Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government published its Drugs Strategy, Rights, Respect and Recovery in November 2018. This provides the framework for our work with national and local partners, including Police Scotland, to focus on prevention which will reduce the individual, family and societal factors which increase the likelihood of alcohol and drug use and related harm.

We work with our partners to focus and align efforts to ensure people across Scotland are and feel safe in their communities. To support this aim, the Scottish Government provides support and funding to national community safety organisations to champion and take forward community safety activities. This includes annual grant funding the Scottish Community Safety Network SCSN (£250,000 in 2021-22), Crimestoppers (£104,000 for 2020-21), Neighbourhood Watch Scotland (£118,000 for 2021-22) and the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (£150,000 for 2020-21). Crimestoppers and Fearless run regular campaigns targeting drug related crime in Scotland. From 2020 this has included a focus on County Lines and the exploitation of children and young people who are coerced to move drugs across the country.

Local developments include the following:

The Scottish Government fund the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (SVRU) who are currently working across the South and East Ayrshire local authority areas to help collaborative partnerships focused on supporting vulnerable individuals and families with multiple complex issues, including drug use. The SVRU have expanded their reach to the Wallacetown area of Ayrshire. The aim is to prevent violence by creating an environment where service providers work much more closely together in partnership, ensuring activity can be collaboratively focused on supporting vulnerable individuals and families with multiple complex issues, including drug use, to improve outcomes for the whole community.

The SVRU are also working with partners to test a Navigator model within Bowhouse Prison, Kilmarnock, to support inmates in their return to the community. The programme will address the individuals priority areas, identifying existing supportive networks as necessary. Crucial to this service is its ability to link with other providers and specialists such as addiction services.

In September 2019 a peer support pilot commenced in Ayr Police Office Custody Suite for arrested persons with drug or alcohol dependency. This was led by the Alcohol & Drugs Partnership and delivered by those with lived experience with the aim of better supporting those with addiction issues and encouraging them to engage with some of the local support groups in the area. The initial pilot ran until March 2020 and in that time 121 people were visited by a peer support worker whilst in police custody, with many taking up the offer of additional support. The pilot has seen some positive outcomes and is now in the final stages of evaluation with a view to a roll out across other custody suites in Ayrshire.

The South Ayrshire Alcohol and Drug Strategy for 2019-24 details a number of strategic priorities:

• develop innovative approaches to engage those at risk of an alcohol or drug related death in services and support, including individuals experiencing a non-fatal overdose.
• develop innovative ways of providing support for individuals in prison settings, including individuals on remand, and strengthen throughcare support for individuals returning to the community.
• undertake a peer-led police custody referral pilot aimed at increasing engagement with vulnerable individuals affected by alcohol or drugs.

General practices are following Public Health Scotland’s advice to reserve face to face appointments in primary care settings for those consultations where the GP decides it is clinically necessary. This is not just to prevent the general transmission of the coronavirus but to protect general practices as medical spaces for patients who have a clinical reason for face to face attendance.

Public Health Scotland's advice is not tied to the levels Scottish local authorities are in. General practices will remain open regardless but will continue to manage face to face appointments consistent with this advice. At present all patients are still able to get an appointment by telephone or video call.

The Scottish Government is supporting the commitment set out by Sandy Begbie, that every young person aged between 16 and 24 in Scotland will be guaranteed either the opportunity to study at university or college, take part in an apprenticeship programme, take up a job or work experience, or participate in a formal volunteering or training programme according to their own personal circumstances.

We are committed to offering support to every young person who requires it. In addition, as per our response to question S5W-33395 on 2 December 2020, due to the uncertainties regarding the labour market, impact of Brexit and the furlough scheme we have not set targets for the Guarantee. Details on the number of opportunities created through the initial funding has been made available in response to questions S6W-00024 on 25 May 2021 and S5W-34612 on 1 February 2021.

As restrictions begin to ease, we will continue to work closely with our delivery partners to maximise the number of young people being supported into opportunities and to enable partners to respond flexibly to meet the needs of young people during this challenging time. The duration and level of support required by young people to access and sustain their employment will depend on their needs.

Our initial activity plan published in November 2020, sets out the steps we are taking to progress the Guarantee. Our equality action plan also details specific activities we are completing to ensure young people from all backgrounds are able to access the Guarantee.

We are also considering progress made on each of Sandy Begbie's initial recommendations for the Young Person's Guarantee, and will produce a report to set out this progress and the future priorities for the Guarantee in Autumn 2021.

We detailed our commitment to producing a detailed Measurement and Evaluation Framework in response to questions S5W-35911 on 24 March 2021 and S5W-34614 on 1 February 2021. As part of this process we are developing a set of Key Performance Indicators that will help us understand the cumulative impact of the Guarantee. These are due to be finalised in Summer 2021.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government has engaged with the UK Government throughout the Events Research Programme. We await the final report of Phase 1 of the Programme and will consider the evidence contained in it to help inform our route ahead, including for live music settings.

Meantime, the Scottish Government is reviewing physical distancing and an announcement of the outcome of this review is due shortly.

The budget agreed by Scottish Ministers for SQA for 2021-22 is based on the SQA levy to local authorities and entry fees charged separately remaining at the same level as has been the case since 2012-13.

These fees provide a contribution towards the cost of awarding, rather than covering the full cost for that individual local authority, school or college. The costs of awarding National Qualifications, even this year, are greater than the contribution made by local authorities in the form of a levy.

