Chamber and committees

Unlocking investment in the supply chain to build skills for zero emissions heating and energy efficiency must start with a clear demand for products and services. Our investment of at least £1.8 billion and the proposed regulatory framework for zero emissions heat and energy efficiency, as outlined in the Heat in Buildings Strategy, will strengthen demand and support an increase in jobs and skilled workers. The Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) is central in defining our ambitions to create a future workforce that can support our transition to a net zero economy and Skills Development Scotland have recently established a new Heat Decarbonisation Subgroup to work with industry to develop new targeted skills support, bolster training capacity and establish new skills pathways for entrants to the sector.

As set out in our recently published "Heat in Buildings - Quality Assurance Policy Statement", we believe in setting a high standard for installers of home energy measures and those providing advice to homeowners. We will adopt the principles of the PAS2030/35 British Standard for retrofit works funded under Scottish Government Programmes, and we are using the Microgeneration Certification Scheme as the standard for any microgeneration technologies.

Both MCS and PAS2030/2035 set requirements in terms of the core competencies and qualifications required to carry out work. We have worked extensively with the Scottish supply chain and sector skills bodies to ensure there is clarity on the minimum Scottish Qualifications required under these schemes and we have published our position in the "Energy efficiency, zero emissions and low carbon heating systems, microgeneration and heat networks - Installer Skills Matrix".

We are also currently considering how to build upon the successful projects delivered through our National Transition Training Fund which has provided over £1.3m in support for relevant zero emissions heat and energy efficiency training since October 2020. We will publish further detail on our plans in the forthcoming Heat in Buildings Supply Chain Delivery Plan.

Officials held engagement sessions on the Islands Bond with a number of key island stakeholders in the latter part of 2021. These are detailed in the table below. In addition to these sessions, officials also engaged with the National Islands Plan Delivery Group , the group established to support implementation of the National Islands Plan. This engagement took place between 14 July 2021 and 13 August 2021.

Islands Stakeholder Engagement Sessions

Police Scotland currently have 69 police station custody suites. However, the Police Scotland custody estate is flexible and the number of custody centres open at any one time may change depending on demand.

The NHS assumed legal responsibility to provide healthcare, including mental healthcare, to persons in police custody in 2014. As such, the Scottish Government does not hold data on the mental health workforce in police custody suites. However, mental health assessments are available to all arrested persons in police custody and are provided either in person in custody, in person at a local hospital, by telephone or facilitated via NHS Near Me video consultation.

Under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027, an additional 35.6 whole time equivalent mental health posts have been recruited to police station custody suites.

The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places statutory responsibility for local roads, including structures, improvements, maintenance and repair with local roads authorities. As such it is the responsibility of the local authority to determine how best to meet its duties on local roads in their respective areas and no formal guidance is issued on this matter. Transport Scotland does however share knowledge and best practice through a number of forums. In particular the benefits of Warm Mix Asphalt has been discussed at a number of Transport Scotland Pavement Forums and representatives of SCOTS (Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland) attend these meetings.

Asylum, refugee and immigration policy is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of support and accommodation to people seeking asylum if they would otherwise be destitute while awaiting a decision on their asylum application and No Recourse to Public Funds restrictions on people who are subject to immigration control, including people seeking asylum, which means they may not be permitted to access social security benefits.

The Scottish Government has raised digital access concerns with the UK Government relating to people seeking asylum who are accommodated and supported by the Home Office. We have called for the Home Office to reflect the cost of digital connectivity in the support they provide, as it is increasingly important in ensuring people can access support services, legal advice and information, as well as report asylum accommodation or support issues.

The Scottish Government is designing our social security service so that as many people as possible, including people seeking asylum, refugees and other minority communities, understand what Social Security Scotland do, can communicate with Social Security Scotland and can access services in the way they want to. Our social security service is inclusive by design, with specialist support such as interpretation available where necessary for those who need it.

To help provide support to people who may be eligible for benefits, Social Security Scotland offers a range of channels for people to make an application for any of the benefits they provide. These are online, by phone, by post or face to face. Where interpreters are required, these will be provided for every channel of application and at every stage.

Work to embed an inclusive communication approach across everything that Social Security Scotland does continues.

Social Security Scotland currently has the following capability in place to support inclusive communications:

• Language Translation and Interpretation: services cover the production of translations into over 100 languages, Braille, Audio, Large Print and Easy Read formats. Interpreter-assisted calls are available to people who call the helpline, enabling people to apply over the phone in any of over 100 languages. The services also cover face to face language interpretation. Information on benefits is proactively translated into 11 languages used in communities across Scotland, including Urdu, Polish and Gaelic. Key materials have also been translated into Ukrainian and Russian to help refugees and displaced people access benefits. Translated information on all of Social Security Scotland's benefits can be accessed via the stakeholder resources section of the website.
• All letters, information and guidance are available in Braille, large print, Easy Read and various audio formats.
• Online content follows the Scottish Government's accessibility design standards. It is compatible with screen reader software on Jaws, Voiceover and Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) platforms.
• Deafened and Hearing Impaired Community: As part of support of the Scottish Government National BSL Action Plan, current provision has been reviewed and, with stakeholder input, a new specification of requirements for providing services for this community has been drafted. A British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service will soon be available through Contact Scotland.

Further actions are also being taken to improve service capability in support of inclusive communication. These include work to ensure that Social Security Scotland has the appropriate support and services in place to support clients with Cognitive and Learning impairments.

The law on employment rights and duties is reserved to the UK Parliament and so the Scottish Government do not currently have the legal powers to set mandatory minimum rates of pay or a stand-alone right to take legal action to ensure this minimum hourly rate for workers providing direct adult social care, in commissioned services, is delivered.

This uplift is instead being delivered through Local Government contracts and local commissioners have delivered funding for this uplift through a contract variation process with adult social care providers. This process is a means to ensure that providers who accepted the funding for the pay uplift contractually agreed to pass on that funding to eligible workers. In the event that funding is not passed onto the workforce to uplift pay, it will be for local areas commissioning teams to engage with providers to resolve and disputes where contractual obligations are not being met.

All 32 local authorities have access to the Scottish dog control database. The national database brings together the records of all dog control notices served by local authorities into a centralised national database for the first time to aid enforcement efforts across Scotland. The database is also accessible by Police Scotland to aid their role in enforcement activity relating to dog control.

The law on employment rights and duties is reserved to the UK Parliament and so the Scottish Government do not currently have the legal powers to set mandatory minimum rates of pay or a stand-alone right to take legal action to ensure this minimum hourly rate for workers providing direct adult social care, in commissioned services, is delivered.

This uplift is instead being delivered through Local Government contracts, and local commissioners have delivered funding for this uplift through a contract variation process with adult social care providers. This process is a means to ensure that providers who accepted the funding for the pay uplift contractually agreed to pass on that funding to eligible workers. In the event that funding is not passed onto the workforce to uplift pay, it will be for local areas commissioning teams to engage with providers to resolve any disputes where contractual obligations are not being met.

To support this, the Scottish Government and COSLA have set up mechanisms, through discussions with the Fair Work in Social Care Group, to establish and address any issues or exceptional delays in relation to delivering the funding for the uplift to providers and subsequently eligible workers.

We have regular communications with Scottish Care, the Coalition of Care and Support Providers Scotland (CCPS) and Trade Union representatives to discuss any concerns or questions around implementation of the uplift and have worked together to resolve these quickly.

We are currently working with key stakeholders to establish a webpage with details for members of the adult social care workforce to make contact with local commissioning teams directly if they are not receiving the £10.50 per hour rate so this can be investigated.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09757 on 2 August 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-09757 on 2 August 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