Chamber and committees

The crew of the MS Ambition and MS Victoria are paid by the charter company that CTM chartered on the Scottish Government’s behalf. CTM have confirmed that all crew operating on both vessels are at a minimum being paid in line with the National Minimum Wage and are fully compliant with Maritime Labour Convention requirements for seafarer contracts of employment. In addition to wages, as part of the seafarers contract of employment the crew receive accommodation, food and beverage at no charge, flights and other travel related costs to both join and leave the vessel (at end of contract), uniform and medical expenses during service onboard.

Ernst and Young did consult Transport Scotland on the benchmarks proposed to be inclusion in the framework of options. Transport Scotland provided some suggested operators for consideration as comparators, but the decision on which to include in the final report rested with Ernst and Young.

FMPG have advised us that the value of the towing contract is £15,000-£20,000.

The Scottish Government remains committed to our vision of an affordable, zero carbon and modern transport system. Section 3.3.32 of the Update to the Climate Change Plan 2018-2032 (released in December 2020) committed that “30% of Scottish Government owned ferries will be low emission by 2032”, and so this pledge remains extant.

We provided an additional £9m to NHS Boards in 2021-22 to address waiting lists for Psychological Therapies. It is encouraging to see this reflected in a consistent and sustained reduction in waits of over 52 weeks over the past year and a more recent reduction in over 18 weeks waits in the most recent quarter.

In addition, we have commissioned the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to carry out a feasibility study to investigate a National Clinical Pathway to benefit adults diagnosed with ADHD. Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways are being piloted in four Health Boards to support a single diagnostic pathway for ADHD and Autism. The pilot started in January 2022 and will run for 12 months.

Scottish Government officials regularly meet with local authority staff and ship senior management to ensure the wellbeing and safety of those arriving from Ukraine are central to the provision. This includes work to ensure that all staff are adequately qualified and checked to support the safety of children and adults on board.

Organisations providing services aboard the ships such as local authorities, third and voluntary sectors partners, as well as private employers are responsible for their own background and Disclosure checks on their staff, in the same way that applies to those supporting other Warm Scots Welcome accommodation, such as hotels. Those staff members or volunteers who are resident in Scotland, and whose role supports ‘regulated work’ will have undertaken the necessary Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) level, deemed appropriate for their role. PVG checks can only be progressed for those people resident in the UK or where there is an agreement with other states. Where this doesn’t apply, the background checks undertaken by the Home Office provide assurance to our contract managers. In addition, we have worked with local authorities and other partners to ensure that all crew of the MS Victoria and MS Ambition have a minimum of child and adult protection training and we continue to work collaboratively to ensure additional safeguarding training and resources are made available.

Following consultation, the Scottish Government is amending economic link provisions to deliver greater socio-economic benefit to our coastal communities.

Scotland’s fishing quotas are a national asset and deliver sustainable economic benefit beyond those at sea involved in catching.

Each year around £100 million of fish is landed outside Scotland by our fishing vessels. Often for species for which we have ready domestic processing capacity.

We want to ensure that those fortunate enough to be allocated fishing opportunities for Scotland’s key species provide a significant economic return to our nation.

That is why from 1 January 2023, vessels fishing for key Scottish species will have two options for satisfying economic link licence obligations.

1 - land a minimum set percentage into Scotland

or

2 - give back fishing opportunities for us to allocated to others in the Scottish fleet

These proportionate amendments will help ensure that there is a significant socio-economic benefit from Scotland’s fishing opportunities - Including to Scotland’s processing sector and supports industry aspirations voiced by the Scottish Pelagic Processors Association.

For more information please see: Consultation on a proposal to amend the economic link licence condition - Scottish Government - Citizen Space

The Scottish Government is committed to building resilience to the locked-in impacts of climate change, as part of a just transition.

The approach to planning for adaptation in Scotland follows the statutory requirements of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Alongside continuing to deliver the wide range of actions set out under the current statutory Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme (2019 – 2024), the Scottish Government is also now developing the next such Programme for publication in 2024. This Programme will respond to the full range of current and future climate risks for Scotland, as independently identified by the Climate Change Committee in its evidence base for the January 2022 update to the statutory UK Climate Change Risk Assessment.

As part of preparing the next Adaptation Programme, the Scottish Government is currently looking at options for early actions to enhance responses in the highest priority risk areas identified by the Climate Change Committee. These priority risk areas include both the impacts on food supply chains and distribution networks from climate-related disruption and those on human health, wellbeing and productivity from increased exposure to heat in homes and other buildings.

The Scottish Government has commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland to lead a national review to understand any contributing factors to the increase in neonatal mortality during 2021-22. The review will cover reported neonatal deaths across Scotland between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 and be informed by relevant data and clinical expertise. It will assess and determine whether there are any themes, underlying causes or safety factors that have contributed to the increased neonatal mortality rate, from both a clinical and system perspective. Key learning points will be identified and recommendations for improvements in the quality of care should be made.

Families affected by this review can seek support from a number of organisations, should they wish to do so. Further information on help available can be found at: www.mygov.scot/child-baby-death and on the National Bereavement Care Pathways Scotland website at: www.nbcpscotland.org.uk/covid-19/signposting-support/

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the impact rising energy costs is having on the seafood sector in Scotland. With energy being a reserved matter, the powers to offer financial support to the fish processing industry — and indeed all industries across Scotland — lies in Westminster.

We have continually urged the UK Government to use all the levers at its disposal to tackle the cost crisis for businesses and to provide immediate support. We welcome the UK Government’s belated announcement which may limit the impact of the energy price crisis on some businesses, but unfortunately the announcement may have come too late.

Although we will continue to actively engage the UK Government, and press for further support for all industries — including the fish processing sector — cases like this reinforces the need for Scotland to have the powers of a fully independent country to accelerate the decarbonisation of our energy system and diversify our energy mix to deliver secure, sustainable and affordable energy for communities, households, and businesses in Scotland.