Mairi McAllan: The Sea Eagle Management Scheme (SEMS) is part of the delivery mechanism for the White-tailed Eagle Action Plan. The Plan has run from 2017 and has recently been reviewed ( WTE Action Plan Review ) . NatureScot developed and published the White-tailed Eagle Action Plan Extension , which sets out objectives covering a further 3 years.

The public benefits and outcomes of the SEMS have included reducing the impacts of white-tailed eagles on farming and crofting interests, whilst developing the right conditions for the sustainable co-existence between sea eagles and sheep farming in ways that benefit the biodiversity, economic and social interests of Scotland.

Scottish Government funding for the OGTC as part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal was set out in 2016 in tripartite agreement with regional partners and UK Government. There are no plans to review the terms of the Deal within the current Parliamentary session.

The stated purpose of the OGTC is to support the oil and gas industry to develop and deploy technology to accelerate the transition to an affordable net zero North Sea.

The Oil and Gas industry is a significant component of Scotland’s economy and remains an important player in ensuring energy security for Scotland and the UK . It can contribute to a sustainable, secure and just and inclusive energy transition, ensuring that a green recovery and a just transition is created that supports good green jobs, skills and expertise and critically leaves no-one behind.

Scottish Government has been monitoring closely the economic impact of Covid on business - including business indebtedness - throughout the pandemic, and has implemented a range of measures to alleviate the resulting financial difficulties. For example, the Advisory Group for Economic Recovery was set up in April 2020, led by Benny Higgins, to provide independent expert advice on actions that will make a difference to businesses across sectors and regions throughout Scotland; Scottish Government also convened a number of discussions with banks and other private sector investors to understand better how to facilitate financing economic recovery, culminating in the February 2021 publication of “Financing the Recovery” which highlighted the need to manage debt exposure, to finance growth opportunities and to design successor loan schemes that are ambitious, flexible and responsive to the needs of the economy. The report made 10 recommendations to the UK Government and to Scottish Ministers, across four areas of focus: Economic Overview, Financing Business Survival and Resilience, Financing Opportunity and Growth, and Business Support and Collaboration. As the regulation of financial services is reserved to the UK Government, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture wrote to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury urging him to take forward some of the actions from the report, including extending forbearance measures and the introduction of a framework to manage and recover debt. A positive response was received, outlining what action is already being taken to assist recovery as we move forward.

The aim of the Scottish Government’s annual £10 million International Development Fund (IDF) is to support and empower our partner countries: Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia, and Pakistan. The COVID-19 Pandemic has greatly impacted our programme over the past year. On 01 September 2020, the Programme for Government set out our intention to review our approach to International Development to ensure that we were focusing our work on areas where we could make the biggest contribution and difference in our partner countries against the backdrop of the Pandemic, further information on the Review can be found here ( International development: Coronavirus (COVID-19): review of international development programme - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). In December 2020 the Scottish Government provided £2 million of funding to UNICEF for their response to the Pandemic in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia ( Aid for COVID-19 response in Africa - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ).

We have also tried to mitigate the effects of the Covid Pandemic on our project partners by making available total funding of £991,594 from the IDF and Humanitarian Emergency Fund where we were able to do so. In terms of other support, Scotland is sending life-saving oxygen and ventilation equipment to India ( 100 oxygen concentrators and 40 continuous positive airway pressure ((CPAP) ventilators ) as part of a UK-wide effort to support them in the fight against COVID-19.

We have also committed to not only maintain, but in fact increasing our International Development budget by 50%, to £15 million, which is intended to assist with Covid preparedness in our partner countries. This is in contrast to the UK Government's ODA funding being cut from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5% of GNI which will have such disastrous effects on the world's most marginalised and vulnerable communities at a time of great need.

The Scottish Government is keen to encourage wide-ranging and inclusive dialogue on this subject, particularly concerning how to best manage and present elements of our contested or hidden heritage. While local authorities are responsible for public statues, reflecting their accountability to local residents, the Scottish Government will continue to champion a fresh consideration of how we understand and present Scotland’s history to ensure the full story is told. We are aware of City of Edinburgh Council's ongoing review and would encourage all local authorities to consider similar action.

The Scottish Government recognises Scotland’s part in historic injustices like the transatlantic slave trade and Empire and is determined to acknowledge and learn from the our past. Recent activity includes our partnership with Museums Galleries Scotland alongside race equality and museum sector stakeholders to identify ways to reinterpret aspects of Scotland’s hidden or contested heritage to present a more accurate, complete picture of the past. This includes a commitment to establish a museum to address Scotland’s historical links to the slave trade, alongside celebrating the many and varied positive contributions that minority ethnic communities have made and continue to make to Scotland.

The Scottish Government has committed to promote and support the teaching of Black and Minority Ethnic history and the importance of tackling racism in society today. As part of a programme of work on Race Equality and Anti-Racism in Education, the teaching of Scotland’s colonial history in schools - and how it, and anti-racism education, can be better delivered as part of the curriculum - is a core focus. We are working with the race equality sector, education practitioners and young people to consider how best to address this commitment.

In addition, during the last year, we reviewed our approach to international development and announced the outcomes in March this year. Our new Principles – co-developed with input from civil society and academics in our partner countries and Scotland – will lie at the heart of how Scotland seeks to set an example in addressing the issue of systematic racism and inequality in international development. As part of this, discussions have focussed on how to support a shift in power to partner countries, towards increased localisation of development.