Chamber and committees

Ministers have very much appreciated opportunities to visit the GWCT Scottish Game Fair in previous years.

I am currently considering attendance at the GWCT Scottish Game Fair alongside other Parliamentary commitments and will respond to outstanding invitations in due course.

Information on proceedings is provided in the following tables. Table 1 shows all charges reported to COPFS under Section 1(3) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. Table 2 shows only people prosecuted where the main charge was under Section 1(3) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

Table 1

Charges reported to COPFS under: Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 S1(3)&1(7) - Possess a dog otherwise than in accordance with Act, 2013-14 to 2022-23.

Governance of the veterinary profession is a Reserved Matter and the number of registered veterinary surgeons in the UK is available from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

On behalf of the Scottish Government, the Chief Veterinary Officer Scotland chairs the veterinary delivery landscape forum, a cross-sector group that examines recruitment and retention of veterinary surgeons in Scotland.

The Scottish Government also supports the provision of veterinary services in the rural and remote rural areas of Scotland through the Highlands and Islands Veterinary Services Scheme. The Scheme ensures the provision of an adequate veterinary service to detect, prevent and eradicate animal diseases for all animals kept for agricultural purposes and belonging to crofters and others of like economic status.

Overall, the Scottish Government thinks that this is a well-designed and helpful document which clearly outlines the approach which Scottish Cycling plans to take.

We welcome the focus on improving diversity in cycling participation as well as a pathway for all, regardless of ability.

We are pleased to see references to the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, highlighting the significant opportunity to increase cycling participation this provides, including through initiatives such as the Cycling Facilities Fund.

We note the recent publication by the British Property Federation, assessing the impact of the emergency Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022.

We recognise the importance of the private rented sector in the provision of rented housing, including homes provided through the Build-to-Rent sector, and we believe that a well-regulated private rental sector is good for both tenants and landlords.

The temporary, emergency Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 is providing additional protections for tenants during these challenging and uncertain economic times. It is important to note that there are no restrictions on a landlord setting rents at the start of a tenancy and the legislation could only ever be in place for a total of 18 months, if the circumstances demand it and with Parliamentary approval, and therefore the temporary protections should not be a deterrent to new housing development.

Scottish Ministers have a statutory duty to ensure that the emergency powers taken are proportionate in order to respond to the costs crisis and will only last as long as required. In addition, the Scottish Parliament has continued oversight of the necessity of those powers through our regular reporting on the necessity and proportionality of the measures.

In the longer term, we have committed to introducing a national system of rent control, informed by views from tenants, landlords and investors through an advisory group. We intend to introduce a rent control system which is compatible with encouraging investment and we will continue to engage with stakeholders from across the sector on our long-term commitment to develop an effective system of rent controls for Scotland.

The best way to deliver a strong rented sector is to build more affordable homes and Scotland leads the way in this area, having delivered more than 118,000 affordable homes since 2007, with 83,291 of these for social rent. We’re now working towards our target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which 70% will be for social rent.

Currently generative AI is not being used by The Scottish Government in a policy environment. However, through our CivTech challenge process we are engaging with technology providers around how we might in future make use of AI to solve particular public issues. Current examples include helping disabled citizens better access online services and in identifying children at risk. You can see details of this work on the recently launched Scottish AI Register .

We are continuing to work within the recently issued UK Government guidance on the use of AI. This guidance encourages civil servants to stay curious and connected with all that data technologies can offer, but at the same time to do this in a way which prevents the risk of harm to our communities, government or economy.

This is a rapidly developing area and the Scottish Government has a responsibility to use AI in a way which will make the most of any opportunities and limit any potential harms to our people. We are very fortunate to have the Scottish AI Alliance behind our efforts, with their strong academic, business and technology experience they offer the correct level of support and challenge to ensure we continue to work in the trustworthy, ethical and inclusive manner set out by our AI Strategy.

At the current time, of the Twitter accounts managed centrally by Scottish Government Communications, 8 have a grey tick and 25 do not have a grey tick. Organisations are required to apply for verification from Twitter via an online form. Twitter have indicated that requests for grey checkmarks are reviewed regularly and wait times may vary. We do not hold data on the verification status of accounts run by public bodies as these are managed directly by those organisations and any application for grey tick checkmarks will be made directly to Twitter.

ScotRail advises it has 284 stations that have live images streaming back to the centres. The rest have internet protocol cameras or cameras with secure digital cards. The only stations that do not have CCTV are Altnabreac and Dunrobin Castle.

ScotRail advises that in Paisley there are 34 positions with 27 monitoring CCTV as part of their duties. 4 Managers and 3 Announcers who can monitor CCTV but it is not their primary role. In Dunfermline there are 20 positions with 13 monitoring CCTV as part of their duties. 4 Managers and 3 Announcers who can monitor CCTV but it is not their primary role. ScotRail has 1 additional position which covers both centres and ScotRail now has 24/7 coverage between the centres. Each centre has the capability to monitor sites across the ScotRail network.

The Scottish Government welcomes the continued and significant benefit that horseracing brings to the Scottish economy, providing investment, tourism, and jobs in communities across Scotland. The annual review recently produced by Scottish Racing, clearly demonstrates this and the forecasted growth in the industry is hugely encouraging.

The Scottish Government was pleased to be able to support Scotland’s racecourses who were impacted so severely by Covid-19 and we look forward to working with Scottish Racing going forward to maximise the benefits the industry brings.