Chamber and committees

Scottish Government is aware of the Burgenland pilot project which has been underway since 2019. We understand that 250 relatives providing care for family members have participated in the pilot in a population of 20,000 people in receipt of care allowance. We are also aware that the model will be evaluated over the coming months.

The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 outlines that individuals who choose to employ a Personal Assistant may employ family members where this is deemed appropriate, under certain circumstances. Joint COSLA and Scottish Government Covid-19 Self-directed Support guidance currently advises that consideration to employ family members on a temporary basis should be given, particularly if family members lose income as a result of taking on a caring role during the pandemic period.

The guidance is available on the Scottish Government website and is currently being updated: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-self-directed-support/

The eligibility criteria for the Public Library Covid Relief Fund have already been made public via the relevant Scottish Government press release issued on 10 September 2021. It can be accessed here .

The fund will support libraries to re-open or extend their opening hours, as well as fund targeted plans for issues such as digital exclusion or mental health and wellbeing. While priority will be given to applications which support deprived areas and communities, all library services across Scotland are invited to apply for the fund based on their communities' local needs and priorities.

The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC), will be liaising with all services directly and will be working with them on their applications to assist a smooth process and maximise the impact of the fund.

Our priority is keeping children, young people and school staff safe. The COVID-19 Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s issues keeps the mitigations in schools and ELC settings under constant review. It considered the issue of parental attendance at school sporting events at its meeting on 21 September. Scottish Ministers are considering the sub-group's advice on this and other issues, and will announce the outcome as soon as possible.

Between 1 May 2021 and 31 August 2021, there were 336 landings of wrasse, weighing a total of 36,363kg, recorded by 43 Scottish vessels into Scottish ports. Unfortunately, due to the small number of vessels involved, it is not possible to supply information by creek or week. Summary information on wrasse landings by month is given in the following tables. This information is provisional, based on management information and may be subject to change. Any numbers based on less than 5 vessels have been starred out in the tables below to preserve confidentiality.

Number of wrasse landings by Scottish vessels by month and district, 1 May 2021-31 August 2021.

The Scottish Government recognises that children whose behaviour has caused harm will also often be the victims of abuse or neglect. The Bairns’ Hoose will be an environment in which this context can be understood and positive interventions can be made to prevent further harmful behaviour.

A key consideration in the development of Bairns’ Hooses which will be taken into account in the development of the policy will be balancing the rights of victims and those of children whose behaviour has caused harm. We recognise the potential tension between the rights of victims and those of children whose behaviour has caused harm and, as such, addressing issues that may arise due to competing interests will be a fundamental consideration as we develop our plans for a national Bairns’ Hoose model.

Our approach is rights-based in line with the United Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), The Promise and Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) in recognising that all children must receive the right help at the right time.

The information requested is not held centrally. The Scottish Government does not hold information on offenders' or victims' nationality.

The Scottish Government recognises the disparity between men and women in leadership roles in sport. We will continue to work with sportscotland and wider partners to understand how best to identify future leaders and support their development through programmes of educational learning, mentoring and experiential opportunities.

Our National Agency for Sport, sport scotland, run a number of programmes to encourage women into leadership roles. These include the Scottish Sporting Leaders Programme which helps improve the leadership skills or increase the leadership capability of staff within the sporting sector throughout the country. Each cohort will include a mix of delegates from local and national partners. The programme is open to women and men, with women being 54% of the participants across the four cohorts to date.

In addition to these national programmes, the SGBs and local partners in which sport scotland invest operate a range of programmes relevant to their specific context to support women into leadership roles in sport.

The Scottish Government also provide funding to the Scottish Sport Association to ensure there is enhanced governance through increased diversity, skill-base and competence of SGB boards via their On Board for Sport (OBfS) programme.

In order to gain a better understanding on how to support women into leaderships roles, sport scotland are convening a session on 5 October with around a dozen women who have progressed a coaching or leadership career in sport. This will be an open conversation to learn from the challenges and successes these women have faced in their careers, and to discuss what they would like to see to support more women to progress into coaching and leadership positions in sport in Scotland.

The Biodiversity Intactness Index focuses on nature in the past, reflecting the many pressures in the past over which we now have no control. I am pleased to say that of the four UK nations, Scotland ranks highest in the Index. However, we have already acknowledged that more action is needed at all levels to halt the loss of biodiversity.

Our Statement of Intent, published in December 2020, sets out our ambitions for biodiversity, and our new biodiversity strategy will be published within a year of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Conference of Parties (COP15), to be held in October 2021 in Kunming, China. We have made a new voluntary commitment to protect 30% of our land for nature by 2030. Our Programme for Government also announces that we will introduce new local nature networks, work to restore and expand our Atlantic Rainforests, and restore our ancient woodlands.

There is a wealth of evidence supporting the efficacy of face coverings, which includes but is not limited to the impacts on children. Our decisions on face coverings have always and continues to be based on the available scientific and medical evidence. The Scottish Government Covid-19 Advisory Group and the Covid-19 Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues applies the advice from: World Health Organisation (WHO) ; Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) ; and other sources, and use it to inform decisions in Scotland.

We continue to review our face covering policy on a regular basis in light of the emerging evidence on coronavirus and in the light of that evidence we removed the requirement in regulations for children under the age of 12 to wear face coverings on 9 August 2021.

As set out in the Programme for Government 2021 - 22, published on 7 September 2021, the Scottish Government is committed to establishing a dignified and compassionate miscarriage service by the end of 2023. This commitment includes ensuring women’s services have dedicated facilities for women experiencing unexpected pregnancy complications.