Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is clear that the UK Government’s cruel and inhumane Illegal Migration Bill should be scrapped immediately. The Bill will cause significant harm to victims of human trafficking. It will facilitate even greater control by perpetrators as a consequence of its provisions which restrict access to vital support and assistance and will likely deter victims from reporting their situation for fear of removal.

The Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture wrote to the UK Minister of State for Immigration on 9 March setting out our position and this was followed by a further letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice on 25 April.

The Scottish Parliament rejected the UK Bill during a debate on 25 April. We set out our intent to lodge a legislative consent memorandum on two clauses within the Bill which alter the executive competence of the Scottish Ministers. We will recommend that Parliament withhold legislative consent to these provisions. We continue to monitor the Bill closely as it is considered by the House of Lords.

Accreditation of contractors is a reserved matter, therefore the industry regulations rest with UK Government.

The UK government has a number of regulations in place to ensure that building contractors are accredited and meet the required standards. These regulations are designed to protect the public and ensure that buildings are safe and of a good quality.

The main regulations governing the accreditation of building contractors are:

• The Building Regulations 2010

• The Construction Products Regulation 2011

• The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

Work on the Special Support Payment has commenced and is in the initial stages of development and a timeline for introduction will be detailed in due course. We remain committed to introducing the Special Support Payment within the parliamentary term.

The Scottish Government and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) remain committed to using the latest scientific consensus of established evidence to inform our view on ultra-processed foods.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) considered ultra-processed foods at a meeting in June 2022. SACN is now carrying out a scoping review of the evidence on processed foods and health. I understand SACN aims to publish a position paper on processed foods and health this summer.

Scottish Government and FSS await the outcome of this evidence review.

We recognise the significant impact that long COVID can have on the health and wellbeing of those most severely affected across Scotland and welcome the COVID-19 Recovery Committee's consideration of this very important issue.

We are carefully considering the report and its recommendations in full, and will provide a response to the Committee in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, we are making available £3 million from our £10 million long COVID Support Fund over this financial year to support NHS boards to increase the capacity of existing services supporting those with the condition, develop these into more clearly defined local pathways and provide a more co-ordinated experience for those accessing support.

The Bus Taskforce was convened by the previous Minister for Transport to work on critical issues with bus stakeholders. It is reviewing and coordinating immediate activity to support patronage recovery, to address workforce retention and recruitment, and to ensure proactive communication and engagement with bus users as networks adapt post Covid. The work is expected to conclude in the coming months and a report of the Taskforce's work and recommendations will be published in Autumn 2023.

The Scottish Government is currently preparing the first national Good Food Nation Plan, as required by the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022.

The national Good Food Nation Plan will set out the main outcomes in relation to food-related issues that we wish to see achieved in Scotland; the indicators or other measures by which progress towards the outcomes can be assessed; and the policies we will pursue in order to secure those outcomes. The Plan must be prepared with regard to the scope for food-related issues to affect outcomes in relation to, among other things, health and physical and mental wellbeing, and the environment. It must also have regard to the principle that high quality, nutritious and culturally appropriate food has the ability to improve the health and physical and mental wellbeing of people, and to the role of a sustainable food system and supply chain in contributing to mitigation of climate change, halting and reversing of loss of biodiversity and improvement in animal welfare.

The national Good Food Nation Plan offers us an opportunity to take a fresh approach to food policy in Scotland, and to consider all aspects of the food system.

The Building (Scotland) Act 2003 gives powers to local authorities to take enforcement action where a building is defective or dangerous. Responsibility for repair in tenement properties lies with the building owners and the Tolerable Standard requires that all homes are structurally stable. Local authorities are required to have a strategy for ensuring that below standard houses are brought up to standard and have broad discretionary powers to assist homeowners with work needed to meet the standard.

The Scottish Government has committed to a process of a judge-led inquiry once all legal proceedings relating to the malicious prosecutions are at an end. The exact form of inquiry will be determined at the point once all legal proceedings are concluded. The Scottish Ministers will announce when an inquiry will be held and the Justice Directorate has been identified as the directorate to lead on providing advice to Ministers.

The former Lord Advocate, James Wolffe KC, advised Parliament on 9 February 2021 that the Crown is committed to supporting an inquiry.

Shelagh McCall KC has been instructed to independently consider reports of criminal conduct from a legal perspective in relation to the prosecutions connected to Rangers Football Club. This process is in place to ensure that any allegations of criminal conduct are considered fairly and objectively.

The civil litigation and the work of Shelagh McCall KC remains ongoing at this time, and it would be inappropriate to comment on specifics in respect of these cases. However, the Crown remain committed to supporting an inquiry once all legal proceedings have concluded.

The Building (Scotland) Act 2003 gives powers to local authorities to take enforcement action where the building is defective or dangerous. When a local authority considers a building to be dangerous it has a duty to act and it is expected that it will respond immediately. This might include taking urgent action to carry out work, including demolition, as it considers necessary to reduce or remove the danger.

Where buildings are defective local authorities will consider what action is appropriate. The range of actions include serving a notice calling for work to be carried out to improve the quality of properties that are in disrepair, or doing the work in default of the owner complying with the notice.

There is no accreditation for contractors carrying out masonry repairs in Scotland. Each local authority will have its own methodology for selecting appropriate contractors to undertake the work required on a case by case basis.