Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government received written advice from Public Health Scotland on the public health implications of waste accumulation as a result of the recent industrial action by refuse workers.

Public Health Scotland subsequently issued a public statement in relation to potential risks to human health and precautionary measures on 26 August 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10585 on‎ 22 September 2022. 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-10585 on‎ 22 September 2022. 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-10637 on‎ 22 September 2022. 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-03196 on 29 September 2021. 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
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Any future procurement activity to secure new rolling stock for Scotland’s Railway will be governed by the Public Procurement Regulations , as all such procurements are.

By adhering to these regulations, ScotRail Trains Ltd will ensure that the Scottish supply chain, including those which specialise in hydrogen-related equipment, is given every opportunity to engage with these opportunities.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children who grow up in Scotland feel safe and protected. We recognise that where children and young people demonstrate harmful behaviour, the victims of their actions are often children themselves.

In June 2021 we published our Vision for youth justice in Scotland. The Vision sets out our priorities for young people who come into conflict with the law, including continuing to ensure that children, young people and their families are supported at an early stage through early intervention and preventative approaches in order to address the child’s needs and the circumstances which have led to their harmful conduct. This also includes priorities around how best to support child victims, such as improving support and information for child victims and their families, whilst respecting data protection and confidentiality, and ensuring support is trauma-informed and meets the needs of victims. We continue to work with partners to deliver the priorities within the Vision and to deliver a preventative approach which improves life chances for young people and which has seen dramatic changes in the youth justice sector.

We are also committed to preventing all types of harmful sexual behaviour and sexual offending involving children and young people. Collaborative work with statutory and third sector organisations across Scotland is underway to drive forward action in this area including initiatives to prevent children from becoming involved in harmful sexual behaviour through the publication of resources along with continued funding of services offering support.

We continue to implement the proposals from the Expert Group on Preventing Sexual Offending Involving Children and Young People and develop harmful sexual behaviour policy.

Information about the change is available in the Joint Implementation Plan . Letters have been sent to local authorities and sector representative bodies to remind them of the upcoming change and encourage them to review local processes and communications. An evaluation of the pilot areas is ongoing and will inform discussions and advice in Spring 2023.

There have been no recent discussions between Scottish Government and National Records of Scotland regarding access to the Historical Search Room and no discussions regarding service user requests for a new transparently-established users group.

As a publicly owned and controlled railway, it is important that ScotRail plays its part in delivering Scottish Government ambitions for its success. As part of that, ScotRail quite rightly reviewed the ban on alcohol and brought forward proposals for consideration. Following robust scrutiny against wider Scottish Government priorities and policy implications, it was considered that further work on these proposals would be required including wider consultation on the implications.

Given the diversity of views on the sale and consumption of alcohol on ScotRail services, consideration of its reintroduction will form part of the National Conversation on Rail. This will enable a wide range of views to be taken into account before any final decision is made. In the meantime, everyone needs to be mindful that, while many of the pandemic restrictions have been lifted, Covid hasn’t gone away and the Scottish Government’s advisory guidance remains in place.