Chamber and committees

Safeguarding the health of displaced people on the M/S Victoria I passenger ship is our priority, as it is in other temporary accommodation such as hotels. We are closely monitoring the spread of COVID in Scotland and we are liaising closely with Public Health colleagues to monitor any risks of contracting COVID within the passenger ship.

Displaced people from Ukraine can also ask for a free COVID-19 vaccination from the NHS after arrival, if they choose to be vaccinated.

The ship has a policy for common infectious diseases including COVID-19, with safeguards in place and crew appropriately trained. The NHS is servicing the vessel with a medic and staff throughout the week, providing medical care for both Ukrainian guests and crew. COVID-19 isolation rooms have been identified and set aside if needed, and the ship has a full protocol on board just for COVID-19, which includes self-isolation, testing and doctor well-being checks.

Doctors aboard the ship are obligated to report any cases of infectious disease to the NHS, and Tallink, the ship’s operator, is also responsible for reporting COVID-19 cases that are detected by the ship’s on-board team to the NHS.

There are a few cases where different households are sharing rooms aboard the ship, however only those who have chosen to do so.

Every effort will be made to ensure that guests on board have access to appropriate support services, including healthcare, and staff at temporary welcome accommodation advise displaced people on how to register with a GP.

During the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, representatives of the Scottish Government Animal Disease Control Branch have had daily interactions with Defra and the Welsh Government regarding all manner of policy matters relating to the outbreak, including the impact of avian influenza on the game industry.

In addition to this, the Scottish Government, along with Defra, the Welsh Government and DAERA (NI) Officials have hosted twice-weekly meetings with the GB Avian Diseases Core Group (with representatives from industries impacted by the outbreak), which includes the Game Farmer’s Association.

These discussions have included consideration of how government could assist with the shortage of gamebird hatching eggs available for import into the UK from France, which had been hampered by the unprecedented number of outbreaks of HPAI across a number of French regions, in particular the Vendee and Loire Atlantique areas, where the majority of French game farms are located. These areas had been accordingly subjected to strict restrictions on the movement of game birds and hatching eggs, including restricting exports to other countries.

In response to this and in acknowledgment of the dependency of our game sector on imports from these affected French regions – and also to the narrow window of this part of the breeding cycle for game birds – the Scottish Government, along with Defra and the Welsh Government, worked with the French government (including the Chief Veterinary Officer of France) and industry officials to develop a temporary strategy whereby gamebird hatching eggs from HPAI restricted zones in France could be licensed for landing at ports in the UK.

Under this scheme, a new model health certificate for the import of hatching eggs, other than ratites, from France had been developed to accompany consignments that would be imported under licence, and which would require adherence to a set of strict biosecurity requirements throughout the transfer process.

However, the scheme was not taken forward at the request of French authorities and industry, who reported that weather conditions at the time in France, in the form of extremely high temperatures, had not only had a significant impact on egg production levels, but also presented challenges for the safe and successful transportation of gamebird eggs.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the game industry, along with the poultry and other captive bird sectors, to minimise the spread, and the social and economic impact, of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Scotland.

The majority of private investment relationships are entered into, and managed, by Scottish Government agencies and NDPBs.

Investment relationships not managed by public bodies are overseen by the core Scottish Government. The officials responsible will vary depending on the policy area an investment sits under. It is for the accountable officer to ensure that their area complies with guidance issued by Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts also include a complete list of all nationalised companies where Scottish Ministers are the sole shareholder as well as providing information on other organisations and companies where the Scottish Ministers have an interest. The accounts are published on an annual basis with the most recent set of accounts covering the 2020-21 financial year.

The regulation of offshore oil and gas activities is not a devolved matter and falls under the remit of the regulator, in this case, the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning Programme, referred to as OPRED, which sits within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The role of the regulator is to review, approve and monitor the implementation of decommissioning programmes. All actions in decommissioning, both onshore and offshore, which relate to waste have to follow a regulatory process, and undergo an environmental impact assessment. These programmes outline the schedule of all planned works and are subject to public consultation. Where there is no set schedule, the timeframe for recovery of any temporarily stored materials is stipulated in the environmental justification documents and it is the role of the regulator to monitor this.

OPRED are advised by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the Statutory Nature Conservation Body who provide information and advice on environmental impacts of offshore industries. Where it is shown there will be little to no impact on the protected features within a Marine Protected Area, these activities are able to be undertaken with appropriate mitigation measures in place. Furthermore, in accordance with OPRED guidelines, a localised ‘as-left’ survey is carried out on recovery.

The Scottish Government does not hold this data.

