As set out in the latest Tackling Child Poverty Progress Report, published in June 2021, the Scottish Government invested almost £2.5 billion in support targeted at low income households including nearly £1 billion to support children in low income families.

The report also highlights that the data indicates that significant progress needs to be achieved in the years ahead to deliver upon the 2030 targets. That is why the Scottish Government has declared a national mission to tackle child poverty and committed to ambitious new action through the COVID Recovery Strategy. This includes doubling the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per week as quickly as possible during this Parliamentary term, continuing investment in the Parental Employability Support Fund and designing a wraparound childcare system providing care before and after school, all year round.

The Scottish Government will publish the second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan by the end of March 2022, setting out a range of actions which will put us on a critical path to the targets set. The Plan, when published, will include an assessment of the financial resources required to fund the proposed measures.

The Scottish Government will publish the second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan by the end of March 2022, setting out a range of actions which will put us on a critical path to the 2030 child poverty targets.

We have declared a national mission to end child poverty, recognising the need for urgent and targeted action which is underpinned by work across the Scottish Government to shape the next delivery plan.

Consultation for the plan is ongoing, in compliance with the requirements of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017. Inputs have been received from national and community based third sector organisations, local authorities and health boards. Working in partnership with third sector organisations, the experiences and priorities of people with lived experience of poverty are informing the development of the plan.

Further consultation activity with third sector organisations and people with lived experience of poverty will take place in advance of publication of the plan. This will focus on the priority family types identified in the first Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan and the experience of those most affected by child poverty.

The Scottish Government is working with COSLA to facilitate the full engagement of local authorities.

All children and young people have an entitlement to a learning journey which they experience as a coherent whole, with smooth and well-paced progression to best support their individual experience and outcomes. There is no national guidance which states the pace or time at which a child should transition through the stages of their ELC journey, and it is for individual settings to determine arrangements for moving children between stages depending on the needs of each individual child and their setting’s circumstances.

The Care Inspectorate’s new draft inspection framework includes guidance on how transition experiences will be inspected and states that where possible children should be supported to transition when it is appropriate for them to do so, rather than based upon their age.

The national practice guidance for the ELC workforce, ‘ Realising the Ambition: Being Me’, has a full chapter on transitions which highlights the importance of positive well managed transitions for children’s development. It helps practitioners to plan and support child centred transitions with children and their families at the heart of all decision making.

Scottish Government officials are currently working with COSLA, Scotland Excel, Scottish Care, the Coalition of Care and Support Providers (CCPS) and the Fair Work in Social Care Group on the implementation of the uplift for adult social care workers providing direct care in commissioned services in the independent and third sector. The National Care Home Contract is managed by Scotland Excel on behalf of Local Authorities; this will be updated to reflect the pay uplift to at least £10.02 per hour and providers will receive a letter of variation to the contract. Local Authorities and Scotland Excel will work at pace to ensure care homes have all the necessary information ahead of the new rate starting on 1 December 2021. Where this is not possible, funding will be back dated and provided for all hours worked from 1 December 2021.

Since the start of Session 6, the Chamber Desk has seen an upturn in the number of questions and motions submitted. In particular, the number of Urgent Questions being lodged has increased significantly. These factors have had an impact on the previous pattern of work undertaken by the Chamber Desk and have resulted in a longer turnaround time than Members will previously have been used to. When Urgent Questions are lodged, they are given priority due to the timeframe for such questions to be taken if selected and only selected questions are published. To respond to these changes in demand and pattern of work, additional staffing resources have been deployed to the Chamber Desk. Due to the specialist nature of the services provided by the Chamber Desk, the impact of these additional resources will not be immediately realised as staff require to undertake training and familiarisation with the role. Where any Members have lodged motions that are particularly time-sensitive and that they wish to be prioritised they should indicate this by email to the Chamber Desk and, where possible, early attention can be given to processing those items.

The Parliament takes an inclusive approach to providing its staff with appropriate childcare support.  Staff are supported by a range of policies to enable them to manage their work, family and home life circumstances. This has been particularly helpful during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UK Government operates a tax free childcare scheme which offers up to £2000 per year for each child to assist with childcare costs.  As an employer there are limitations on the benefits that can be offered following changes to UK legislation in 2018 which prohibited employers from operating a childcare voucher scheme other than for parents who were already members of the scheme prior to its closure.  Prior to the closing of all employer funded childcare schemes the SPCB operated a voucher scheme for Members, their staff and SPCB staff.   The scheme was introduced to promote fairness and inclusion for all individuals in place of a childcare facility which would primarily benefit employees across the central belt of Scotland and within easy access of the childcare facility. 

