We have invested around £1.3 million since October 2019 through our Young Carer Grant, the first support of its kind in the UK, and have heard from young carers how this has helped make a difference to their lives and helped them access more opportunities.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, we have implemented a range of additional measures to respond to the needs of young carers. As well as making alternative arrangements for the Young Carer Festival and providing extra funding for young carer services during the pandemic, we have invested an additional £100,000 into the Time to Live Fund to enable young carers to take a break from their caring role, and an extra £300,000 to expand the Young Scot young carers package for 11-18 year olds which provides access to non-cash benefits like free subscriptions and e-vouchers to leisure activities and rewards. Many of these are designed to support good mental health. We continue to target promotion of mental health resources for young people such as #AyeFeel, and have been working with young carers to create a young carer specific page for the National Wellbeing Hub. Young Scot ran a social media campaign to raise awareness of young carer issues among trusted adults who may work with or encounter young carers, focused in areas with the lowest sign up to the package.

We continue to work with a wide range of stakeholders including the National Care Organisations, Young Scot, Education Scotland and COSLA to help us collectively identify and address the needs of young carers. Young carers can find out about Young Carer Grant through many of these mechanisms. And, in line with our Benefit Take-up Strategy, we have promoted Young Carer Grant through regular social media posts and dedicated promotion on key dates like the first anniversary since the launch.

In February 2021, the Scottish Parliament debated the subject of an inquiry into the malicious prosecutions involving individuals associated with Rangers FC. Parliament voted in favour of a judge-led inquiry and the Scottish Government is committed to this course of action. The First Minister re-iterated this position at FMQs on 17 June 2021. As the First Minister explained on 17 June, the exact form of inquiry will be determined at the point all legal proceedings in relation to the cases are concluded.

The Scottish Government is committed in its Programme for Government to start consultations this year on proposals to improve animal transport legislation. It is expected that these consultations will largely relate to the transport of livestock and horses initially. The transport of dogs and other animals will however also be considered in due course.

Fair Start Scotland (FSS) is Scotland’s national devolved employability support service, which helps those further from the labour market to progress towards and into fair and sustainable fair work.

We published the third Fair Start Scotland Annual Report on the 14 th October 2021. The report gives an overview of progress throughout 2021-21, highlighting how the service adapted to the demands of COVID-19 and the changing employability landscape to ensure that Fair Start Scotland participants continued to be supported.

It is available from SPICe at reference SG/2021/244

We are also publishing Fair Start Scotland Evaluation Report 4: Overview of year 3. This is the fourth FSS evaluation report, and details the research that supports the third year of service delivery up to 31 March 2021. The report includes findings from a telephone survey of over 1000 participants; local area case studies; interviews with participants across the country, senior Scottish Government colleagues and senior DWP stakeholders, analysis of management information on participants’ outcomes and an economic evaluation which includes an assessment of the value for money of the service.

This report is available from the Scottish Government website here: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802014587

The Annual Report and evaluation findings demonstrate how Fair Start Scotland responded to the significant challenges that COVID-19 brought over the last 18 months.

Despite these challenges and the various difficulties faced by participants during this time, over 10,000 people chose to join Fair Start Scotland for help in year three and to date 4,170 of those participants have moved into work.

The impacts of COVID-19 are likely to have a profound and lasting impact on FSS delivery and our ambitions, however the extension of the Fair Start Scotland service for a further two years until 31 March 2023 has ensured that there is continued support and much needed stability for those facing long term unemployment.

As we enter the fourth year of FSS delivery, we are firmly focused on high quality delivery and outcomes, and making our services inclusive and accessible for all. We will also continue to make improvements to the service through our “test and learn” approach working closely with our partners and participants to ensure they continue to receive a quality, tailored service with dignity and respect at the centre of their support.

We also continue to work towards our No One Left Behind ambitions, working with local government and other partners to develop a locally responsive and flexible employability system that delivers the right support at the right time for those who need it most.

The Victims Taskforce will next meet on Wednesday 24 November.

We have consistently pushed the boundaries in our procurement activity to achieve payment of the real Living Wage to those employed in public contracts, and have provided extensive guidance and support to public bodies on this issue.

We are making payment of the real Living Wage a condition of winning Scottish Government contracts and we will engage widely to encourage this practice across the public sector in Scotland.

We acknowledge the valuable work that others such as the Fair Work Convention and the Poverty Alliance have undertaken in this area.

The Scottish Government will bring this matter to parliament on return from parliamentary recess.

The work of Police Scotland’s International Development and Innovation Unit and the papers presented at meetings of their International Development Board are a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, who is operationally independent of the Scottish Government. The decision to enter into UK Government funded contracts to train police forces in countries such as Sri Lanka is also a matter for the Chief Constable with the Scottish Police Authority having responsibility for oversight and scrutiny of his decisions.

Police Scotland has confirmed that their work in Sri Lanka is aimed to improve community policing and gender equality, with all training underpinned by equality and human rights. The training was initially paused due to the coronavirus pandemic and they are now awaiting the outcome of the review of the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessment for Sri Lanka, which is the responsibility of the UK Government, so that this can be given due consideration.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government. The operational deployment of Police Officers is a matter for the Chief Constable, with oversight by the Scottish Police Authority.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government. The operational deployment of Police Officers is a matter for the Chief Constable, with oversight by the Scottish Police Authority.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government. The operational deployment of Police Officers is a matter for the Chief Constable, with oversight by the Scottish Police Authority.