Chamber and committees

As required under Rule 9.3.2 of the Parliament’s Standing Orders, the Financial Memorandum was published to accompany the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill, introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 13 August 2020. This outlines the projected and anticipated costs of the scheme.

Although there is an appropriate level of scrutiny on administration costs of the scheme, managed through the Redress, Relations and Response Division of Scottish Government, it is important to note that, as outlined in the Statement of Principles , there is no fixed budget or limit to the number or amount of redress payments which will be paid by the Scottish Government. We are committed to giving financial redress to survivors, regardless of the financial contributions received, because it is the right thing to do.

Redress Scotland is an independent body, which is not part of Scottish Government and is monitored by the Redress Scotland Sponsorship Team, within the Children’s Rights, Protection and Justice Division.

Scotland’s Redress Scheme is delivered jointly by the Scottish Government and Redress Scotland – a new non-departmental public body which assesses and makes decisions on redress applications. Redress Scotland is an independent body, which is not part of Scottish Government and is monitored by the Redress Scotland Sponsorship Team, within the Children’s Rights, Protection and Justice Division.

Scotland's Redress Scheme is delivered within the Scottish Government's Redress, Relations and Response Division. Across the division 44 staff are currently employed in a variety of roles including Operations, Survivor Relations, Contributions, Policy, Service Design and Delivery, Business Management and Communications to provide an efficient, robust and trusted scheme for applicants, partners and stakeholders.

As part of the administration of the Scheme, a bespoke Case Management System (CMS) has been developed. The CMS is hosted in a secure environment and holds sensitive, personal information relating to applications. Not all colleagues in Scotland’s Redress Scheme have access to CMS, which is restricted to ensure only staff with a specific need to access the applicant data are able to do so.

Certain staff in Redress Scotland also have access to the CMS, meaning that information does not generally need to be shared via multiple systems.

The Privacy Notice for Survivor Applicants and the Privacy Notice for Next of Kin Applicants provide details on how the information collected by Scottish Government, as administrators of Scotland’s Redress Scheme, is managed and how it is used.

It is a matter for Redress Scotland to determine their resourcing within their budget, however some details on their staff are available on their website . In addition, Redress Scotland also have a privacy notice in place.

The extraction of peat for use in horticulture exacerbates the linked climate and nature crises. By stopping using peat in horticulture, the people of Scotland can play their part in our journey net zero and help tackle those crises which affect us all. We are mindful of the effects on both edible and ornamental horticulture and, through our forthcoming consultation and continuing work with industry, we aim for a smooth transition with minimal compromises for food production, environment and recreation.

We will soon launch our consultation, which will inform ambitious timescales for phasing out the use of peat in horticulture and we will seek diverse views to help us meet the needs of the people of Scotland.

It is not clear what is meant by peatlands being ‘lost’.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on how many hectares of peatland have been ‘lost’ in each of the last 15 years but we have committed £250 million to restoring 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands by 2030.

The Lyme disease vaccine candidate VLA15 was developed in Austria and, as such, is not directly supported by Scottish funding. The Scottish Government is however regarded as preferred customers for Valneva, and should the decision be taken to procure Lyme Disease vaccines from Valneva, the Scottish Government will receive preferential access and pricing. This is in recognition of the support provided to Valneva by Scotland.

Scottish Enterprise have supported Valneva Livingston with funding packages for the following vaccines, all of which have received grant support:

• Japanese Encephalitis
• Zika
• Chikungya
• Covid-19

The Scottish Government works closely with the tourism sector to identify priorities to support the growth of the sector. These priorities, agreed with the sector, are articulated through Scotland Outlook 2030, Scotland’s national tourism strategy, and the Tourism Recovery Programme. The Scottish Clans & Historical Figures Events funding has not been identified as a strategic priority through this process.

The Scottish Government is committed to establishing and maintaining a dignified and accessible disability and carer benefits system. This includes support for those aged over 65 whose awards are transferring to Adult Disability Payment.

“Non-physical activity disability allowance” is not a recognised term applying to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Adult Disability Payment. In line with our established case transfer principles, people transferring to Social Security Scotland, from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), will continue to receive the correct payment at the correct time.

This means that clients will continue to receive the same mobility and care component of support when they transfer to Adult Disability Payment as they would have continued to receive on PIP after reaching state pension age. Relevant age rules will apply to any review after transfer, which means that on-going entitlement to the mobility component of Adult Disability Payment will be in line with the condition and/or disability under their previous PIP award. Where an individual's award was selected for transfer because they reported a change to the DWP, they were due to have their award reviewed, or their award was due to end, we will start the review process soon after their Adult Disability Payment award begins. In all other cases, review dates will be as far as possible aligned with their previous PIP review or end dates.

Although entitlement rules for Adult Disability Payment largely replicate PIP entitlement rules, we are confident that overall client experience will be much improved as a result of the less intrusive and client-centred assessment processes and our new forms of support and advice to help people provide relevant information when applying or having their entitlement reviewed.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the sector of how many caravan park owners and managers have met the criteria for the fit and proper person test or how many have failed the test. This is a matter for local authorities and the information requested is not held centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09995 on 16 August 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

We have no plans to introduce a regulatory body to provide guidelines to the operators and/or owners of retirement villages. Existing regulatory frameworks for property factors, planning, building standards already exist. Providers of housing and housing services in the private sector, including operators of retirement villages, are expected to comply with these regulations.