The employer childcare voucher scheme which remains in operation for employees who were members of the scheme prior to its closure in 2018 has experienced a reduction in use during the Covid-19 pandemic where staff had the ability to work in a more flexible manner and from a flexible location, reducing the requirement for paid childcare provisions. 

We are currently finalising grant awards with partners and will publish a list of organisations when this process is complete.

In terms of distribution criteria, funding will be awarded to trusted Scottish Government third sector partners who have a wide geographical reach and who have previously demonstrated the ability to mobilise quickly to deliver support to people who find themselves in need due to a variety of circumstances.

I have written to the political group leaders of North Lanarkshire Council to advise them of the existing flexibilities and additional support that we provide as part of our Area Based Schemes. These include a higher intensity of grant-in-aid for households in extreme fuel poverty or where there are other relevant factors, for example where there are additional delivery costs due to a non-standard construction type.

I have also encouraged the Council to contribute to the review of our Area Based Scheme (ABS) guidance for 2022-23. We have asked every council in Scotland to provide evidence about any changes in delivery costs in their area. We will continue to seek the views of local authorities and COSLA about the funding and delivery of our Area Based Schemes.

I am not aware of further Ministerial correspondence from local authorities about this scheme during October or November. However Scottish Government officials routinely discuss and where necessary agree a higher intensity of grant-in-aid for some ABS projects facing additional delivery costs.

Transport Scotland is working closely with Scottish Futures Trust to consider the most appropriate structures and approach to growing and developing Scotland’s public electric vehicle charging infrastructure and recently published a report on future development of Scotland’s public electric vehicle charging infrastructure:

New report on the future of public EV charging infrastructure (transport.gov.scot)

This report notes Climate Change Committee data that implies a potential need for 30,000 public electric vehicle charge points by 2030 in Scotland, but also highlights the challenge of accurately predicting with certainty the actual number of charge points required. This will be influenced by a range of factors, including developments and innovation in battery and charging technologies that will determine when and how often vehicles need charged.

Advancement in technologies including smart charging and the approach to the planning and delivery of electric vehicle charging infrastructure will not only have a bearing on the amount of charge points needed, but also on future electricity demand and its intelligent management. Similarly, decisions on where private and public charge points are located will also be influenced by range of factors including local need. It will also become increasingly important for local authorities, private sector and the electricity Distribution Network Operators to work together to strategically plan and optimise investments. The Scottish Government is continuing to fund the roll-out of electric vehicle charging at this point, and going forward will continue to work with the public sector – government, local authorities and regulators - as well as the private sector – car manufacturers, charging providers and electricity network owners and suppliers to harness efficiencies and opportunities, to build a comprehensive charging network accessible to all where no part of Scotland is left behind and which adds value to the economy.

My statement to Parliament on 23 September 2021 welcomed the findings from independent research that the Scottish Government has commissioned, to help inform its ambitious agenda to decarbonise Scotland’s transport sector, which includes a shift to greater use of public and shared transport and active travel, and also the outcome of there being a 20% reduction in kilometres driven by cars by 2030:

New report on decarbonising transport

This research sets out the scale of the challenge this Parliament is tasked with and provides an illustration of where action in the transport sector will need to be considered as Scotland transitions to net-zero. It also provides insights into the possible future composition of Scotland’s car fleet between now and 2045 under different pathways and their influence on the numbers of electric, petrol and diesel vehicles on Scotland's roads.

The Scottish Government criminal proceedings database does not hold information based on Police Scotland operational divisions.

The latest available information on the number of people convicted for ‘driving under the influence’ is published in the ‘Criminal Proceedings in Scotland – 2019-20’ statistical bulletin, table 4(b).  A breakdown of the various crime types that make up this category is provided in the following table, please note that we are unable to separate alcohol related offences from drug related offences in some crime groups.  

People convicted of offences related to driving under the influence¹, by crime type, 2018-19 to 2019-20

1. Where main charge.

Source: Scottish Government criminal proceedings database

Information on the number of people convicted for ‘causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink/drugs’ can be found under the 'Supporting documents' to the aforementioned bulletin at this link Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2019-20 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).