Chamber and committees

Since 2019/20, the Scottish Government have invested more than £11.5 million to support our Programme for Government commitment to introduce more than 80 additional mental health counsellors in colleges and universities. We have now achieved that target, as the latest figures from the Scottish Funding Council show that an additional 89 FTE mental health counsellors have been appointed by colleges and universities through the programme.

We will shortly inform institutions, through the Scottish Funding Council, of their funding allocations for Academic Year 2022-23.

Given the scale of change and the associated ambitions, the Scottish Government has made a commitment to undertake a rigorous monitoring and evaluation of the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) up to 2025-26.

The evaluation process is divided into two stages. We have commissioned an independent social and market research agency, IFF Research, to undertake an initial evaluation of the first year of the funding. The year 1 evaluation report will be published by late 2023. The second stage of the monitoring and evaluation of WFWF for the period 2023-2026 is currently being developed in close consultation with key stakeholders.

The Scottish Government provided £3.275 million in 2021-22 to local authorities and the third sector to provide direct support to families in financial crisis. This funding was targeted at families with children who are on the edge of care, or have experience of care. In 2022-23, the Scottish Government has committed to providing the first £50 million of the £500 million Whole Family Wellbeing Funding.

The Student Mental Health Plan is currently being developed in consultation with stakeholders via the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group, and is linked to the wider Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy that is also under development. The Plan will be research and evidence informed.

Any future funding is subject to the annual budget process and Parliamentary approval of the Scottish Budget.

The Scottish Government has regular and ongoing engagement with VisitScotland to discuss the role they play in supporting and promoting Scottish destinations, including the South of Scotland. The Scottish Government also receives weekly written updates about the work of VisitScotland.

Most recently the Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise Minister Ivan McKee met with VisitScotland CEO Malcolm Roughead on 27 October. Discussion included a range of issues including updates on the delivery of local marketing campaigns, supported through the Destination and Sector Marketing fund, which are helping to reach new audiences. In the South of Scotland this includes work with organisations including South of Scotland Destination Alliance, Whithorn Trust, Ayrshire & Arran Destination Alliance, Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce, Visit East Lothian, Scotland’s Golf Coast and Dunbar Traders Association.

VisitScotland remain focused on rebuilding international demand and are working hand in hand with their partners in the tourism and events industry to rebuild this vital part of Scotland’s economy and provide the right support to lead the recovery. Their activity promotes the whole of Scotland as a destination, including regional-focused campaigns. Recent campaigns feature a significant amount of South Scotland content and cover a range of destinations. This includes promotion in PR, film content, social media, web content.

The Scottish Government has no direct role in the provision of student accommodation nor any capacity within the private rental market. However, we are aware of the ongoing difficulties faced by students in accessing accommodation this academic year.

We are currently undertaking a review of Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) which will look at a number of issues, including affordability and supply and the findings from this report, along with findings from the New Deal for Tenants Report which considered similar issues in the private rented sector, will inform a student accommodation strategy for Scotland.

The Scottish Government is investing record levels of funding for active travel, in particular around schools and places of education. The £150m active travel budget for 2022-23 includes £12.3m of funding for behavioural change initiatives which local authorities can access through our active delivery partners dedicated programmes for schools and communities. The budget also includes a record £35m for the Cycling and Walking Safer Routes fund, which goes directly to local authorities on a pro-rata basis, enabling them to make the changes to the public realm that they see as having most impact for supporting safer daily journeys by walking and cycling.

In the last year our active travel delivery partners have focussed on building on established projects within schools and early education settings, as part of the continued efforts to promote walking and cycling as modes of travel for getting to and from school.

Living Streets coordinates the "WOW" project which encourages school children to walk once a week to school and provides schools, with both online and physical resources to encourage more walking, through an inter school competition. Over 130 schools took part in the WOW event at the end of the 2021-22 academic year. For 2022-23, Living Streets have established Walk to School Week (May), which saw 70 schools take part in the inaugural event, and Walk to School month (October), which it is currently preparing for. Further activity is underway with 6 secondary schools to support school travel planning, and 15 nurseries to deliver the Little Feet walking initiative.

Cycling Scotland's Bikeability Scotland Cycling Training Scheme continues to be available to all schools in all 32 Scottish local authorities. This training provides lifelong learning skills from how to balance on a bike to tackling roundabouts and junctions, where awareness of other road users and road position is crucial.

We fund Sustrans to deliver behaviour change programmes, including £745K for the successful Ibike project in schools in 2022-23. This project empowers children, parents and teachers to walk and cycle together through activities such as cycle and scooter training, led rides, and road safety awareness sessions. In 2022-23 this programme will work with at least 10 LAs and target 16,000 pupils.

The Programme for Government sets out our response to the cost crisis, as well as our ambition to create a better future in the longer term. This includes working with the business community to identify further measures that can assist in addressing increased costs and economic disruption. The Government has committed to an emergency budget review to assess all opportunities to target additional resources.

Energy policy is reserved to the UK Government and we have been calling for it to introduce a business energy cap for some time. While the support announced today will be welcome relief for businesses, substantial reform to the energy market is still required or there is a real risk that this temporary measure will prove to be inadequate.

We will continue to do everything within our resources and powers to help those most affected.