Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government continues to support the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership’s (SCQFP) veterans qualifications and skills mapping tool, which went live in February 2022. The Scottish Government provided £13,500 of funding in 2022-23, and £35,000 in 2021-22, to support the ongoing development of the tool.

This tool is particularly important in Scotland as Armed Forces qualifications are routinely only accredited to the Regulated Qualifications Framework used in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We will also launch this year a campaign working with the business community to help employers understand the benefits that veterans bring to the workforce, to help increase employment opportunities for veterans.

The net zero skills gap and sector analysis research is being undertaken in relation to the Carbon Neutral Islands Project. This work is in its early stages and the contract of £80,000 was awarded to Aquetera Ltd.

The NHS National Ethnic Minority Forum (EMF) was established in April 2021 and aims amplify the voices of ethnic minority staff across the health service and tackle issues of systemic racism. EMF members also use their expertise to shape policy and practice in areas such as the Leading to Change Programme. We continue to work closely with the EMF on their priorities for 2023-24:

• the development of a ‘How to Talk about Race’ in the workplace guide
• considering support for staff reporting incidents of racial abuse/harassment
• supporting the development of anti-racism training resources for staff (an action that Scottish Government are taking forward).

Finally, I had the pleasure of attending an in-person meeting of the EMF on the 5 th October 2022. I made it clear that I will continue to actively support the chair and members in delivering their aims objectives.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

It is anticipated that the majority of the women living at Cornton Vale will transfer to HMP & YOI Polmont during the interim period where there is already a comprehensive range of services and interventions available for them.

Every effort has been made to ensure the care of the women is not compromised or reduced during the transition period and each woman will engage in an individual case discussion supported by Health Care and Social Work colleagues to identify the most appropriate transfer location for them.

A dedicated area within Polmont has been identified and work is currently underway to increase the number of available ‘safer rooms’ ahead of any relocations taking place. A number of staff who currently work with the women will also relocate to Polmont to provide continuity of care. This will be supplemented by ongoing support from partner agencies including NHS Forth Valley, Social Work Services within Stirling and Falkirk local authorities and Voluntary Third Sector Partners.

Please refer to my previous answer to question S6W-13027 for the details of which organisations failed the technical checks process and the reasons for this.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Cornton Vale currently holds two distinctly separate population groups. Peebles House accommodates women who have achieved a Low Supervision category, while Ross House accommodates the women with the highest care needs.

The women currently living in Peebles House have taken part in individual discussions supported by SPS, NHS and Social work colleagues to identify the most appropriate location during the transition period. The identified locations for these women are:

• HMP & YOI Polmont
• The Lilias Centre Community Custody Unit
• The Bella Centre Community Custody unit

In order to ensure continuity of care for the women currently living in Ross House with the highest needs, special arrangements are being made to accommodate these women in HMP & YOI Polmont.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

As of Friday 20 January, 15 women had transferred from Peebles House in Cornton Vale to either HMP & YOI Polmont, The Lilias Centre or The Bella Centre.

Improving the accessibility of elections is a key element of the Scottish Government’s electoral reform agenda. It is our ambition to remove or reduce barriers that some voters face and to improve the accessibility of elections.

We have been working with RNIB Scotland and the Forth Valley Sensory Centre over several months to consider potential solutions and technology to assist people with sight loss to cast their votes, including testing audio devices. RNIB Scotland will also shortly undertake testing of a tactile ballot paper solution at the Centre. We will then consider feedback from these initial trials of the tactile ballots papers and, working in collaboration with our partners in Local Government, electoral administrators and the Electoral Commission, produce proposals for next steps. I anticipate we should be in a position to report progress and set out future proposals and plans to Parliament in the summer.

In addition, as part of the Government’s current consultation on electoral reform we are asking for views on how the accessibility of elections could be improved and what changes might be made in law. The consultation closes on 15 March - available at https://consult.gov.scot/constitution-and-cabinet/electoral-reform/ . I look forward to reading the responses which will help inform our work going forward.

2020 was designated Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters, a year that would spotlight, celebrate and promote opportunities to experience and enjoy Scotland’s unrivalled coasts and waters, encouraging responsible engagement and participation. The visitor opportunity in terms of experiences and events was broadly presented across four cross cutting strands:

1. Our Natural Environment and Wildlife

2. Our Historic Environment and Cultural Heritage

3. Activities and Adventure

4. Food and Drink

Originally scheduled for 2020, as a result of the COVID pandemic, and following discussion with the events and tourism industry, Scottish Ministers agreed to extend the year into 2021.

Analysis of Outcomes

Despite the impact of COVID, the Year of Coasts and Waters exceeded the targets set by the external Steering Group, delivering activity in communities across Scotland and playing an important part in the recovery of the events, tourism and associated sectors.

