Chamber and committees

Where house or pet-sitting does not involve payment for services, or other commercial considerations such as benefits in kind, that activity is classed as an ‘informal arrangement’ between individuals. There is no requirement for a short-term let licence.

Where that activity is performed as a paid service by a professional, there would be no requirement for a short-term let licence - if the accommodation is provided for the principal purpose of facilitating the provision of work or services by the guest.

Home exchanges are within scope of the short-term let licensing legislation - they include a commercial consideration in the form of a benefit in kind. The mandatory set of safety standards at the heart of the scheme, such as gas safety certificates and appropriate electrical equipment, still apply to homes being swapped. Anyone interested in using accommodation will wish to be assured that it meets required standards. Additionally, it is beneficial for ‘home swappers’ allowing guests to use their home to be able to advise those guests that the accommodation is licensed and complies with relevant conditions.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Building safety is a matter for the owner - who in this case would be individual local authorities - acting in accordance with the relevant health and safety legislation. Moreover, health and safety legislation is not devolved to the Scottish Government.

It is imperative that there is transparency around the schools where RAAC has been identified and the mitigations that are in place. This is why, on 8 September, a list of the 16 local authorities where reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) has been found in some schools was published in a Scottish Government news release ( Local authorities publish RAAC data - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ).

The issue of passports is a matter for the UK Government. In relation to reducing activity in Scotland, Police Scotland act on intelligence to reduce the impact of the use of counterfeit and forged documents and will act wherever suspicion exists regarding whether a passport is genuine or not. Police Scotland work closely with their partners in other key border enforcement agencies and rely on Border Force for their expertise in determining whether a passport is genuine or altered and Border Force staff are used as expert witnesses in cases referred to COPFS.

The following link provides a recent successful conviction in England which does have a Scottish footprint : https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/updated-sentence-three-men-jailed-supplying-fraudulent-passports-criminals

Officials have met with the International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement, who direct PIRLS and TIMSS, to begin the process of rejoining the studies.

The next cycles of PIRLS and TIMSS will be in 2026 and 2027 respectively.

The Scottish Government is committed to making sure that robust measures are in place across Scotland to ensure our partners can identify and support victims of sexual extortion.

The National Child Protection Guidance was updated in August 2023 and supports frontline workers by defining and clarifying the roles and responsibilities for everyone working with children and young people, setting out the foundation for protective action to keep young people safe from harms including sexual exploitation.

The Scottish Government works closely with national and UK service partners including Police Scotland, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Cyber and Fraud Centre Scotland to tackle cyber-crime and online sexual extortion scams. We are also members of Police Scotland’s Multi-Agency Group on Preventing Online Sexual Abuse which helps us to recognise and respond effectively to new and emerging trends in online child sexual abuse and exploitation, such as the financially motivated sexual extortion of our young people.

I chair the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce which convenes key partners involved in tackling organised crime, disrupting the activities of organised crime groups and reducing the harm it causes our communities. In June of this year we published guidance for practitioners on criminal exploitation of children and vulnerable adults on behalf of the Taskforce.

The Scottish Government’s “Our Delivering Equally Safe” fund has awarded over £110,000 to the South West Grid for Learning to deliver advice to victims of intimate image abuse and to improve awareness of sexual exploitation – or ‘Revenge Porn’ across Scotland. The Safer Scotland website was updated earlier this year to provide information, links to support and advice for victims on reporting intimate image abuse. The Scottish Government’s Parent Club website also offers advice for parents on how to protect their children from online harms. We are currently reviewing the content of the Hub to include advice for parents and carers on sexual extortion as well as other emerging risks for children online.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) routinely monitors and publishes vaccination uptake rates for those within education settings. The Scottish Government is working closely with territorial Health Boards and PHS to understand and promote uptake of the MenACWY vaccine in our student population. Regular communication between Health Boards and PHS provides intelligence on uptake levels in specific groups, allowing for targeted responses to improve uptake.

For additional information, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21082 on 19 September 2023. 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

Uptake of vaccinations among young people in Scotland remains high and is delivering lifesaving benefits.

Targeted testing is in place to support clinical decision making and surveillance. We are working closely with Public Health Scotland, our clinical advisors and the other UK nations to routinely review our position and the clinical advice on COVID-19 in light of new variants. Evidence to date does not support a return to widespread community testing however we will continue to monitor the situation closely.

The CEO of FMPG provides a regular update to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on the progress and anticipated delivery schedules of both MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa. His next update is due by the end of September 2023.

In Scotland it is illegal to ride an electric scooter on a public road, pavement, cycle paths, shared paths or any public place. Enforcement of this is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, with oversight provided by the Scottish Police Authority.

More broadly, the Scottish Government is committed to making Scotland’s road travel safe for everyone. The Scottish Government published a Road Safety Framework to 2030 in 2021. The framework sets out a vision for Scotland to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030 and an ambitious long term goal where no one is seriously injured or killed on our roads by 2050.

Island and rural carers will benefit from the introduction of Carer Support Payment, which will replace Carer’s Allowance in Scotland, including through support from Social Security Scotland’s local delivery service and better signposting to wider support available to carers. Island communities will also continue to benefit from the extra support only available in Scotland from the Carer’s Allowance Supplement. By the end of this year, carers in Scotland continuously in receipt of the Carer's Allowance Supplement since its introduction in 2018 will have received over £3,300. The Carer Support Payment is being delivered in the context of wider cross-governmental work to positively impact rural and island communities, such as the commitments in the National Islands Plan to tackle the higher costs of fuel, transport and housing as well as to drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Further planned improvements for Carer Support Payment are set out in the Scottish Government’s response to the consultation published on 24 March 2023. We will continue to engage with rural and island carers and organisations in developing Carer Support Payment and to ensure our plans to join carers to wider carer support services, such as income maximisation, meet the needs of island and rural carers.