Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02466 on 28 September 2021 which explained that t he First Minister’s former Chief of Staff resigned on the suspension of parliament for the 2021 Scottish Parliament election in line with the Special Advisers Code of Conduct and model contract. I n line with GDPR requirements, the Scottish Government does not provide personal data such as the levels of payments made to individual staff.

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

We have met with a range of private rented sector representatives, including those representing tenants and landlords, and will continue to do so as we progress work on implementing an effective national system of rent controls, including those representing the North Ayrshire and Inverclyde areas. Our aim is to ensure quality, affordability and fairness for everyone who rents a home, whilst carefully examining potential unintended consequences.

This policy is still being developed and will also be consulted on publicly within the new draft Rented Sector Strategy due to be published at the end of this year, providing further opportunities for all stakeholders to share their views. Upon consideration of the consultation responses, a final Rented Sector Strategy will be published later in 2022 and deliver a key commitment, set out in Housing to 2040 , Scotland’s long term vision for housing.

Once firmer options for the design of rent controls are developed, including through a full public consultation, we will carefully consider the potential impact on the quality and quantity of private rented housing at a national and sub-national level. We will be gathering evidence and engaging with stakeholders in the private rented sector to develop a range of Impact Assessments, including a Business Regulatory Impact Assessment.

We intend to launch the consultation of the draft Onshore Wind Policy Statement later today, in line with the commitments we set out in the Programme for Government.

The consultative draft of the Policy Statement will be available to view on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802014990 from today and the consultation questions will be available on Citizen Space at https://consult.gov.scot/energy-and-climate-change-directorate/onshore-wind-policy-statement-refresh-2021/ . The consultation will be live for 12 weeks from today until 21 January 2022.

The draft Onshore Wind Policy Statement (OnWPS) sets out the Scottish Government’s ambitions for onshore wind in Scotland out to 2030 in the context of our 2045 net zero emissions commitment. It outlines the huge potential for this technology, and assesses the significant economic opportunity of future deployment, particularly in light of green recovery aspirations. Scotland has excellent onshore wind expertise and is recognised as having one of the best wind regimes anywhere in the world in which to deploy projects.

The consultative draft of the OnWPS has been informed by stakeholder consultation and engagement and seeks views on specific questions, in particular on the Scottish Government ambition to secure an additional 8-12 Gigawatts of installed onshore wind capacity by 2030.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) are currently engaged with criminal justice partners, including the Police Service of Scotland, Transport Scotland and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service to develop relevant infrastructure and guidance for the possible introduction of Speed Awareness Courses in Scotland.

The possible introduction of Speed Awareness Courses in Scotland requires enabling legislation. The United Kingdom Government has introduced the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is currently being considered by the House of Lords. The Bill includes provision for police forces in England and Wales to recover costs from drivers who are the subject of a road traffic diversionary courses.

Whilst the Bill does not include substantive provision to allow Police Scotland to recover costs from drivers, the Bill makes provision for the Secretary of State to make such provision for Scotland, similar to that provided for in England and Wales, by statutory instrument. Any such provision by statutory instrument would require to be made following passage of the Bill.

We recently launched the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board to help develop new proposals for sustainable farming support by considering the Climate Change Plan Update and the Farmer-led Groups recommendations. This was one of our 100 days commitments and will help Scottish agriculture become more economically and environmentally sustainable.

Today the Scottish Government is announcing “The National Test Programme”, a £51m package to assist farmers, crofters and land managers to transition to a system of sustainable agriculture that will reduce GHG emissions and enhance biodiversity in our agricultural landscape.

The package is a twin track approach made up of two components:

Track 1 is to encourage farmers to improve their knowledge of current environmental performance and efficiency, and will allow all those in receipt of a basic Agricultural Support payment to make a start in addressing GHG emissions reduction for their businesses. This will include the following;

• Substantial public support for Carbon audits and Nutrient Management Plans .
• The establishment of a Livestock Data Performance Feedback Scheme.

Track 2 is to design and test the tools and process necessary to reward land managers for the climate and biodiversity outcomes they deliver. It will create a robust understanding of how new conditions or activities could be applied to future support, and to ensure delivery of environmental outcomes in a way that supports sustainable businesses. This will be a more detailed design and test how measuring environmental performance of farms will be managed in future and include;

• The creation of a Conditionality Test Programme.
• The instigation of an Active Livestock Management initiative for suckler beef farms.

The primary objective of the Autumn and Winter vaccination programme is to maintain protection against severe COVID-19 and seasonal flu, specifically reducing the risk of hospitalisation and deaths, by protecting the most vulnerable.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided final advice on COVID-19 vaccination boosters on the 14 th of September with the first doses being administered from the following week. Which are being delivered alongside primary vaccinations for
‎ 12 to 15 year olds and many others.

The Member will be aware that delivery of booster vaccinations will run alongside our seasonal flu vaccination programme, which is the largest seasonal flu programme ever delivered in Scotland. Based on JCVI advice, we are working from the highest risk to lower risk groups and we are aiming, wherever possible, to offer both booster and flu jabs in a single appointment. This may mean that some lower risk groups (for example someone aged 64) may hear about their flu appointment from late October and be called to an appointment in November, which is a little later than would have been the case for a traditional flu only appointment. This is still ahead of the risk period and means that, wherever possible, people need only to come to one appointment for both vaccines.

While we have made a good start to the flu and booster vaccinations with over 686,248 flu delivered up to October 17th , 539,832 boosters and 8.2 million primary doses delivered as at October 26 th . But we continue to explore all avenues to accelerate our vaccinations activity as a matter of urgency.

For Covid-19 boosters - We are currently offering vaccination to those in older adult care homes; those who have the highest health risks (clinically extremely vulnerable); those age 70 years and over; frontline health and social are staff.

NHS Borders are utilising the National Vaccine Scheduling Service (NVSS) to schedule appointments for vaccination. NHS Borders like other health boards commenced from the week of the 20th of September, their Covid-19 boosters. From this week we are starting to send out invites for those in the next groups, which are those age 60-69 year and those 16+ years with underlying health conditions. before opening up a public portal in mid-November for everyone else who is eligible.

There is a clear gender gap in business participation and the Scottish Government is committed to closing that gap, unlocking the full economic potential of women in enterprise, and to supporting women into work and business. We have brought a range of measure to encourage and support employers to take action such as our Women Returners Programme which will see up to 1,500 women return to the workforce. We are also committed to developing an ambitious plan for the Women’s Business Centre, backed by an investment of up to £50m to ensure that women are fully supported to realise their business ambitions.

A progressive approach to industrial relations and trade unionism is at the heart of a fairer, more successful society. The Minister for Fair Work meets regularly with our trade union partners and values this regular, open and constructive dialogue. Indeed, he chairs a regular roundtable with the STUC and affiliate unions where issues relating to industrial action have been raised and of course subsequently discussed Ministerial colleagues, who in turn have their own direct engagements.

With regards to planned industrial action, we remain firmly committed to supporting all parties to agree an appropriate resolution to current disputes, before such action is taken.