Chamber and committees

On 2 September 2021 the Scottish Government published the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland. This non-statutory guidance describes the responsibilities and expectations of everyone who works with, or comes into contact with children and young people, families and carers in Scotland. The key role of the education workforce in protecting children is affirmed and strengthened by the inclusion of education staff in all references to multi-agency arrangements.

Following publication, local authority schools, Grant Aided Special Schools and independent schools will review and update their procedures in line with the national guidance.

A National Child Protection Guidance Implementation Group has been established to support implementation over the next 18-24 months. Education Scotland and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland are both represented on the group, which will also engage with the Scottish Council of Independent Schools to support all schools with implementation of the guidance over the coming months.

Whilst the use of powered transporters and decisions around their introduction and associated legislative changes are primarily a matter for the UK Government, additional legislation and associated guidance would be required in Scotland to allow trials to take place.

This was not factored in to the timescale for the trials programme originally set by the Department for Transport (DfT), and as a result the trials currently taking place in England could not be hosted by Scottish local authorities.

The UK Government has signalled its intention to publish proposals in 2022 for potential further legalisation of e-scooters beyond the current trials. The Scottish Government is engaged with the DfT policy team responsible for the e-scooter trial and once more is known, we will consider any such proposals and continue to monitor trends as a matter of course in order to inform future policy on e-scooters.

As part of our Accessible Travel Framework, and recent engagement with disabled people and organisations that represent them, the Scottish Government have committed to exploring the current provision of passenger assistance currently provided at Scotland’s bus stations. To that end officials within the Accessible Travel Policy Team are currently engaging with bus station managers.

There are currently no plans for a national blind persons entitlement to enable free travel on rail services however for those that are blind or visually impaired there are alternative discounts available. Details of these can be accessed via:- https://www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk/using-your-railcard/other-discounts/ 

We are working with local authority partners to develop a fully funded free school milk scheme for all children in primary schools as well as a free school milk scheme pilot in secondary schools.

Following a search of the information held on the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) portal, there have been no contracts awarded to Amazon during financial year 2020-21 by any Scottish Public buying organisation. This information is already in the public domain and available on the internet by searching www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk . The PCS portal is a national advertising website provided by the Scottish Government as a one-stop shop for suppliers to access Scottish public sector contract opportunities.

The Scottish Government has a corporate correspondence system. Correspondence addressed to Ministers and requiring a response is added to the system on receipt.

Anonymous Voter Registration is available to anyone meeting certain statutory requirements where, if their name or address were listed on the electoral register, their safety would be at risk (or where the safety of other people at the same address as them would be at risk).

An anonymously registered elector has the same options for voting at an election as other electors. They can vote in person at a polling station or they can apply to vote by post or by proxy.

If they choose to vote in person, they will receive a poll card before the election. The poll card will be sent in a covering envelope. An anonymously registered elector must take this poll card to the polling station and will not be able to vote without it.

If the elector wants to vote by post or by proxy, they can ask the Electoral Registration Officer who will provide them with an application form which can also be downloaded from electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter

Further information on anonymous registration can be found in the following guidance which was produced in partnership between the Electoral Commission and Scottish Women’s Aid: ‘Anonymous registration: Supporting survivors of domestic abuse to register to vote’

The Scottish Government is not undertaking any specific research on utilising household waste and crop waste to manufacture bacterial cellulose for use in the production of yarns and other textile applications. The Scottish Government does not centrally collate research on individual topics.

The Scottish Government wants to improve opportunities, outcomes and support for people with Down’s Syndrome. To this end, we have committed to introducing a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill as part of the Programme for Government. This Bill will ensure that the rights of people with Down’s Syndrome, among others, are respected and protected. To help make sure the new legislation is championed when it is implemented we will create a Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodiversity Commissioner through the new law.

The Scottish Government position is that we take a wider view of Down’s Syndrome within the rights of people with all learning disabilities.

Rather than duplicate the Down Syndrome Bill, we will continue with our commitment to introduce a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill as part of the Programme for Government. This will ensure that the Bill meets the needs of people with Down’s Syndrome in the Scottish context.

Scottish Legislation already exists that requires Scottish public bodies meet the needs of people with Down’s Syndrome. The Additional Support for Learning Act (Scotland) 2004 (as amended) places duties upon education authorities to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 places duties upon Local Authorities and the NHS to provide services in a way which takes account of the particular needs of different service-users, and also takes account of the particular characteristics and circumstances of different service-users.

We continue to liaise regularly with our stakeholders around policy developments, and this includes the Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities, People First and Down’s Syndrome Scotland.

The Scottish Government aims to carry out scoping work on the remit and powers of a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Commissioner in this Parliamentary year. This year we will begin an engagement exercise explore the Commissioner role, how it will be developed and what it will be responsible for. We will engage with all learning disability and autism stakeholders across the public and third sector, this includes Government officials across the 4 UK Nations and those with lived experience, who will be at the centre of the work.