The recruitment and employment of teachers in local authority schools are matters for individual councils, as they have the statutory duty for education expenditure and to deliver education.

Councils have the responsibility for providing a complement of teachers and other education staff which best meets the needs of their schools and pupils within the resources available. This includes providing a complement of teachers and headteachers which meets the needs of their schools and pupils in light of their local needs and circumstances.

With regard to teacher numbers, whilst the Scottish Government does not hold data on teacher employment, you may wish to note that the Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group (TWPAG) undertakes an annual exercise to forecast the likely requirement for new teachers which sets the target intakes for initial teacher education programmes in both primary and secondary by subject. COSLA are represented on the TWPAG which is jointly chaired by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Council of Deans of Education. The modelling outputs from the TWPAG use projections on pupil rolls and teacher census information. Whilst we now have more teachers than at any time since 2008, we are aware some LAs continue to find recruitment challenging in some subjects and in some geographical areas.

During the pandemic the Scottish Government provided £240 million of additional investment to local authorities to support the recruitment of additional education staff to support education recovery. We are also providing additional permanent funding of £145.5 million per year to support the recruitment of these extra teachers.

We continue to fund community led local activity through the domestic budget whilst we await clarity from the UK government on replacement LEADER funding. The £11.6 million of funding confirmed in the Scottish budget for 2022-23 is not a like for like replacement for LEADER, but a new programme that builds on the £3 million invested in 2021-22 to test new approaches to delivering CLLD in Scotland. This took on board learning from delivery of previous LEADER programmes and encourages Local Action Groups (LAGs) and community groups to deliver funding in a less bureaucratic, less risk averse and more innovative way.

As a result of EU Exit, we no longer have long-term certainty of funding and unilateral choices imposed by HM Treasury provide insufficient replacement EU budget. While political commitment has been made by UK Government for the contested funding levels through this UK Parliamentary term, allocation is on a yearly basis with no commitment set out for future years.

This has direct implications on the management of the overall agricultural and rural development programme as agriculture requires future funding certainty due to its multi-annual funding commitments and long lead-in time for farmers, crofters and land managers. Communities alike need clarity for planning.

The Scottish Government has been clear and consistent in our position that we expect full replacement of EU funds to ensure no detriment to Scotland’s and Scottish communities’ finances, and we expect the UK Government to fully respect the devolution settlement in any future arrangement.

The Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board has the highest of ambitions for all children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing and is overseeing a set of reforms designed to ensure they receive the support they need when they need it. Led jointly by the Scottish Government and COSLA, the Board is made up of a number of key stakeholders with a wide range of experience in this area of work.

The voices and experiences of children, young people and their families both at Board level and wider engagement is a key part of our work to improve access to mental health support. Significant engagement with children and young people from a wide range of demographics has been undertaken since the Board commenced in April 2021.

Mental Health also remains a priority of The Armed Forces Personnel & Veterans Health Joint Group. The Scottish Government has established an Implementation Board, led by Dr Charles Winstanley, to take forward the Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Action Plan. Its aim is to create a new national service providing visible, consistent and timely mental health and wellbeing services of high quality to support veterans in Scotland, combining equity of access with a rapid response to evidenced need. This will ensure that veterans and their families can access appropriate services and support, in the right place, at the right time. The lived experience of veterans and their families will be the starting point for discussions and decisions, and people with lived experience will be engaged, listened to and supported to participate.

The Scottish Government has read BASC Scotland’s report on Community Integrated Deer Management in Scotland with interest. We greatly value the contribution of local deer stalkers, their skill set and those involved in the management of deer across Scotland.

We are focusing our efforts on progressing the recommendations made in the independent Deer Working Group (DWG) report, published in December 2020. The DWG report made recommendations to improve Scotland’s systems of deer management and included consideration of the points made in BASC Scotland’s report such as, training for deer managers, availability of deer larders and engagement with local communities.

A project board has been established under the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Programme to progress these recommendations. As the board sets priorities and works to progress these recommendations we will be working with stakeholders, such as BASC, for their views on key issues.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government has provided £80,000 via the Scotland Food & Drink Covid Recovery Fund to support development of local chills and/or primary processing (deer larders). We expect that up to three projects could be supported from the fund as part of a pilot exercise.

Detailed cost analysis for all of the routes included in the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan are undertaken on a phased basis as initial plans for each route are progressively prepared.

Near patient International Normalised Ratio (INR) testing is currently not routinely available on the NHS. However, INR testing is available through primary care settings for those who require it. Individual NHS Boards are responsible for providing services that work best with the needs of their populations.