Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises that all recorded information relating to its business is subject to Freedom of Information (FOI) law, irrespective of its format or the platform on which it is held. This includes any information held in or originally generated in WhatsApp or similar messaging apps. This responsibility is discharged through the relevant business units who have the responsibility for capturing this information as set out in the Scottish Government Records Management Policy.

The Scottish Government has released such messaging exchanges in response to Freedom of Information requests. However, to ascertain the number of responses which have included such exchanges since 2019, would require officials to individually check every FOI response the Scottish Government has issued since the beginning of 2019. For that reason, this information could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

The Scottish Government recognises the critical role of advice services, often delivered by our diverse third sector and providing lifeline services to the most vulnerable communities, especially during the cost crisis. In 2022-23, we directly invested around £12.5 million in free income maximisation, welfare and debt advice services delivered by third sector partners.

We recognise the impact that rising operating costs are having across society, including on charities and voluntary organisations including Epilepsy Scotland, and we are committed to doing everything within our powers to support the third sector to help the people who are struggling the most. Officials are engaging with Epilepsy Scotland to understand any financial challenges they are facing.

The Scottish Government is considering the health and environmental impacts of disposable vape cartridges. Zero Waste Scotland is undertaking an urgent review into the environmental impacts of disposable vapes and we expect the review report to be received in May. We have also recently published our consultation analysis on proposed restrictions on vaping products and are considering next steps. The findings from the consultation are being used to inform the refreshed Tobacco Action Plan, which is due to be published in 2023.

It was good to see the UK Government finally recognising the importance of investing in childcare in their recent Budget. However, overall this was another missed opportunity to take meaningful action to lift families out of poverty, invest in our public services and help businesses so that our economy can grow.

Scotland already has the most generous childcare offer anywhere in the UK. We offer 1140 hours of high quality funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) to all 3 and 4-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds, regardless of the working status their parents.

New Leadership: A Fresh Start ( Supporting documents - Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership - A fresh start - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ) sets out our ambition to go further by building a system of school age childcare and developing a funded early learning and childcare offer for 1 and 2 year olds, focusing on those who need it most.

Ministers are considering carefully the financial implications of the UK Budget for Scotland but we need to be clear that the total additional funding made available falls far short of the costs of delivering a significant expansion to our funded childcare offers.

The Blue Flag programme in Scotland was discontinued at the end of 2016 and replaced with the Scottish Beach Awards scheme. Keep Scotland Beautiful will announce the 2023 beach awards winners before the start of the bathing season. In order for a beach to achieve an award there is a criteria for local environmental quality, which includes consideration of the bathing water quality standards.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is responsible for monitoring, classifying protecting and improving water quality at designated bathing waters. 98% of bathing waters currently meet the bathing water standards with more beaches being classified as excellent than ever before.

In September 2022, the Scottish Government published the report from our consultation on proposals to make regulations under sections 17 to 19 of the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016, which could introduce restrictions on the following:

• advertising
• brand-sharing in products and services
• free distribution and nominal pricing
• sponsorship of an activity, event or person

The responses, together with the analysis report will inform our next steps, which we are currently considering. Any action we seek to take will build on the regulations already in place to restrict the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under 18s.

The General Practice workforce survey 2022 collected information based on sessional commitment by GPs not hours worked. While GP sessions have sometimes been defined for the purposes of various payments, there is no contractual definition of GP sessions.

GP contract regulations require practices to ensure provision of services Monday – Friday 0800-1830. It is up to the practice to agree how that is covered by GPs and the number and length of sessions.

From responding practices to the General Practice workforce survey 2022, totalling 2,480 GPs, it was estimated that 22% of GPs had commitments of up to 4 sessions per week. 55% between 5 and 7 sessions per week and 23% of 8 or more. Dashboard - General practice workforce survey 2022 - General practice workforce survey - Publications - Public Health Scotland ”

The Scottish Government is committed to a fair, inclusive and fiscally sustainable form of local taxation. Scottish Ministers have convened the ‘Joint Working Group on Sources of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform’, which is chaired by the Scottish Government and COSLA. The group is initially discussing and reviewing targeted changes to Council Tax to reflect the current circumstances created by the cost crisis. The group will also consider approaches to longer term reform, utilising the development of effective deliberative engagement, on sources of Local Government funding and Council Tax.

The 2023 non-domestic rates revaluation took effect on 1 April 2023. The next revaluation will take effect from 1 April 2026, implementing the independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates recommendation for three yearly revaluations which was legislated for in the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020.

The tax rates which are used to calculate non-domestic rates bills are reviewed and set annually in the context of the Scottish Budget.

Any form of human trafficking or exploitation is completely unacceptable.

The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, which was passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament, gives police and prosecutors greater powers to detect and bring to justice those responsible for trafficking as well as strengthening protections for survivors.

In the current financial year, Migrant Help and the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance will share over £2.1m to support adult victims of human trafficking and exploitation. We are also providing funding to Justice and Care to support two Victim Navigators who work alongside Police Scotland's National Human Trafficking Unit; funding to JustRight Scotland to support the work of their Scottish Anti-Trafficking Centre, including the provision of early legal advice to potential victims. Furthermore, we are funding Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland to deliver a long-term support pilot to those recovering and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to provide a national psychological trauma support service to adult trafficking victims.

We will continue to work with partners across Scotland and beyond to provide support to victims and combat those who seek to profit from the exploitation of others.