Chamber and committees

In line with the duty set out in section 24(4) of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020, the Scottish Ministers have laid two six-monthly progress reports before the Scottish Parliament on establishing a pilot of mandatory meetings on alternatives to court.

The first such report was laid in April 2021 and covered the period from 1 October 2020 to 1 April 2021 - Children (Scotland) Act 2020 - alternatives to court and funding of alternative dispute resolution pilots: report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The second such report was laid in November 2021 and covered the period from 1 April to 30 September 2021 - Pilot of mandatory meetings on alternatives to court - Children (Scotland) Act 2020 - section 23(1) and section 24(1): second report on the Scottish Ministers’ duties - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The next progress report on the pilot scheme is due to cover the period from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 and will be laid before the Parliament in due course.

As the answer to question S6W-06722 set out, we consider that any switching away from glass containers as a result of our Deposit Return Scheme would not be extensive given the range of factors affecting formatting decisions.

The Scottish Procurement & Property Directorate publish Scottish Procurement Policy Notes (SPPN) to provide advice to public bodies on procurement policy. SPPN 3/2021 which was then superseded by SPPN 6/2021 to reflect two new criteria set out the actions for public bodies to apply Fair Work First criteria in regulated procurements.

The Scottish Government has been clear that fair work practices sit at the heart of Green Freeports. All applicants are required to set out their strategy for embedding fair work across the Green Freeport area. Any application which does not show a clear commitment to fair work practices will not be supported by the Scottish Government.

The manner in which P&O decisions have been communicated is completely unacceptable. Scottish Ministers expect all businesses to apply fair labour practices and treat their staff with respect. P&O Ferries have fallen well short of that standard.

We have drawn extensively on international evidence in the design for our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Where there has been a movement away from glass in other countries, this is usually attributable to a range of factors e.g. a movement towards increased use of refillables. Evidence suggests that where product or format switching has occurred in other countries with DRS, it is rare that this can only be attributed to DRS. As the answer to question S6W-06722 sets out, we do not consider that there will be extensive switching away from glass due to our DRS.

The Scottish Government with Scotland’s seven cities established the City Centre Recovery Task Force in 2021 to identify innovative actions for city centre recovery. I am pleased to confirm that the Task Force has published its report today, and sets out the areas and the actions that the Task Force has jointly agreed to prioritise.

The Scottish Government has this financial year allocated £6m to our City Centre Recovery Fund, to enable local authorities to take forward local priorities in line with those identified by the Task Force.

Our cities are economic drivers for Scotland and play a key role in our vision of a wellbeing economy. As we focus on recovery from the pandemic, we all want to encourage even more people to return and safely enjoy all that our city centres offer.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd ensured the highest standards of service quality in this procurement, relevant at time of initiating the procurement process. Suppliers were asked to describe and demonstrate how they will commit to progressing towards adopting the five Fair Work First criteria that were in place at the start of the procurement for workers (including any agency or sub-contractor workers) engaged in the delivery of this contract, as part of a fair and equitable employment and reward package as a route to progressing towards wider fair work practices set out in the Fair Work Framework. Answers also had to include tangible and measurable examples and also describe how they will report on, and demonstrate progress, to the contracting authority during the lifetime of the contract.

The OECD provides data on the percentages of populations with tertiary education in OECD countries. Latest data for 2020 show the percentage of the 25-64 year old population in Scotland with tertiary level education is 55.7%. This compares to 43.4% for Wales and 49.4% for the UK as a whole. Data for England on its own is not available though it is for the English Regions, which is set out in the following table.

Percentage of 25-64 year olds with tertiary level education, 2020

The Scottish Government believes that where appropriate family cases should be resolved outwith court. A number of forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) are available in family cases, including mediation, arbitration, collaborative law and family group decision making.

The Scottish Government provides funding to Relationships Scotland who provide a number of services, including family mediation.

The cost of family mediation may be funded through the Scottish Legal Aid Fund, where a person who is in receipt of legal aid is referred by a court.

Section 23(1) of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 requires the Scottish Ministers to set up a scheme to make assistance available so that individuals can meet the costs of alternative dispute resolution procedures in certain cases such as those dealing with contact and residence for children.

Work has progressed in this area, but the provision will take time to implement. Two reports on the Scottish Ministers’ progress between 1 October 2020 and 31 October 2021 on implementing provisions in the 2020 Act on ADR have been published:

• Scheme for funding for ADR - Children (Scotland) Act 2020 - alternatives to court and funding of alternative dispute resolution pilots: report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• Scheme for funding for alternative dispute resolution (section 23 of the 2020 Act) - Children (Scotland) Act 2020 - section 23(1) and section 24(1): second report on the Scottish Ministers’ duties - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government has today published its Heat Networks Delivery Plan which can be accessed at http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781804352366 .

This plan fulfils the requirement of section 93 of the Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021 to publish and lay before Parliament the first Heat Networks Delivery Plan no later than 1 April 2022. (Laying number SG/2022/46.) The plan outlines how the provisions of the 2021 Act, and any other supporting policies, will contribute to increasing the use of heat networks in Scotland. It sets out the proposed approach that the Scottish Ministers intend to take to increase the use of heat networks in Scotland and how the statutory targets will be met. In addition, it outlines how progress will be measured and the expected contribution that heat networks will make toward meeting the emission reduction targets.

Over this parliamentary term we are investing at least £1.8 billion in heat and energy efficiency in buildings, including investing £400 million to support the development of large-scale heat infrastructure, such as heat networks. Our £300 million Heat Network Fund launched in February 2022 is part of this new suite of delivery schemes. Additionally, our recently announced £1 million Heat in Buildings Development Funding Invitation, which is a forerunner to our Heat Networks Support Unit, provides resource funding to stimulate and accelerate the development of a pipeline of zero emission heat projects for buildings across Scotland.

This plan has developed after taking into consideration views provided during a period of public consultation on the Draft Heat Networks Delivery Plan. Today we are also publishing the analysis of responses to that consultation. The report of the analysis of responses can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781804351918 .

The plan will be reviewed within a 2 year period.

I have also written to the Conveners of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee and Local Government, Housing and Planning committees. The Government looks forward to engaging with interested parties on this issue.