Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland outlines the policies and collective actions designed to deliver the renewables targets for electricity, heat, transport and community and locally owned energy. This covers a wide range of action areas including grid access, reinforcement and charging; planning and consents procedures; supply chain activity; and reform of the electricity market.

Annual updates to the routemap set out progress, emerging challenges, and the way these are being addressed. The last update was published on 19 December 2013 and is available online at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/RoutemapUpdate2013

The National Planning Framework and updated Scottish Planning Policy published on 23rd June, 2014 will be a further tool to help deliver the 2020 targets.

There have been discussions both at ministerial and official level with the Home Office regarding the measures contained within the Modern Slavery Bill. The focus of these discussions, which are currently ongoing, is to ensure that the relevant authorities have the necessary powers to disrupt and prosecute this crime and protect its victims.

A decision on whether any measures contained in that Bill should extend to Scotland will be made in due course.

Since 2009, No Knives, Better Lives has been rolled out in 11 local authority areas to challenge young people’s attitudes about carrying knives, the consequences of such and encouraging them to make positive life choices.

Latest crime figures recorded by the police show that the number of crimes of handling an offensive weapon, which includes knives, in South Lanarkshire has decreased by 12% for the period 2011-12 to 2012-13, showing a decrease by 53% since this government came into power.

Since a national launch in May 2014, the No Knives, Better Lives programme has been extended to be available to all local authority areas across Scotland. Since this time the new improved No Knives, Better Lives website has recorded over 1,800 visits.

Work will continue to engage with all local authority areas across Scotland to raise awareness of the No Knives, Better Lives programme, promoting wider engagement and collating intelligence about local current programmes/strategies to tackle knife crime.

We have introduced a range of measures specifically to support young carers in education from primary schools through to further and higher education. These are complemented by local initiatives taken forward by our statutory and third sector partners.

We funded the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance (SYCSA) to produce an interactive training pack to identify and support young carers in primary schools. The SYCSA is also producing a secondary school pack due to be published and circulated shortly. We funded the College Development Network for a comprehensive workforce initiative in colleges to support young carers which I launched in May 2014. We are working with a range of organisations to help identify and support carers in higher education. We recently updated the guidance on the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and wrote to the Directors of Education and College Principals to ask them to provide the necessary flexibility to enable young carers to access the EMA.

Moreover, young carers are included within the scope of additional support for learning and Getting it right for every child. The provisions in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 will apply to children with a wellbeing need which will include many young carers in education and we are considering the response to our consultation on carers’ legislation.

The Scottish Government has a longer term vision for smart ticketing, where all journeys on Scotland’s bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram networks can be accessed using some form of smart ticketing or payment system. Transport Scotland has a delivery strategy and programme of work to implement this vision. This involves working with willing partners to deliver smart ticketing pilot projects, which once proved successfully in concept, can then be implemented in other areas in Scotland.

Equally Safe: Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls, co-produced by the Scottish Government and COSLA will be published on 25 June 2014.

The Scottish Government is not currently considering lowering the age range for breast cancer screening.

Current evidence tells us that the risk of developing breast cancer increases with age and that finding breast cancer is most effective using breast X-rays (mammograms) in women who have reached menopause.

Women below the age range for routine breast screening (50-70 years) are advised to check themselves regularly for changes to their breasts. This message was recently communicated through a Scottish Government social marketing campaign which encouraged women of all ages to stay breast aware and, should they notice any changes, to visit their GP in the first instance.

The Government commitment to tackling obesity is set out in our Prevention of Obesity Route Map, one of a coherent group of policy frameworks and guidance which include, Improving Maternal and Infant Nutrition: A Framework for Action; Better Eating, Better Learning – A New Context For School Food; Recipe for Success; and Giving Children and Young People a Sporting Chance that the Government has put in place and continues to update to support the necessary action across a broad front so Scotland’s children become more active and enjoy a healthy balanced diet.

In tackling this complex problem we have pursued a multifaceted approach including funding the NHS to carry out child healthy weight interventions, the continued regulation of school food environment, advice through the National Parenting Strategy, projects which teach both children and their families cooking skills, engagement with producers and retailers to promote healthy food options and food reformation. In encouraging physical activity we have invested in active schools programmes are developing 150 community sports hubs and supporting the minimum two hours of PE in schools. Together with the wider community action of promoting active travel and our Commonwealth Games legacy programme.

The Government has brought a clear focus on health inequalities signalled by the publication in 2008 of Equally Well, the report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities and the subsequent reviews in 2010 and 2014 which are enhanced by the publication of annual indicators.

Together with the Early Years Framework and our poverty strategy Achieving Our Potential we have provided strategic direction and a clear set of principles to address the underlying causes of Scotland’s health and other inequalities.

To maintain a focus on reducing health inequalities last year we made it one of six areas for action set out in the Single Outcome Agreements with Community Planning Partnerships and to drive delivery we have agreed that the Health and Community Care Delivery Group will consider how best to implement that change.

However our work is at a disadvantage as we lack the ability to use the full range of levers to promote good health and grow Scotland’s economy for the benefit of all.