Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is providing local authorities across Scotland with £21.75 million to provide targeted free school meal support during the school holidays throughout the forthcoming school year. We wrote to local authorities on 14 May to inform them of their allocations and I can confirm that North Ayrshire Council will receive £704,000 in additional funding to support the delivery of free school meal approaches in all school holidays.

This support will be available to all families who are in receipt of any of the qualifying benefits which would enable them to receive free school meals, regardless of whether their children are in primary or secondary school and this support will begin at the start of the forthcoming summer holidays.

Local authorities will be given the flexibility to support eligible families through any method which they feel will best meet local needs and circumstances within their respective areas.

The aim of the Scottish Government’s annual £10 million International Development Fund (IDF) is to support and empower our partner countries: Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia, and Pakistan. The COVID-19 Pandemic has greatly impacted our programme over the past year. On 01 September 2020, the Programme for Government set out our intention to review our approach to International Development to ensure that we were focusing our work on areas where we could make the biggest contribution and difference in our partner countries against the backdrop of the Pandemic, further information on the Review can be found here ( International development: Coronavirus (COVID-19): review of international development programme - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). In December 2020 the Scottish Government provided £2 million of funding to UNICEF for their response to the Pandemic in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia ( Aid for COVID-19 response in Africa - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ).

We have also tried to mitigate the effects of the Covid Pandemic on our project partners by making available total funding of £991,594 from the IDF and Humanitarian Emergency Fund where we were able to do so. In terms of other support, Scotland is sending life-saving oxygen and ventilation equipment to India ( 100 oxygen concentrators and 40 continuous positive airway pressure ((CPAP) ventilators ) as part of a UK-wide effort to support them in the fight against COVID-19.

We have also committed to not only maintain, but in fact increasing our International Development budget by 50%, to £15 million, which is intended to assist with Covid preparedness in our partner countries. This is in contrast to the UK Government's ODA funding being cut from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5% of GNI which will have such disastrous effects on the world's most marginalised and vulnerable communities at a time of great need.

Weddings, civil partnerships and funerals are recognised as life events within Scottish Government guidance. Weddings, civil partnerships and funerals are of particular importance to people and society and are protected under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Wedding receptions and funeral wakes mark the social and personal importance of these protected life events. Additionally, there are very practical reasons why funerals cannot be postponed for any length of time. Therefore, these events have been given particular exemptions within the Levels Table compared to the general guidance on other life events.

There are no specific exemptions at this time for birthday parties amongst adults, or gatherings to mark a wedding anniversary or other life event, which remain subject to the general restrictions on people gathering.

Therefore, other events such as birthday parties for adults, wedding anniversary celebrations and celebrations after a religious life event should only take place in line with the general rules for meeting others indoors and outdoors.

The full guidance on protection levels and what individuals can and cannot do at each level can be viewed here: Coronavirus (COVID-19) protection levels: what you can do - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Physical distancing has been an important element in controlling the spread of COVID which is key to keeping our economy open and moving forward to recovery from the impacts of the virus.

Much work has been undertaken by operators in order to safely maximise capacity on ferries. The exemption from 10 July 2020 to allow 1 metre distancing on ferries, with appropriate risk mitigations, significantly increased passenger capacity, and continues to ensure that ferry services can fully support the reopening of the tourism sector that is so essential for the sustainability of island and rural economies, as well as enabling islanders to travel to the mainland.

The Scottish Government is reviewing physical distancing including its impact on Transport, and an announcement of the outcome of this review is due ahead of the planned move to Level 1 on 7 June. Sectoral guidance will be further updated at that time to reflect the outcome of the review. Physical distancing has been an important tool for controlling the virus but, as with all restrictions, we will only have this in place as long as is necessary.

It was my clear expectation that the bidding process for green ports in Scotland would begin with publication of an Applicant Prospectus this month.

Since the UK Government announced its intention to establish freeports around the UK, I and this government have engaged in that process assiduously and meaningfully. We wanted to ensure that Scotland was in a position to benefit from this policy but in a way which contributed to the Scottish Government’s wider economic ambitions. That is why we have spent months working up a fair, green ports model – as I announced to Parliament – to deliver fair work and enable a just transition to net zero. Scottish Government officials have engaged significantly with their counterparts in the UK Government to develop this model and I have had regular and positive engagement with relevant portfolio Ministers on it. Our Applicant Prospectus, which has been drafted jointly with the UK Government, reflects these dual objectives.

We have been ready to launch the bidding process in Scotland since 3 March and, as far as the Scottish Government is concerned, the Applicant Prospectus is ready for publication now. A link to an abridged draft Applicant Prospectus, which is currently languishing in the UK Government clearance process, can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/policies/cities-regions/green-ports/

We have been working with the UK Government on this throughout in good faith.

We are keen to ensure that Scotland could secure two green ports and that our successful bidders are treated fairly and equitably with freeports in England in terms of set up funding. We note recent announcements that the UK Government intends to establish “at least one Freeport in Scotland”. We are disappointed that we were not advised of this ahead of such announcements being made.

Regrettably, it would now appear that there is a lack of willingness on the part of the UK Government to sign up to our green port ambitions on fair work and net zero, and we have to assume that they are not as committed as we are to protecting workers rights; protecting the environment; and getting on with action to drive economic recovery. To be clear, our requirements for green ports to include implementation of Fair Work First and a robust plan for transition to net zero are red lines. We will not support any model that does not include these essential elements. We will not engage in a race to the bottom.

As we are now fast approaching the start of the pre-election period in Scotland on 25 March, there is the real prospect of a potentially damaging delay until after the Scottish Election in May. Therefore, if we do not have confirmation that the UK Government are ready to launch the Applicant Prospectus by close of business on Monday 22 March, we may have to conclude that the UK Government has effectively withdrawn from this process. If that is the case, I would call on them to confirm that and explain its decision to Scotland’s ports, airports, local authorities and the wider business community.

Registration opened on 15 June 2017, and delivery of Baby Boxes nationwide began on 15 August 2017 for all babies born and resident in Scotland.

Up to 26 February 2021, we have distributed 166,813 Baby Boxes to families across Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-34997 on‎ 18 February 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Since the Scottish Government bought Glasgow Prestwick Airport (GPA) in 2013, we have been clear that it is our intention to return the business to the private sector when the time is right. In November 2020 a notice was placed in the Official Journal of the European Union inviting expressions of interest. That attracted credible interests and since then GPA and its professional advisers have carried out a detailed evaluation of the competing bids. I am pleased to report that significant progress has been made and I have agreed the selection of a Preferred Bidder. This allows the process to move to the next stage and potentially an early divestment of our shareholding.

To protect the integrity of the process, we will not reveal the identity of the Preferred Bidder at this stage. I will keep Parliament advised of progress.