Chamber and committees

During 2020 the Scottish Government, in partnership with local authorities, MOD and veterans organisations, promoted and distributed Armed Forces and veterans awareness training to all local authorities in Scotland via the network of Armed Forces Champions. The e-learning is a simple, user-friendly resource which aims to raise awareness and understanding of the Armed Forces Covenant, how it is implemented in the community and how the principles should be applied at a local level. The training package also provides sources of further information and support for the Armed Forces and veterans community. Consideration is being given to expanding this across other front-line service providers including the NHS. We continue to engage with Champions and Local Authorities to determine the effectiveness of this training and ensure that it has been made available to frontline staff.

In addition, Veterans Scotland has received funding from the Forces in Mind Trust to enable engagement with decision makers in statutory and third sector organisations across Scotland. Through this engagement, supported by the Scottish Government, Veterans Scotland seeks both to inform partners about the needs of those preparing to leave the Armed Forces and of the veterans community and also to encourage those partners to ensure that they are equipped to meet their obligations under the Covenant. As part of this work, Veterans Scotland promotes and distributes e-copies of the Forces in Mind Trust’s ‘Our Community – Our Covenant’, an accessible tool that provides practical guidance.

From Monday 19 July, all parts of Scotland moved to level 0. Domestic cruises are able to operate from this date. We have worked closely with the industry to keep them informed of the agreed conditions that would allow operations once again. Our guidance on domestic cruising can be found here: Coronavirus (COVID-19): travel and transport - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Senior Transport Scotland Ferries Unit officials have met specifically with representatives of Pentland Ferries five times since January 2019.

Four of these were to discuss Covid financial impacts on Pentland Ferries and one was to discuss work seeking to implement Road Equivalent Tariff on ferry services to the Northern Isles. These were attended by TS Ferries Staff and representatives from Pentland Ferries.

CMAL have met with Pentland Ferries once since January 2019 while inspecting the MV Pentalina.

Under the National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People, a holder of a +1 National Entitlement Card is entitled to free bus travel for themselves and a companion travelling together with them for the same journey on local registered and long distance scheduled bus journeys throughout Scotland. Booking arrangements generally only apply to longer distance scheduled bus services and are the responsibility of the bus operator.

Work is proceeding on a number of vessel replacement projects. Vessels 801 (MV Glen Sannox) and 802 are under construction and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) have started the procurement process for a new Islay vessel. In addition, projects are underway to deliver the vessel replacements noted in the Scottish Government's Infrastructure Investment Plan: Gourock-Dunoon/Kilcreggan, the Small Vessel Replacement Programme, Craignure-Oban, Mallaig-Armadale/Lochboisdale and the Northern Isles freighters.

A National Mission with Local Impact: Infrastructure Investment Plan for Scotland 2021-22 to 2025-26 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Government budgets achieve multiple overlapping objectives and so it is not possible to distinguish environmental spending that does and does not alleviate climate change. A wide range of Scottish Government budgets directly address environmental problems. In 2021-22 spending on Environmental Services is £196 million. A number of other budget lines also have a direct impact on environmental outcomes including, but not limited to, Rural Economy Agri Environment Measures (£34.2 million) and Green Schemes (£142 million), Forestry (£70.6 million), and Active Travel (£115 million) in 2021-22.

Taking a more expansive view of spending on environmental measures. The Scottish Government publication Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland provides estimates of overall spending by the Scottish Government, Local Authorities and Public Corporations on different categories of spend. It reports that these bodies spent £1,078 million on ‘environmental protection’ in 2019-20.

The Scottish Government meets with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) routinely on a range of matters.

The last time Scottish Government Ministers met with DWP Ministers was at the last Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare on 16 December 2020, where the agenda covered a range of matters relating to the devolution of social security.

Dates the Scottish Government has met with and currently plans to meet with airports are included in the following table.

Since the outset of the pandemic, the Scottish Government has taken an evidence-based approach to our measures on overseas travel, informed by the latest data and evidence provided on a UK-wide basis by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), as well as Scotland-specific data from Scotland’s Test and Protect system, and clinical advice from Scotland's Chief Medical Officer. 

The greatest risk of COVID-19 infection are passengers arriving from red list countries, who are required to enter managed isolation in a quarantine hotel. There is no exemption anywhere in the UK for oil and gas workers arriving from red list countries. 

There is an exemption for oil and gas workers arriving from amber list countries to undertake work on critical infrastructure in Scotland. They are still required to take a pre-departure test before travel, complete a passenger locator form before travelling to Scotland, book and take a testing package for days 2 and 8, self-isolate at home for 10 days when not at or travelling to and from a place where they are required to undertake the activities this exemption applies to and show a letter to Border Force from their employer outlining the work they will be doing.

The Scottish Government is progressing wide reform of the planning system, including implementation of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019; preparation of Scotland’s fourth National Planning Framework; a review of permitted development rights and a programme of digital transformation of planning services, with a focus on efficient processes, delivering good quality development and positive outcomes.