Chamber and committees

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 provides local authorities with a discretionary power to set up workplace parking licensing (WPL) schemes.

As set out in our Climate Change Plan Update, we remain committed to plans to take forward policy consultation in advance of drafting regulations and guidance to enable local authorities to implement WPL schemes, should they wish to do so.WPL schemes have the potential to encourage the use of more sustainable travel modes, reducing congestion, improving air quality and reducing emissions.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on the regulatory framework and supporting guidance which will underpin local authorities’ WPL schemes, with a view to this being in force in 2022. The consultation is available here: https://www.transport.gov.scot/consultation/workplace-parking-licensing-consultation-on-regulations-and-guidance

It will then be for local authorities to decide whether they wish to implement WPL locally and to shape proposals to suit local circumstances. Local authorities will be required to undertake a public consultation and impact assessments before implementing a WPL scheme.

The First Minister announced in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government on 7 September that this Government will carry out scoping work on the remit and powers of a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill, in this Parliamentary year.

A decision on the timing of a Bill will be taken by Cabinet in the context of setting the content of future legislative programmes. Meantime, the Scottish Government will work closely with stakeholders to consider the issues and how to deliver change quickly and effectively to uphold people’s rights.

Our Position Statement, published in November 2020, confirmed that we expect National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) to contribute to meeting our target of net-zero emissions within an overarching goal of addressing climate change. The draft NPF4, which will be laid in the Scottish Parliament this autumn, will set out a draft spatial strategy and proposed national planning policies to achieve this.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a moratorium on windfarm development.

As set out in our position statement last year, we need to rebalance our planning system so that climate change is a guiding principle for all plans and decisions. We expect National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) will strengthen support for renewable energy developments, including the re-powering and extension of existing wind farms, as part of a spatial strategy to support a transition to net zero and economic recovery.

We will lay a draft NPF4 in Parliament this autumn and will carry out extensive public consultation at the same time.

Heating engineers are vital to the success of our Heat in Building Strategy which sets out how we will achieve our Net Zero Emissions in Scottish buildings by 2045. Ensuring heating engineers are sufficiently trained in the repair and installation of zero emissions heating are a key part of this. Our support for this includes:

• A doubling of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund to £20m - enabling employers to access up to £15,000 each to address skills gaps in their workforce. This fund is available to all Scottish employers, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

• Providing funding to support apprentices with zero emissions heat skills with 95 apprentices applying for funding across five Scottish colleges.
‎• Funding zero emissions training equipment (e.g. heat pumps) for colleges in the north of Scotland to ensure pan-Scotland training provision (colleges in the south of Scotland have benefited from Scottish Power’s Green Economy Fund). By the end of this financial year there will be 13 training centres - including the North East Scotland College (currently installing their equipment) - across Scotland covering repair and maintenance of heat pumps.

In addition, we have also been working with industry, the sector skills bodies and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to develop skill requirements for zero emission technologies that will help professionalise the sector and provide career pathways for young people. We have also set up an independent group to provide recommendations to Scottish Ministers on the potential scope and content of a heat pump sector deal with an interim report published in June and we will respond to final version once published.

Finally, we are working hard to unlock workforce investment by driving up the demand for products and services in the zero emissions heat and energy efficiency sector. This includes investing almost £1.8bn to build upon, expand and improve our heat and energy efficiency funding programmes over the next five years, and a proposed framework of regulations to require action from building owners.

Woodland creation is central to our meeting Scotland’s ambitious climate change targets. Scotland's Forestry Strategy 2019-2029 sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to increase woodland cover to 21% of the total area of Scotland by 2032 and robust, effective deer management is fundamental to the strategies success.

The report by the independent Deer Working Group includes legislative and non-legislative changes and recommendations which will bring the Scottish Forestry Strategy and Scotland’s systems of deer management into closer alignment.

We are working closely with Scottish Forestry, an agency of Scottish Government, and other key partners, including NatureScot who have statutory responsibility for deer management in Scotland, to progress these recommendations which will ensure there are robust systems of deer management in place within the forestry sector.

Guidance on replanting on deep peat following clearfell is contained within the Scottish Government’s Practice Guide, Deciding Future Management Options for Afforested Deep Peatland (2015). It sets out the circumstances where a presumption to restore the peatland habitat applies and the assessment method that should be used to decide future options where a presumption to restore does not apply.

In 2018, the Scottish Government (via ClimateXChange – Scotland’s Centre of Expertise on Climate Change), commissioned the following report: Afforestation and restocking on peaty soils – new evidence assessment. The study broadly confirmed the findings of previous research on which the Practice Guide is based.

At this point in time there are no plans to review existing guidance however, we will continue to invest in research in this area, and will take account of new evidence, as it emerges, to help inform the future development and implementation of forestry policies and regulations.

The Scottish Government places a high level of importance on providing awareness-raising and suicide prevention training for staff working in frontline public services, to help them identify and support people at risk of mental ill health or suicide. Action 2 of our Suicide Prevention Action Plan (Every Life Matters) sets out our plan to deliver this.

Working with our National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group to deliver the Suicide Prevention Action Plan , the Scottish Government funds Public Health Scotland (PHS) and NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to jointly develop and promote freely-available online learning resources on suicide prevention, mental health, and self-harm for the Scottish workforce, including frontline public service workers. These evidence-based learning resources build organisational capability to effectively respond to mental health issues of people using their services, including suicide risk. The resources can be adapted to meet individual organisation’s needs and many public sector organisations, including Police Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service, are integrating these resources into their existing staff training programmes.

Additionally, the Scottish Government provides funding to PHS to manage the licences and processes to enable delivery of the face-to-face suicide prevention training programmes safeTALK, and ASIST. This training is available to front line public services, and delivered by accredited third-party trainers Face-to-face training of these courses was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic in line with the licence conditions. However it will recommence in November 2021, with priority access for frontline public service workers.

These programmes and resources complement our wider work under the National Trauma Training Programme, which supports the Scottish Government’s ambition for a trauma-informed and trauma-responsive workforce across Scotland. The National Trauma Training Programme, led by NHS Education for Scotland, provides a suite of freely available, evidence based, trauma training resources and implementation support to help ensure that our services and care are delivered in ways that prevent further harm or re-traumatisation for children, young people or adults affected by psychological trauma.

The Scottish Government does not routinely monitor how many people in frontline public services access suicide prevention training. In relation to Health Boards, the Scottish Government wrote to all Boards in May 2019 to ask that the requirement for NHS staff to undertake mental health and suicide prevention training (as set out in our Suicide Prevention Action Plan) be included as an essential element of Boards’ Workforce Development Plans with immediate effect. We will continue to engage with Health Boards, and the wider public sector, to design, support and evaluate approaches to the delivery of mental health and suicide prevention training.

No specific risk assessment has been carried out for the impact of the Household Recycling Charter on recycling rates.

The Scottish Government has committed to evaluate the Household Recycling Charter. This work has been delayed temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we are working with COSLA and local authorities to take forward this evaluation.