Chamber and committees

Given the commercial nature of these events the Scottish Government has not undertaken an assessment of the likely economic impact of the Taylor Swift concerts in Edinburgh.

There have been no specific discussions with stakeholders, by either Ministers or Officials, regarding the forecast impacts from the Taylor Swift concerts. VisitScotland however (as the national tourism agency for Scotland) has been undertaking PR and marketing activities to maximise the opportunity for Scotland's visitor economy from Taylor Swift fans attending the Edinburgh concerts - as it does for other major events across Scotland.

The launch of the refreshed “Scotland’s National Events Strategy 2024 – 2035” on Tuesday 28 May reflects the continued commitment by the Scottish Government to sustain and develop a dynamic, resilient, and responsible events sector that is a valued part of Scotland’s wellbeing economy, maintaining Scotland’s reputation as “The Perfect Stage for Events.”

The refreshed National Events Strategy has been the result of a collaborative effort, shaped by voices from across the event sector, Trade Unions, Local Authorities and the wider public sector. Following that consultation and engagement process clear agreed priorities have emerged to shape a strategy that provides focus for the whole sector, bringing everyone together to deliver a shared ambition.

Working with the sector and other partners we will ensure Scotland continues to support a dynamic portfolio of events – from regular local community events to Scotland’s signature events and festivals, to one off international business, cultural and sporting events.

A copy of the National Events Strategy may be found using the URL Scotland's National Events Strategy | VisitScotland.org

My officials at Transport Scotland meet with ScotRail and Scottish Rail Holdings regularly to discuss various matters. ScotRail keeps its services under constant review to ensure they best meet the passenger demand.

Since the publication of the 2009 Strategic Transport Projects Review, the Scottish Government has invested £330 million in delivering journey time improvements and greater connectivity for both passenger and freight services operating on the line between Aberdeen and Inverness. These works were undertaken as part of the Aberdeen – Inverness Rail Improvement Project.

The Scottish Government has urged the DWP to carefully consider people’s individual circumstances before any recovery of Carer’s Allowance overpayments from carers. It is our established policy that no-one should be placed into hardship as a result of overpayment recovery. Social Security Scotland have in place processes to prevent and identify overpayments as quickly as possible, and will consider an individual’s financial and personal circumstances as far as they are known before recovery is attempted. Social Security Scotland will discuss the best way forward for individuals and anyone affected will be able to seek support and advice before agreeing any repayment plan. Any deductions are set at manageable levels and individuals can seek a redetermination and appeal where a new determination has been made. Discussions are ongoing with the DWP as to potential arrangements for the recovery of any Carer’s Allowance overpayments for carers in Scotland that remain once case transfer is complete and the current Agency Agreement comes to an end.

As set out in our response to our 2022 public consultation, we are considering options for reform of the earnings threshold as part of longer-term plans for improvements to Carer Support Payment. These include increasing the earnings threshold and introducing a run-on of support to mitigate the earnings ‘cliff edge’, both of which were supported by the majority of respondents to the consultation. Given the range of views on how the earnings rules for Carer Support Payment could work differently from Carer’s Allowance, we are continuing to consider the responses received. We are also considering research, recently published by the DWP in May, on carers’ experiences of claiming and receiving Carer’s Allowance to inform our approach.

The Permanent Secretary wrote to the First Minister on 27 May outlining the impact of the UK general election guidance on the Scottish Government’s planned business. In this letter, in line with normal practice, the Permanent Secretary advised on the deferral of strategic policies due to be published in the pre-election period. This includes the publication of the Building a New Scotland papers, which will be paused during the pre-election period. The Scottish Government is continuing to develop material to ensure people have the information they need to make an informed choice about Scotland’s future and will resume publication following the General Election.

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) uses a live, operational database to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies throughout Scotland. It is designed to meet business needs in the processing of criminal cases, rather than for statistical purposes and the information within it is structured accordingly. Information provided is at date of extract and may therefore be subject to change as data and systems are updated for operational reasons.

From 1 April to 28 May 2024, 170 hate crime charges and 615 charges with one or more hate crime aggravations in terms of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 have been reported to COPFS for the whole of Scotland. The total, therefore, is 785 charges.

From 1 April to 28 May 2024, 33 hate crime charges and 98 charges with one or more hate crime aggravations in terms of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 have been reported to COPFS in the Lothian region. For the purposes of this answer, the ‘Lothian region’ been restricted to charges reported to COPFS from the Edinburgh and Livingston Sheriff Court Districts. The total 131 hate crime charges and aggravations for Lothian region represents 16.7% of the total for the whole of Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not made any specific assessments in this regard, the Scottish Funding Council published a report on the impact of the programme of college mergers in Scotland in 2012-13 and 2013-14, available on their website here: https://www.sfc.ac.uk/college_mergers_overarching_report-pdf/?_rt=NXwxfG1lcmdlcnwxNzE2NTQ0NDkw&_rt_nonce=8e88beaf84 .

The Scottish Government and SFC are very conscious of the challenge colleges face. We are working collaboratively as part of the Colleges: Tripartite Alignment Group and the tripartite group provides strategic direction on the pressures and opportunities facing colleges and I take a strong interest in its work as I ensure we do all we can to support colleges. Further detail on the work of this group is available here: Colleges: Tripartite Alignment Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government hasn’t carried out analysis to establish reasons for students withdrawing from college, by week of course.

Information on college withdrawals is collected by the Scottish Funding Council. Some data on the reason for withdrawing is included in the technical annex of the College Performance Indicators publication, though this isn’t broken down to week of course. College Performance Indicators 2022-23 - Scottish Funding Council (sfc.ac.uk)

The Scottish Government is working closely with Samaritans Scotland, as one of our key partners driving the delivery of the suicide prevention Creating Hope Together strategy, to better understand help seeking behaviour and increase signposting to local and national support. We recognise that there may be benefits for some mental health patients in accessing Samaritans’ listening services alongside NHS care.

At present, Samaritans provide pre-printed freepost envelopes in prison settings as part of their broader work to support people in prisons. However, while there is no specific scheme to provide pre-marked envelopes within hospitals, any individual can write to them for free by marking an envelope “FREEPOST SAMARITANS LETTERS”.

Samaritans can also be contacted 24/7 by phone for free on 116 123 and by email at [email protected]. They aim to respond to all emails within 24 hours.

We will continue to work alongside Samaritans Scotland to support any plans to further promote and expand access to its listening services within the NHS estate.

Caring for our peatlands, and reducing peatland emissions, through protection, management and restoration is critical to mitigating and adapting to the linked climate and nature emergencies.

Restoring 250,000 hectares is a combination of restoration through drain blocking and bare peat restoration on upland blanket bogs but also requires interventions on herbivore control as well as other farm management interventions.

Through various on-going reform programmes across government and our commitment to consult on a carbon land tax on the largest estates, we are considering the regulatory and fiscal measures that could further incentivise peatland restoration and create the conditions to keep our peatlands in good condition.

Alongside this, work continues towards implementing a ban on the sale of peat in Scotland and we have established an expert group to develop the guidance and tools needed to inform decisions on windfarm development on peat.

We are also working hard with our delivery partners through the Peatland ACTION partnership to tackle the many barriers to upscaling peatland restoration in this relatively young sector.