels, giving workers a voice in tackling workplace issues such as bullying.

Only with the devolution of employment powers will the Scottish Government have the full set of levers to take real action on workplace injustices.

Green Freeports in Scotland will be required to the comply with existing environmental legislation and regulations. The legal protection of sites for nature, such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), will not be changed as consequence of the decision to give Green Freeport status to all or part of any site.

The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans to support World Milk Day 2023 but will consider this with the relevant stakeholders. The Scottish Government provides support to both the Dairy Growth Board and the Dairy Hub, managed by NFUS, and supports consumption of dairy products as part of a healthy balanced diet.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that numbers of teachers and support staff are protected. We will provide local government with £145.5 million in next year's budget, which is conditional on the successful delivery of the following objectives:

• Maintaining teacher numbers at 2022 census levels, as published in the Summary School Statistics in December 2022.
• Maintaining pupil support staff numbers at 2022 census levels, which we will publish on 21 March 2023 based on the data collected from local authorities in September 2022.
• Ensuring that places remain available for probationer teachers who need them through the Teacher Induction Scheme.

In the event of these requirements not being met, the Scottish Government reserves the right to recover or withhold relevant monies allocated to individual authorities for these purposes.

The Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan is central to creating a future workforce that can support our transition to a net zero economy and ensure workers are equipped with the skills that employers will need in a green economy.

The Implementation Steering Group (ISG) for the Action Plan has an independent chair and is comprised of senior representatives from local government, public agencies, skills providers, and industry. The ISG currently has three sub-groups, including a transport sub-group which is exploring the skills required across the transport sector for the transition to net zero.

The ISG is not currently conducting a full assessment of seafarers and operators of ferry services in Scotland however could consider this as part of ongoing work.

The Scottish Government has not conducted this type of analysis as regular grant funding to these organisations from Creative Scotland remains in place.

Since being established in the winter of 2020, as part of the wider Winter Support Fund, a total of £33.595 million in support has been distributed from the Fuel Insecurity Fund (FIF) through our third sector delivery partners, namely Advice Direct Scotland, the Fuel Bank Foundation and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations. This includes the full £20 million budgeted for in 2022-23, all of which has been drawn down by delivery partners.

We have agreed an approach to monitoring and evaluation of support provided by delivery partners which seeks to avoid excessive demands for data gathering and reporting, in order to ensure the FIF can be distributed to those most in need. As such, the Scottish Government does not hold this information, although we are aware of the unprecedented demand for support from the Fuel Insecurity Fund, which our partners are providing to households. Based on evaluation reports received to date and ongoing monitoring, we estimate over 100,000 households will have received some form of support.

Further information, including FIF partner publications and evaluations, can be accessed directly on their respective websites linked to below.

The Fuel Bank Foundation - Fuel-Bank-Fuel-Crisis-Report-2023.pdf (fuelbankfoundation.org)

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations – 92717.pdf (sfha.co.uk)

Advice Direct Scotland - Publications – Advice Direct Scotland

The Scottish Government does not hold this information at this level of detail. Latest published Scottish Government annual estimates on demolitions from 1999-00 up to the year 2020-21 are available on the Housing statistics: Conversions and demolitions webpage. This information is provided by local authorities but does not include a breakdown by houses or flats.

Note that these estimates are not considered comprehensive. Estimates of demolitions of local authority housing are thought to be generally accurate, however local authorities differ in their ability to provide comprehensive estimates of demolitions of private sector and housing association homes. As such, these estimates should be considered as the minimum level of demolition activity in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on local authority expenditure on the provision of temporary accommodation to households experiencing homelessness. This information would need to be requested from each local authority directly.

The majority of homelessness funding since 1999 has been provided to local authorities through the annual local government finance settlement, which is £13.2 billion in 2023-24. Local authorities decide how best to use this resource to prevent and respond to homelessness on the basis of local needs and priorities, including the provision of temporary accommodation. This has been supplemented in recent years by £5.5 million from the Scottish Government’s health and housing budgets for the Housing First pathfinder and identifiable resource as follows: