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Between 24 August 2021 (when the legislation came into force) and 31 August 2023, the total number of cases reported to COPFS under section 1 of the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-Restricted Good and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 was 2503.

Of these 2503, 203 cases (8%), were marked for a direct measure, such as a fiscal fine, compensation orders, or diversion from prosecution.

The information is provided under the caveat that: 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 analysis, and the information within it is structured accordingly.

Offending behaviour which contravened section 1 of the 2021 Act may have been reported to the Procurator Fiscal and prosecuted under alternative legislation (e.g., section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 – threatening or abusive behaviour) or as an offence at common law (e.g., assault or breach of the peace).

The working groups that fall under the remit of the Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy portfolio are:

1. A trading Nation Delivery Working Group

2. All Age Employability Steering Group

3. Community Wealth Building (CWB) Bill steering Group

4. Construction Leadership Forum

5. Employability in Scotland Operational Group (ESOG)

6. European Structural Funds Joint Programme Board

7. European Structural Funds Programme Monitoring Committee

8. Financial Services Growth & Development Board (FISGAD)

9. Green Freeports Programme Board

10. Green Investment Portfolio Project Assessment Panel

11. Hydrogen Industry Forum

12. Improvement Working Group

13. Industry Leadership Group Chairs Roundtable (ILG CRT)

14. International Trade Partnerships 2 Trade Missions Working Group

15. Investment Co-ordination Group

16. LENCG: Local Electricity Networks Coordination Group

17. Life Sciences Export Plan Delivery Group

18. Manufacturing Strategic Leadership Group

19. MEPG: Major Electricity Projects Group

20. National Strategy for Economic Transformation Delivery Board

21. National Strategy for Economic Transformation Portfolio Board

22. Net Zero First Minister Investor Panel

23. New Deal for Business Group (NDBG)

24. Non-domestic energy consumers working group

25. No One Left Behind Working Group

26. Onshore Wind Strategic Leadership Group

27. Offshore Renewables Short Life Working Group

28. Partnership Assurance Group

29. Regular Construction for Leadership International Group

30. Renewables Export Plan Delivery Group

31. Retail Industry Leadership Group [please note this group is economy related but chaired by the Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning]

32. Rural energy consumers working group

33. SEAB: the Scottish Energy Advisory Board

34. Scottish Taskforce Green & Sustainable Financial Services

35. Oil and Gas and Energy Transition SLG

36. Supply Chain Development Programme Steering Group

37. Tourism & Hospitality Industry Leadership Group

38. Tech Export Plan Delivery Group

39. Vulnerable energy consumers working group

40. Wellbeing Economy Expert Advisory Group (WEEAG)

41. Wellbeing Economy Governments WEGo

Please note these groups will be kept under review.

I am pleased to announce that a £500,000 pilot fund will be made available this month to support women to leave an abusive partner.

Supporting victim/survivors of domestic abuse is a priority for the Scottish Government and financial uncertainty should not be a barrier to women leaving a relationship with an abusive partner. We are piloting a fund to leave in the 5 local authority areas where there are highest number of presentations to local authorities for homelessness assistance by women due to domestic abuse. These are Glasgow, South Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire and Fife.

Under the lead of the UK Government, the ETSU steering group (which comprises of the four Governments of the UK) are considering how best to take forward the recommendations of the WSP report. Whilst these next steps are being agreed, there are no specific actions for inclusion in the Sector Deal.

Once the next steps have been agreed, the Scottish Government will engage with industry.

Scottish Government officials continue to engage with UK Government officials on this work.

Over the next five year Control Period, the Scottish Government has committed to invest £4.2 billion in the Scottish rail infrastructure in line with our High Level Output Specification. This specification focuses on climate change adaptation and resilience as one of the strategic priorities and makes provision for enhancing the Weather Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation strategy.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with the UK Government regarding town boards in Scotland. The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy have written a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, asking for a discussion on how UK Government plan to provide appropriate governance for the Long Term Plan for Towns in Scotland.

The cladding remediation programme has already made good progress in identifying and assessing safety issues and planned legislation through the Cladding Remediation Bill will help also us to address barriers to remediating unsafe cladding that presents a risk to life. We are also committed to undertaking a stock survey and work is underway to risk assess and prioritise the 105 buildings in the pilot programme to ensure that they are on a pathway to Single Building Assessment by summer 2024.

My previous reply to question S6W-21311 set out that home exchanges are within scope of short-term let licensing legislation. This is because the host is benefitting from exchanging their accommodation, whether this is by gaining 'points' for letting their accommodation that they can save up and use to secure holiday accommodation for themselves at a future time or through a reciprocal exchange of accommodation with another host (that may or may not be simultaneous). Further explanatory information about the inclusion of 'benefits in kind' as part of commercial consideration is set out in the Policy Note published alongside The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 (legislation.gov.uk) .

Where an individual has asked another individual to house or pet-sit and the arrangement does not involve payment for the accommodation or a benefit in kind, this is an ‘informal arrangement’ between individuals and is out of scope of short-term let licensing.

Where the host is offering the accommodation for the principal purpose of facilitating the provision of work or services by the guest, this is also exempt from the requirement for a short-term let licence.

This new certification procedure is a direct consequence of the choices made by the UK Government when it negotiated a hard Brexit from the EU. As such, the Scottish Government is left with no alternative but to implement these new requirements. Scottish Government officials continue to work with all of the UK’s administrations to ensure that these changes are as simple as they can possibly be and to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and burdens.

As part of these new requirements for export, livestock keepers must demonstrate that an annual veterinary farm visit has taken place. Membership to a recognised farm assurance scheme automatically fulfils this requirement. To support our livestock keepers, exporters and stakeholders who are not part of a recognised farm assurance scheme, the Scottish Government is working together with ScotEID to implement an innovative digital solution. This will allow annual veterinary visits to be recorded digitally and be readily available on the ScotEID system throughout the food chain journey. Furthermore, Scottish Government officials have been corresponding and meeting with stakeholders to understand their concerns and discuss the upcoming changes that will be taking place. As soon as the digital solution is finalised, full guidance documents pertaining to the situation in Scotland will be issued.

Scottish Government will be releasing information on outcomes, achievements and costs associated with this trip before the end of the year. This will include the information you have requested.