Chamber and committees

Information about the Zero Emissions Truck Taskforce, including membership and minutes, can be found on the Transport Scotland website at: Zero Emission Truck Taskforce | Transport Scotland.

Section 7 of the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill, introduces a new temporary release licence for certain eligible long-term prisoners. Release on this licence would be subject to risk assessment and consultation with the Parole Board.

This licence would be available to Scottish Ministers (in practice, the Scottish Prison Service) in advance of the Parole Board’s consideration of whether to recommend release at Parole Qualifying Date (PQD), or in advance of a subsequent review by the Parole Board if the individual was not released at PQD.

Time spent on this licence will be subject to conditions including curfew (which can be monitored by electronic monitoring) and supervision by Justice Social Work. The licence would also state the period of time the individual was permitted to spend in the community, up to 180 days.

This approach is intended to better support the reintegration of certain long-term prisoners. It is also intended to provide further evidence to the Parole Board to inform decisions on whether to recommend the release.

The information is not held centrally. You may wish to contact Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol & Drugs directly to request additional information. An evaluation of the National Development Project Fund is also available on the Scottish Government website.

The whole family approach framework, launched in December 2021, sets out principles of how we will improve support for families affected by substances. A £3.5 million uplift per year is provided to ADPs to implement this framework by allocating funding to local family support services.

We also fund Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol & Drugs for family support services while the Children and Families Fund, administered by Corra, provides £3 million for family support each year to front-line and third-sector organisations.

We currently have no plans to extend the statutory free bus schemes to include the Glasgow Subway.

We are, however, undertaking a Fair Fares Review that will look at look at the range of discounts and concessionary schemes which are available on all modes including bus, rail and ferry.

Rooms for Refugees is a hosting service run by Positive Action in Housing. Scottish Government officials met with representatives from PAIH on 30 June to discuss their experience of running a matching service.

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.

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.

The Scottish Government is opposed to the use of mosquito anti-loitering devices and does not believe the use of these devices is consistent with our approach to tackling antisocial behaviour which seeks to promote strong and supportive communities where the rights of individuals are recognised and respected.

We believe the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 currently provides sufficient measures to help police and local authorities deal with antisocial behaviour wherever it arises.

We take young people’s complaints and safeguarding of their rights seriously and understand the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland’s concerns on the use of mosquito devices and young people’s rights and have taken action which is within our current powers to minimise the impact that these devices have on children and young people. This has included contacting the main public sector bodies to discourage the use of these devices on their estates. Use of these devices appears to be very limited in Scotland. We understand that none of the main public sector bodies use them on their sites and, last year, Police Scotland advised that they were not aware of them being used in any premises across the country.

We have additionally lobbied the UK Government to take action on these devices – but there appears to be no current UK action planned to regulate, license or otherwise prevent the sale of anti-loitering devices.

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