Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government expects to lay commencement regulations in early May 2022 that will bring into force the Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Act 2021 this summer.

The following table shows how many school-aged children are in each local authority (as at September 2020) and how many devices have been distributed by councils using the £25m digital inclusion funding made available by Scottish Government in 2020-21.

Local authorities across Scotland have a range of approaches to provision of technology in schools, including some councils who have undertaken to provide cohorts of their school population with devices using their own budgets. We do not hold information centrally on those approaches, therefore, the following table only shows devices distributed through the funding made available by Scottish Government in 2020-21.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all school-aged children and young people in Scotland have access to a digital device by the end of this parliament.

The Islands Connectivity Plan (ICP) will replace the Ferries Plan and will consider island connectivity more broadly, including having regard to connecting and onward travel. The ICP will develop objectives based on supporting delivery of the National Transport Strategy 2 and the National Islands Plan, and develop proposals to meet those objectives which represent public value.

The ICP will also include a long-term investment programme for new ferries and development at ports, that will aim to improve resilience, reliability, capacity and accessibility, while increasing standardisation, cutting emissions and meeting the needs of island communities whilst providing value for money.

In addition, the ICP will explore pathways to zero/low emission ferry transport and undertake a ferry fares policy review.

The 2018 advice from the Climate Change Committee (CCC), our statutory advisers, was that over the next decade government policies should only support biomass use where this

a) provides cost-effective abatement whilst avoiding ‘lock-in’ to sub-optimal uses, and/or

b) develops key technologies and sustainable supply chains.

They recommend that we limit support for bioenergy use in buildings to biomethane produced from anaerobic digestion and other niche uses (as part of hybrid heat pumps systems in hard to treat off-gas homes, local combined heat and power systems and small-scale district heat networks) - whilst minimising air quality impacts.

Overall, the Scottish Government’s aim is to see bioenergy used where it has the greatest value in reducing emissions. We are currently working to understand the most appropriate and sustainable use of bioresources across the whole energy system in Scotland and intend to publish a Bioenergy Action Plan in 2023.

Biomass in a low-carbon economy - Climate Change Committee (theccc.org.uk)

The Scottish Government does not currently monitor the number of public toilets, accessible public toilets or Changing Places toilets.

Some local authorities advertise their toilet provision on their website. There are a number of companies and charities that provide tools for members of the public such as https://www.toiletmap.org.uk/ . The UK-wide website https://changingplaces.uktoiletmap.org/ details the location of all Scottish Changing Places Toilets.

Information on Ministerial engagements is routinely published on the Scottish Government website and can be found at: www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/ .

This is a matter for each local authority, or the organisation hosting the facility. The information requested is not held centrally.

We know that the pandemic has been exceptionally difficult for the mental health and wellbeing of many children, young people and their families, and that there has been increased pressure on mental health services as a result of this.

As part of our £120 million Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund, we have made an additional £40 million available this year to improve CAMHS and to clear waiting list backlogs by March 2023. Long waits are unacceptable and we remain committed to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral. We are directing support to those Boards with the longest waiting lists to clear backlogs by March 2023 and are monitoring progress closely.

Additionally, in our NHS Recovery Plan we have committed to provide sufficient funding for around 320 additional staff in CAMHS over the next 5 years. This will have the potential to increase capacity for CAMHS cases by over 10,000.

We have also provided an additional £15 million to local authorities this year to deliver locally based mental health and wellbeing support for 5-24 year olds in their communities, providing alternative treatment options and pathways to CAMHS and ensured access to counselling support services in all secondary schools.

The Scottish Government is currently developing its consultation exercise, to seek views on future legislative change to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. This follows the report of the former Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee in the last session of the Parliament, on post-legislative scrutiny of the Act. We will announce further information about the consultation as soon as we are in a position to do so.

The Scottish Government understands the important role independent music festivals play in Scotland’s cultural scene, and wants to help ensure festivals will be able to take place in 2022. Support for music festivals that is provided in 2022 builds on the previous £240 million of financial support which the Scottish Government has provided to the culture, heritage and events sector to support its recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic.

The Scottish Government recently announced £2 million of events sector funding through VisitScotland’s National and International programmes. Depending on their circumstances, independent music festivals could have been eligible to apply to the 1st round of the National Programme which closed on 11 February. This is for events taking place from 1 April to 31 August 2022. Round 2 is now open and covers the period 1st September – 31st December. Grants of up to £25,000 are available.

The Scottish Government would also encourage Scottish Music Festivals to apply to Creative Scotland’s Open Fund. This Fund is open to projects from across the Culture sector, and as music is one of the creative industries, music festivals are able to apply.

The £750,000 Scotland on Tour fund, managed by Active Events, will support musicians, venues and festivals to bring new and additional concerts to venues and festivals in Scotland during 2022. The Scotland on Tour working group consisting of representatives from the music sector, Creative Scotland and the enterprise and skills agencies, will actively be looking at how the project can support festivals in future funding rounds.

The Scottish Government is also working with partners to consider what more we can do to support public confidence to return to events and cultural performances.