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Scottish Government provide direct funding to Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs. The objectives for delivery during 2022-23 through this funding are as follows:

The appearance of nitazenes and other synthetic opioids in the drug supply has been a concern for Scottish Government for some time. Public Health Scotland issued an alert regarding nitazenes in January 2023 and the UK Government have since issued a similar alert. Following the issuing of these alerts, we are working alongside colleagues across the UK to identify areas for collaborative working with the various UK administrations, national police forces and the National Crime Agency.

Nitazenes are extremely potent opioid receptor agonists, however, naloxone is still effective in the treatment of any overdose. This is why we have invested over £3 million in widening access to naloxone, making it easier for people to access and supporting Police Scotland and our other emergency services to carry kits.

Recognising the global challenge around the appearance of new synthetic opioids, the Minister for Drug and Alcohol Policy and members of the Scottish Governments National Mission Oversight Group on Drugs are meeting with international colleagues to hear about their experience of dealing with the appearance of fentanyl and synthetic opioids in the drug supply, and their response, in early November. A further meeting is being organised to discuss operational level issues with international colleagues and Scottish drug service delivery providers.

Having reliable data about substances of concern in the drug supply is key and is why we have supported Public Health Scotland to establish the RADAR (Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response) system. We also continue to progress plans with local partners to establish drug checking facilities as this will also provide up-to-date information about the substances in the drug supply.

Restoring and enhancing our marine environment is vital if we are to meet our ambition to halt and reverse biodiversity decline and become Nature Positive by 2030. Scotland is unique in that most of the restoration projects in our waters are community-led, and our coastal communities, in many cases with support and funding from the Scottish Government, are rightly at the forefront of these new projects. These initiatives, alongside the protection to biodiversity already given by our MPA network, will contribute to our goals as set out in the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. The Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund is also supported by Scottish Government, Crown Estate Scotland and NatureScot to leverage public and private investment towards projects that recover, restore or enhance the health of marine and coastal habitats and species across Scotland. Since 2021, SMEEF has distributed £3.3 million to 50 projects around our coasts and seas. Many of these projects are new or in early stages of development, demonstrating that the Fund acts as a key pipeline investor for this emerging sector. Alongside grant funding, SMEEF also provides guidance, and has recently published a new toolkit to help communities and groups wishing to undertake marine restoration projects understand best practice as well as regulatory requirements.

Data about the number of charges resulting in a conviction has been extracted from the management information used to publish the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard (Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard ).

The number of charges under the new Protection of Retail Workers (Scotland) Act that have received a conviction in criminal court from August 2021 up to March 2023 was 543.

Taking into account that an individual can have multiple charges and each charge can have different disposals (for example a custodial and a monetary disposal), 250 charges (of the total 543 charges) resulted in the person convicted going to prison and 189 charges received a community sentence as main disposal.

We are developing a new digital strategy to support our ongoing commitment to improve digital access for learners. This strategy will define the key elements for successful digital learning and seek to deliver the right technology, in the right place, with a workforce that knows how to use it.

Officials will engage with key partners across the education sector in development and implementation of the strategy, which we will publish in 2024.

The Scottish Government seeks to support the adoption of innovative aquaculture practices and recognises the role which legislative frameworks and other incentives play in fostering innovation. A recent example is the reduction of SEPA’s CAR licence fees by 50% for sites which plan to utilise innovative waste capture technologies.

The potential for a Scottish marine aquaculture innovation site was explored by the previous Aquaculture Industry Leadership Group. The Scottish Government remains open to discussing the purpose and aims of a marine innovation site further with stakeholders.

The Scottish Government did not provide any funding directly to Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway in 2022.

Relationships Scotland operate a network of 21 member services across Scotland, including Relationships Scotland Dumfries & Galloway.

In 2022, the Scottish Government provided Relationships Scotland with core funding via the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning & Empowering Communities third sector fund.

The rise in the prison population is driven by a complex set of factors, including the court backlog caused by reduced court capacity over the pandemic. Progress has been made in reducing this backlog through the justice recovery fund. This has allowed an increase in court business resulting in the fall of the number of outstanding scheduled trials by a third since last January. Other factors include the increase in average sentences imposed for certain offences and growth in the number of serious sexual offence and domestic abuse cases prosecuted in the courts. While both arrivals and departures increased over the first 8 months of the year, arrivals outpaced departures, resulting in a rising population. As the outlook for the population remains highly uncertain the Scottish Government continues to monitor it.

Scottish Ministers recognise that Atlantic salmon returning to Scottish rivers have been declining and that predation is a complex pressure impacting on the species. That is why the Scottish Government continues to support research into non-lethal solutions to address seal-salmon interactions in rivers. The accompanying Implementation Plan to our Wild Salmon Strategy was published in February 2023 which sets out the collective actions to be taken across government, business and charitable sectors for the protection of wild Atlantic salmon.

Licences to kill or take seals can be granted under Part 6 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) determine such licence applications on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. Licences may besought in some circumstances to conserve seals or other wild animals (including wild birds) or plants. One instance in which an application would be considered is the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon.

MD-LOT consider applications on a case-by-case basis, based on information submitted by the applicant and input from consultees. Where sufficient evidence is provided to justify the need to kill or take a seal, for the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon in a particular location, a licence may be granted.

Alcohol Focus Scotland’s objectives as set out in their grant letter for 2022-23 were:

• Advocate for the continuation and optimisation of minimum unit pricing in Scotland
• Build community capacity to engage in the licensing process
• Improve the accessibility and effectiveness of the licensing process
• Encourage strategic action to reduce the availability of alcohol
• Build support for controls on alcohol marketing as recommended by the Expert Network.
• Engage with communities of interest to explore and publicise experiences of alcohol marketing
• Expand the evidence base and our policy advocacy work to protect children and young people from the impact of alcohol
• Increase awareness of the impact of alcohol on children and young people
• Build capacity of practitioners to identify and work with children and young people
• Improve knowledge of alcohol and understanding of risks
• Build capacity of practitioners to identify and work with children and young people
• Support the routinisation of Alcohol Death Reviews, and the sharing of knowledge from them, across Scotland
• Support interventions to reduce alcohol-related deaths