Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) have assured the Scottish Government that they have a range of measures in place to help protect staff, including training and risk assessments. We will continue to work closely with SAS to monitor the safety and wellbeing of their staff.

NHSScotland has joined the multi-agency Your Safety Matters (YSM) initiative, led by Police Scotland. YSM aims to minimise incidents of violence and aggression in workplaces, through campaigns, sharing resources and good practice.

Abuse towards NHS staff is unacceptable, and the courts have extensive powers to deal robustly with those who carry out such appalling behaviour on emergency workers.

The Scottish Government has no plans to build or install a Scottish independence readiness thermometer at any location.

The Scottish Agriculture Census was paused in 2022 which means no results were published in 2022. However the Scottish Government will launch the latest Agricultural Census on 1 June 2023 and plan to publish the 2023 results this autumn. The exact publication date will be pre-announced in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics as soon as possible.

Previously the public were able to report flytipping via the Dumb Dumpers system (whereby reports could either be made online to Zero Waste Scotland, or via a telephone hotline hosted by SEPA) and to local authorities directly.

As of 1 April 2023, the Dumb Dumpers telephone line no longer accepts flytipping reports. A recorded message advises callers to contact the relevant local authority.

Online searches for the Dumb Dumpers hotline and web form are directed from the Zero Waste Scotland and SEPA websites to an online tool which helps visitors to identify the correct local authority to which the report should be made. A Frequently Asked Questions document has been developed and is available on both websites to inform the public of updated reporting arrangements and why this change has been made.

The independent review into UK Government welfare services for veterans is focused on the effectiveness and efficiency of reserved welfare services for Armed Forces veterans that are largely owned or funded by the Ministry of Defence. However, the Scottish Government would assist the review if requested to by the review team.

Data on injuries and deaths from road accidents for 2022 are still being collected and provisional figures will be available on 24 May 2023. I will therefore be able to provide an update to the member's question at that time.

The Scottish Government has worked with the Forces Families Federations to advertise our vacancies through the Forces Families Jobs website. The website is also promoted through our Welcome to Scotland guide as a route to employment for Service families.

The most recent estimate of the number of veterans of the UK Armed Forces resident in Scotland is 220,000, which was taken from the annual population survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics in 2017. Scotland's Census 2022 included for the first time a question on previous service in the UK Armed Forces. Census data will help to support a better understanding of the veterans community in Scotland, including numbers.

Following agreement of a memorandum of understanding between Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in March 2022, an action plan was agreed between SDS, MoD and the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) who deliver support to leavers of the armed forces as they transition to civilian life.

Actions underway include:-

• SDS sharing labour market intelligence and other data to CTP for use by their career consultants;
• the development of a joint referral process for those early service leavers who may be entitled to, or will benefit from SDS careers services;
• jointly delivered training sessions on each organisation’s service offer to both CTP and SDS advisers;
• SDS attendance at a CTP jobs event in Kinloss at the end of 2022 and at Murrayfield on 20 April 2023
• work to ensure Modern, Graduate and Foundation Apprenticeships are promoted to early service leavers, veterans and their families.

Progress of the plan is being monitored at a joint senior level across SDS, MoD and CTP.

I was recently appointed as Minister for Veterans and will meet with the Scottish Veterans Commissioner as part of my programme of introductory meetings. Scottish Government officials have regular meetings with the Commissioner and her team.