Chamber and committees

At this time, and in light of the Members Bill currently in development by Emma Harper MSP, the Scottish Government has no plans to include measures to tackle sheep worrying in forthcoming legislation.

Scottish Water already has refill points in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and is in the process of installing a tap in Dundee. Scottish Water is also installing refill points in Lerwick and Stornoway and has submitted a planning application to install a refill point on Orkney. Scottish Water is assessing the most appropriate locations for further refill points but I can confirm that locations such as Oban, Milngavie and Fort William already have refill points.

Operators of railway and bus stations, as well as tourist locations, have responsibility for providing amenities such as refill points and should contact Scottish Water directly if they would like to install a new refill point.

Scottish Water has committed to initially installing 1 tap in each local authority area. Beyond that, Scottish Water is open to discussions with councils and communities to identify the best places for further refill points.

Since June 2018, The Scottish Government has made £500,000 available to charities and businesses, to help ensure critical controls are in place to defend against the most common internet-based threats to cyber security. This fund is delivered in partnership with Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.

The Scottish Government recognise the benefits of being active outdoors for both physical and mental health. We fund and support a variety of partners to deliver the vision, set out in our Environment National Outcome, that all members of Scotland's communities can engage with and benefit from nature and green space. Scotland’s National Nature Reserves (NNRs) already provide opportunities for volunteering and outdoor learning and include student placements.

The Year of Young People Themed Year in 2018 provided us with an unique opportunity to show the world how valued and proud Scotland is of all that our young people do – and all they can achieve in the future. In the past year, we have worked with partners to encourage awareness and opportunities for young people to be active outdoors and help provide young people with a wide range of opportunities to engage positively with Scotland’s nature and outdoors.

The next Themed Year, Year of Coasts and Waters in 2020, will sustain and build upon the momentum of the preceding Themed Years to spotlight, celebrate and promote opportunities to experience and enjoy Scotland’s unrivalled Coasts and Waters, encouraging responsible engagement and participation from the people of Scotland and our visitors.

In addition to the opportunities offered to young people via the delivery of the National Outcome, there are a number of specific actions underway to facilitate young people's continued involvement with Scotland’s nature and outdoors. These include:

• The Scottish Government is working to promote and enhance outdoor learning to ensure it is fully embedded within Early Learning and Childcare provision as part of the expansion to 1,140 hours by 2020, including within the recently published " Funding follows the child and the national standard for early learning and childcare providers: principles and practice" and "Out to play". These provide step-by-step guidance and practical advice for early learning and childcare settings and practitioners on how to access outdoor spaces to create safe, nurturing and inspiring outdoor learning experiences;
• During 2018 the Scottish Government and Inspiring Scotland published Scotland’s Outdoor Play and Learning Coalition National Position Statement, which now has over 85 signatories including many national public bodies, who have committed to working together to embed playing and learning outdoors as an everyday activity and to celebrate it as a fundamental part of growing up in Scotland;
• In September 2018, our Programme for Government committed the Scottish Government to provide £600,000 of funding over the next two years through the Outdoor Learning in Nature Fund for up to 16 projects in nurseries, schools and community groups across Scotland. All the projects involve working with schools and nurseries to help children from our most deprived areas spend time in nature;
• In 2018 Scottish Natural Heritage announced the £100,000 Future Routes Challenge Fund to support young people in taking a new role in making space for nature in our cities, helping to develop urban nature parks, and developing their own nature projects;
• During Year of Young People 2018, ReRoute (SNH’s Young People’s Advisory Group) developed a set of recommendations to make SNH more effective at engaging and including young people’s opinions and voices and ensure that young people are at the heart of decision making and influencing policy across the environmental sector. In October 2018 SNH recruited a new group of young people who have been working at implementing the ReRoute recommendations working with SNH staff. This includes work on developing kit libraries, developing an urban junior ranger programme and designing and administering a £20,000 Future Routes Fund for young people on behalf of SNH;
• SNH are also using co- design and co- production skills with young people in their work on the National Walking and Cycling Network (NWCN), to develop thinking around ways of engaging more young people to use the NWCN and with the National Access Forum to find out the best ways of engaging young people and informing them of their access rights and responsibilities;
• Scottish Natural Heritage "Learning in Local Greenspace" project works with schools in disadvantaged areas to support them to access and use local greenspaces within walking distance;
• Scottish Natural Heritage manages the ‘Our Natural Health Service’ programme, which aims to encourage more people to experience the health and mental wellbeing benefits provided by Scotland’s unique natural environment. The programme has engaged extensively with young people to co-design approaches to encourage this age group to spend time outdoors including the launch of the Freshspace campaign in October 2018, working with Young Scot to highlight and address the issues that stop young women (14-18) spending time outdoors;
• Scottish Government work in partnership with Youth Link to provide support and funding for the #iwill and #iwill4nature campaign which support young people’s voices being heard and is aimed at securing a sustainable future via linking into existing and planned activities, workstreams and local and national priorities;
• In September 2018 over 50 young people from across Europe were involved in the launch of the EUROPARC Youth Manifesto with ongoing engagement by both our National Parks to deliver the Manifesto;
• Scottish Government supported work with Young Scot and Scottish Ramblers during the summer of 2018 to promote messaging around getting active and staying healthy outdoors using a social media awareness campaign;
• Scottish Government are joint funding Scottish Ramblers Young Adult Development Project (Out there Award) to build the capacity of Ramblers Scotland Young Walkers groups by introducing, skilling up, and supporting targeted groups of young people who are new to walking; and
• Scottish Government support for "Paths for All", which includes:
• o "Path Skillz", a 5-day training course which aims to equip young people, aged 16-25, with the knowledge and practical skills they need to successfully plan, manage and deliver a community path project; and
• o "Youth Tracks" training pilot, which is a course designed to give youth workers and and youth leaders the skills needed to emppower young people to explore, map and promote open spaces that they think other young people should visit.

The Scottish Government is currently holding The Big Climate Conversation across Scotland. This is a nationwide discussion with the public, businesses and the public sector about what more can be done to tackle climate change.

As part of our public engagement, the initial phase of six public workshops are currently live. Our subsequent phase of events was announced on 29 July and includes the following event which will be held in South Scotland:

- Dumfries (open public event)

In addition to the above event, we are also planning a closed focus group event in South Scotland. We will also support communities to hold their own conversations. Details about this can be found on the Scottish Government website ( link ).

The Scottish Government has been engaging with stakeholders across Scotland, including South Scotland, as part of the development of the second Climate Change Adaptation Programme. Adaptation focused climate conversations were held between January and March 2019 in Dumfries, Newton Stewart and Gattonside near Melrose.

The preparatory work required for the consultation on the Deep Sea Marine Reserve to the West of Scotland is nearing completion. I expect to launch a 12 week public consultation on the case for designation in due course.

The Scottish Government expects to consult on the draft Sectoral Marine Plan for offshore wind and associated Sustainability Appraisal later this year. The consultation will last for 12 weeks and will include a number of consultation events across Scotland. The details of the locations and timings of these events will be made available in advance to help maximise participation.