Chamber and committees

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Data on missing children can be sought from Police Scotland.

The number of people who died of infectious diseases in each of the last five years are shown in the following table. These figures are available on the NRS website up to 2019. Data for 2020 will be published on 17 August 2021. This data can be accessed at: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/vital-events-ref-tables/2019/vital-events-19-ref-tabs-6.xlsx

Proposals to the Bus Partnership Fund were scored against the following criteria, which were published when the Fund opened on 9 November 2020:

• Evidence of congestion and ideas to reduce congestion, through improved emissions (25%)
• Partnership strength and demonstrated commitment, which will include match in kind (20%)
• Deliverability: the ability of the lead local authority and its partners to deliver the proposed developments, including local political buy-in (15%)
• bus services (40%)
• How the proposal fits with the partnership area’s overall strategy for integrated transport, to encourage a modal shift from cars to more sustainable transport and reduce

The Scottish Government has written to the UK Government on six occasions in order to urge them to retain the £20-per-week uplift to Universal Credit, and also extend it to people on legacy benefits, such as Jobseeker’s Allowance.

The Scottish Government also published analysis in June , showing that if the UK Government proceeds with their plan to withdraw the £20-per-week uplift to Universal Credit in September it could cut social security payments in Scotland by over £460 million per year by 2023-24.

The Scottish Government has been ready for some time to press ahead with the process to establish green ports. Despite our commitment to moving forward in partnership, the UK Government has failed to engage with us to publish a joint applicant prospectus. We have also yet to receive formal agreement from the UK Government about designating two green ports in Scotland, and that each will be able to access the same amount of seed capital funding as each freeport in England.

As a result, the Scottish Government is now inviting notes of interest from potential green port bidders in Scotland. This exercise will allow us to gauge interest for the development of green port policy in Scotland and will provide an indication of the geography and sectors likely to benefit. The notes of interest invited will be based on the content of the abridged draft applicant prospectus, published on the Scottish Government website in March, which also signposted the reserved offer available to all freeports in England. Further information on the call for notes of interest is available on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/policies/cities-regions/green-ports/

I have written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to set out the Scottish Government’s proposed next steps for delivering this policy and intend to hold a stakeholder engagement session on the 30 th of June.

A Human Rights Bill will be introduced to the Scottish Parliament during this Parliamentary session taking forward the recommendations of The National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership’s report.

A Human Rights Bill will be introduced to Parliament during this Parliamentary session taking forward the recommendations of The National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership’s report. The right to a healthy environment for everyone will be included as part of the proposed Bill.

The Scottish Government co-chaired the National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership and wrote to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee on 11 March 2021 to outline its response to the Task Force recommendations.

The letter The Scottish Government wrote to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee can be found here: Cab_Sec_SSOP_Convener_EHRiC_Taskforce_Report_11_March_2021.pdf (parliament.scot) .

The Scottish Government has fully considered all of the suggestions made by stakeholders alongside all current data, scientific evidence and clinical advice available to us. Based on this assessment, subject to the relevant guidance being in place, our recommendation is that cruise restart when all of Scotland reaches Level 1.

While we would have been keen to provide a date, we need to work with the data available and any date would have been subject to review. This decision has been informed by the combination of risks that exist with both cruises and within the wider travel context, such as: the current trajectory of Covid infections and the unknowns around the new Delta variant, the close-proximity form of leisure that cruises offer that has high risk of uncontained rapid transmission, and, the opportunities to spread Covid through multiple stops in different levels around Scotland. These are only some of the risks, and although some of them could be mitigated through good protocols, it is the compound effect of all the risks involved which has led to this decision.

We are committed to reviewing restrictions every 3 weeks as part of the phased national easing through the Levels. The next review point is scheduled ahead of the planned easing of restrictions from 28 June. Our aim is to enable a restart to cruise as quickly and safely as possible and we are keen to continue to work with the sector on any required guidance ahead of this date.

The Scottish Government is providing local authorities across Scotland with £28 million to expand the universal provision of free school lunches to include all children in primary 4 starting from August 2021, and to include all children in primary 5 starting from January 2022.

We wrote to local authorities on 14 May to inform them of their allocations and I can confirm that North Ayrshire Council will receive £651,000 in additional funding to support the expansion of universal free school meals to primary 4 and primary 5 children in 2021-22.