Chamber and committees

I am pleased to confirm that the procurement exercise for mesh removal services outside of the NHS has now concluded and I can today announce that there have been two contracts awarded: one to Spire Healthcare in Bristol and the other to Mercy Hospital in St Louis, Missouri. The contracts are expected to start later this Summer and are subject to agreement of, and compliance with, the terms specified by NHS National Services Scotland (NHS NSS).

These additional services will complement the Complex Pelvic Mesh Removal Service already established in NHS Scotland and, alongside the option of referral to NHS England Centres, are intended to allow everyone affected by transvaginal mesh complications choice over where their treatment and care is delivered.

The procurement exercise has been undertaken in line with NHS NSS’s standard commissioning procedures, with quality of care and patient safety of paramount importance.

The Scottish Government is absolutely determined to do everything in its power to help those impacted by mesh complications and I hope that today’s announcement will be welcome news to those so badly affected.

We are committed to a further Land Reform Bill in this Parliament and a full and comprehensive public consultation will be run prior to its introduction in order to allow key stakeholders and the public an opportunity to provide their views. We are beginning the work necessary to progress this in the new Parliamentary session and will update Parliament of timings in due course.

The emissions reduction targets set in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, as amended by the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, constitute the most ambitious framework of emissions reduction in the world.

The extremely stretching statutory framework set by all parties in the Scottish Parliament places specific duties on Scottish Ministers in the case that emissions reduction targets are missed. In particular, triggers a duty on Ministers to bring forward – as soon as reasonably practicable after such a target outcome has been reported - additional policies and proposals to compensate in future years for the excess emissions arising from the missed target.

This approach ensures that the total amount of Scottish emissions over the lifetime of the targets in the Act will remain no greater than would have been the case if all of the annual targets had been exactly met.

The way in which land is owned, managed and used is centrally important to many of our national priorities, especially in meeting the twin challenges of the climate and biodiversity crises and supporting thriving communities and a green recovery. Everyone has a stake in Scotland’s land and everyone should benefit from Scotland’s land.

Community ownership has long been a key focus for land reform, and the Scottish Government continues to support communities to take ownership of land and assets. In the last parliament, we implemented legislation to extend community rights to buy to include a right to buy land to further sustainable development. Communities in Scotland now have more options than ever before to take ownership of land and assets, including several distinct rights to buy, and they can now choose which route to community ownership best suits their aspirations.

The Ayrshire Growth Deal, signed in November 2019, includes a commitment from the Scottish Government of £103 million investment over the next 10 years ensuring the long term inclusive growth for Ayrshire. The UK Government will match this funding, and regional partners will contribute £45.5 million to a total Deal worth £251.5 million.

Hunterston Port and Resource Centre (PARC) will receive £18m investment from UK Government as part of the Deal. The Sottish Government are not contributing to the funding of this project, which has been selected by regional partners.

Scottish Enterprise have been working with Peel Ports to examine the opportunities at Hunterston PARC, focussing on Oil and Gas Decommissioning, Offshore Wind and Liquified Natural Gas. Following an assessment of these opportunities, Scottish Enterprise approved a contribution of £10 million towards a £30 million project to reconstruct the dry dock cassion gates and develop a new quayside serving the marine yard.

Social workers have made an immense contribution as Scotland has dealt with, and continues to recover from, the pandemic. Supporting and resourcing social workers to work from home is primarily a matter for their employer.

We are aware of the stresses and emotional impact being felt by health and social care staff at this time. Enhanced wellbeing support services, backed by £5 million, are in place, including the National Wellbeing Hub. The Hub includes resources specifically for social workers and to support home working. In addition, the Scottish Association of Social Work has been given £50,000 this year to provide a peer support service covering a range of issues including wellbeing and resilience.

Information about number of school clothing grants issued by local authorities has been recorded centrally through the Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics returns since the 2017-18 financial year. Information about the number of school clothing grants paid by local authorities prior to 2017-18 is not held centrally.

The number of school clothing grants issued in each local authority since 2017-18 is contained within the following table:

In May 2018, we reached a joint agreement with local authorities to set the school clothing grant at a national minimum level of £100 per eligible child or young person.

The following table provides information about the value of school clothing grants provided by local authorities in 2017-18, the year before the national minimum school clothing grant was introduced, in comparison to the amounts paid for the 2020-21 school year.

In June 2021 we reached an agreement with local authorities to increase the national minimum school clothing grant level further. The new national minimum level has been set at £120 for each eligible child in primary school and £150 for each eligible young person in secondary school for the 2021-22 school year. Information about the value of school clothing grants set by local authorities for 2021-22 is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government has made clear its expectation that Scottish Enterprise will move towards a more regionally, place focussed model in strategic guidance issued to the agency. Scottish Enterprise has, in response, aligned resources to a more regionally-focussed model as part of its business planning for 2021-22. It has also developed a Place Framework for adoption across its organisation to shape how it makes that transition.

Alongside this, Scottish Enterprise is playing an active role in Regional Economic Partnerships, which are focused on the development of strategies to promote regional economic recovery, and in supporting the city and regional growth deals programme.

The Scottish Government's new air quality strategy 'Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - Towards a Better Place for Everyone' will be published later in 2021. The strategy will set out a series of actions to deliver further air pollution reductions over the next five years. These actions include work being progressed across Government which will benefit air quality, such as continuing to take forward introduction of Low Emission Zones in Scotland's four largest cities, a £500 million funding commitment to active travel over the next five years and a reduction in motor vehicle kilometres by 20% by 2030.

We will also take forward proposals to control the sale of the most polluting domestic fuels, produce a code of good agricultural practice for improving air quality in Scotland and develop a public engagement strategy on air quality. At the same time we will ensure that the strategy integrates fully with other Government plans and strategies that have implications for air quality, such as the Climate Change Plan update, the National Transport Strategy 2 and National Planning Framework 4.

The new strategy will build on the achievements of Scotland's first air quality strategy 'Cleaner Air for Scotland - The Road to a Healthier Future' which set out a series of 40 actions to improve air quality, 36 of which have been fully completed and the remainder carried over to the new strategy.