Chamber and committees

Through the National Missing Persons Framework for Scotland, which was launched in 2017, the Scottish Government has developed and strengthened local multi-agency partnerships. A survey in 2020 by the Working Group for Missing People in Scotland showed that there are now multi-agency groups in 27 local authority areas and we aim to work with all areas to implement them by 2025.

The Scottish Government has funded the Missing People charity to deliver a Framework Implementation Project; and funds a National Coordinator to deliver a programme of consultancy, training and best practice sharing in local areas in Scotland.

Since 2019 the Implementation project has worked with local partners in Edinburgh, Fife, Dundee, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Moray, Dumfries and Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire to develop their multi-agency partnerships, protocols and strategies. A further seven local authority areas will be engaged with the project in 2022-23.

Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of children who go missing in Scotland return home safely – but, any child who goes missing is one too many. Through these actions, Police Scotland, the lead agency for tracking missing people, is working more closely with families, friends and statutory bodies to track and safely return those children who go missing.

The Energy Strategy and Just Transition plan will refresh the 2017 Energy Strategy, and deliver Scotland’s first Just Transition Plan. It will take a whole-system view of how the sector must evolve to drive our transition to net zero, with a specific focus on actions needed to meet our 2030 interim target. The revised timeline will allow robust evidence and analysis to be produced and take account of ongoing projects, which are progressing at pace in response to the rapidly evolving global energy environment. It will also allow time for us to engage meaningfully with stakeholders in line with our wider approach to just transition.

SEPA conducts assessments of Invasive Non Native Species (INNS) that affect the aquatic environment through River Basin Management Planning (RBMP) status assessments and routine impact monitoring, carried out as a subset of the wider condition assessment. The location of INNS (riparian plants) is mapped during morphology surveys and data is also collated from verified external datasets such as the National Biodiversity Network (including records submitted via Scotland’s Environment Website).

As directed by the Scottish Government, SEPA’s INNS assessments are currently of those species on the UK Technical Advisory Group (UKTAG) high impact list. At Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and other designated sites NatureScot undertakes INNS assessments (including non-aquatic species) through their routine condition assessments.

As of 4 May, 2,108,468 households in Scotland have successfully submitted their response to Scotland's Census 2022.

It is essential we maximise participation and ensure that everyone is heard and their needs captured. That is why the census online completion site remains open and support through both the free helpline (0800 030 8308) and field teams will remain in place.

National Records of Scotland will also continue to accept paper returns for this short extension period - until end May.

The current Deputy First Minister approved the financial implications of the contract award prior to the announcement by the First Minister on 31 August 2015 that Ferguson Marine Engineering Ltd (FMEL) were the preferred bidder.

The current Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans approved the award of the two shipbuilding contracts for Hulls 801 and 802 by CMAL to FMEL as the preferred bidder on 21 August 2015.

The Minister for Transport & Islands agreed for CMAL to proceed to contract award with FMEL on 14 October 2015 following the expiry of the 10 day standstill period.

There was no Ministerial direction in relation to the contract award and Ministers did not direct CMAL to enter into the contract. The contract was awarded by CMAL in its capacity as procuring authority.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07557 on 19 April 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

We do not believe an enhanced kerbside scheme could deliver the level or rate of improvement that we will see through Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Packaging recycling rates have stalled, including for glass, and the current producer responsibility system is not driving improvement.

In terms of public awareness, now that the implementation date of 16 August 2023 has been confirmed by the Scottish Parliament, we will work closely with Circularity Scotland Ltd to ensure that there is widespread understanding of DRS before the scheme is implemented.

The Scottish Government welcomes the publication of the IEA’s 10-Point Plan to Cut Oil Use as a useful contribution to ongoing global policy development on net zero and energy sector volatility. It contains a range of actions which can be taken by consumers, businesses and public sector actors. The IEA report asserts that if adopted in full by all advanced economies, it would reduce consumption by 2.7 million barrels a day within the next four months, relative to current levels. The publication underlines the importance of reducing the need for private car travel, which the Scottish Government is addressing through our target to reduce car kilometres by 20% by 2030 – a truly world-leading commitment. Our route map to achieving this commitment was published in January and provides a framework for people to choose alternatives to car journeys, including sustainable online options; choosing local destinations; switching to walking, wheeling, cycling or public transport where possible; and to combine a trip or share a journey.

The Scottish Government’s position is clear that unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with our climate obligations and we have consistently called on the UK Government, to urgently re-assess all approved oil licenses where drilling has not yet commenced against, our climate commitments. By refusing to recognise this, whilst demonstrating a failure of leadership to support an acceleration of low carbon heating and home energy efficiency measures, the UK Government’s new Energy Security Strategy has completely failed to take into account the agreements made at COP26, particularly in view of the UK’s continuing role as COP president in the run up to COP27, advice from its own statutory advisors, and the most recent alarming report from the UN’s IPCC. In Scotland, we will continue to focus on reducing reliance on fossil fuels and our overall energy demand while accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, creating a true just transition for our existing workforce and a greener, fairer future for everyone.

We have published guidance for local authorities which outlines the role of councils in supporting Ukrainian guests who arrive under both the super sponsor scheme and who match privately into Scotland through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. This Super Sponsor Scheme and Homes for Ukraine guidance for local authorities can be found on the Scottish Government website.

The Scottish Government has worked at pace to deliver emergency business support to creative businesses, via Creative Scotland, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Scottish Government has announced £256 million support to the culture, creative, heritage and events sectors.

In March 2021, the Scottish Government launched a £1 million Creative Digital Initiative to help develop the digital capabilities of creative businesses in response to the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The programme has been developed through a partnership of enterprise and development agencies, including Scottish Enterprise and Creative Scotland.

The Scottish Government established a creative industries ‘Future Focus’ working group to enable detailed discussion with Scottish Enterprise, Creative Scotland and other key partner agencies throughout the pandemic to consider key issues facing the creative industries, business resilience and support, and opportunities for partnership working.

The Scottish Government has a Programme for Government commitment to refresh the Creative Industries Policy Statement and will work with CS, SE and other partner agencies to refresh this statement, as well as the Creative Industries Framework Agreement , in order to ensure these documents reflect the priorities of the creative industries and signpost creative businesses to the expertise and business support available to the sector.