VisitScotland will shortly provide an evaluation of the year, which will be available on www.visitscotland.org . Initial findings from the year report success against the five agreed key objectives for a Themed Year: Promotion, Celebration, Participation, Collaboration and Industry Engagement.

Headline outcomes include:

• Promotion : the award-winning PR campaign achieved at least 3,662 pieces of media coverage generating a world-wide media reach of circa 3.7 billion whilst the marketing campaigns reached 196.4 million.
• Celebration: 110 events were delivered across the funded and (non-funded) partner events programmes. All 32 local authorities hosted activity and all events were delivered safely within the relevant COVID guidance.
• Participation: almost 1.1 million attendances were recorded across the 28 funded events. This included 702,000 in-person attendances and 389,000 at digital events. Of those participants who responded, 79 per cent said they will appreciate Scotland’s coasts and waters more, 67 per cent said they will get out, by or on the water more and 63 per cent said they planned to take a more active role in the preservation of our coasts and waters and-or marine environment.
• Collaboration: More than 30 organisations were involved in the Steering and Working Groups and were directly involved in shaping, promoting and delivering the year. Demonstrating the level of collaboration, the campaign hashtags were used more than 122,000 times by hundreds of organisations and individuals, all co-promoting the year. Many collaborative projects were also created in response to the Year – e.g. 18 Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) and partners came together to create the West Coast Waters campaign, reaching around 2 million and creating a legacy of partnership working.
• Industry Engagement : Pre 2020 69 per cent of tourism businesses were already aware of the planned Year of Coasts and Waters, 31 per cent were already engaged and 80 per cent of those not engaged were considering it. 76 industry presentations reached at least 2,000 tourism industry representatives. This resulted in over 18,000 views of the online industry toolkit and 896 logos (including 165 Gaelic versions) were downloaded to support partner promotional activity. 11 case studies and 18 interviews showcasing industry engagement were published on visitscotland.org generating 7,000+ page views.

The Year of Coasts and Waters 2020-21 put sustainability and responsible tourism at its heart and worked with supported events organisers to advance responsible events delivery practices. This resulted in:

• Positive Impact : 100 per cent of funded events said that being part of the Year of Coasts and Waters had a positive impact on the way they would work in future.
• Higher Prioritisation – 93 per cent were encouraged to think more about sustainable events management.
• New Processes – 68 per cent of event organisers implemented a new activity or process in managing their environmental impacts.

Direct Cost

Direct cost incurred by the Scottish Government for the Year of Coasts and Waters 2020-21 was the budget of £1.14 million over FY 2019-20 and 2020-21. Of this, £1.09 million was allocated to VisitScotland and £50,000 via a grant to YouthLink Scotland to support the Micro Local Area Grant (MoLAG) programme.

Other public bodies and partners including VisitScotland also supported the year through their own resources, with a wide range of projects and campaigns created or aligned to take advantage of the collaborative platform created by the Year of Coasts and Waters.

Indirect Costs

In terms of indirect costs, within the Scottish Government, work on the Year of Coasts and Waters 2020-21 was coordinated by the then Major Events and Themed Years Unit. With 2.6 FTE members of staff incorporating this as part of their existing roles: the overall resource allocation for the year was less than 2.6 FTE as the team also worked on other projects. In addition, a small number of other civil servants in different teams across a range of portfolios contributed to varying extents as part of their wider responsibilities. In line with usual practice, details of individual tasks associated with the year carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded because there is no business need to do this.

Year of Coasts and Waters 2020-21 Events

Across the Funded and Partner event programmes 110 events were delivered with activity taking place across all 32 local authorities. Of the 36 events initially awarded funding support through the Year of Coasts and Waters Open Events Fund, some were unable to progress due to COVID. 28 were eventually able to progress and were delivered across 26 local authority areas.

Alongside the Funded events, unfunded Partner events were still supported through the free marketing and media resources offered by VisitScotland. 174 events initially registered as Partner Events across 30 local authorities, with 82 events of these unfunded events eventually able to go ahead when COVID conditions allowed.

The following table therefore shows the locations (including across multiple local authority areas), grant awards and final dates for the 28 events funded through the Year of Coasts and Waters Open Fund administered by VisitScotland.

When the Connecting Scotland programme first launched, its early aims were to support people shielding or vulnerable to Covid-19. This allowed for devices, connectivity and skills to be provided alongside guidance and information on how to access health and care services such as Near Me video appointments or finding information on NHS Inform.

Our digital in care homes programme was launched to complement Connecting Scotland and saw over 75% of all adult and children's care homes in Scotland take up the offer of digital devices, data packages and skills. These homes cover over 90% of all residents in Scotland with devices being used to help residents to remain connected to friends and family and to access key services such as the NHS.

The Scottish Government have set out plans in the Digital Health and Care Delivery Plan to launch a new digital inclusion in health and care programme by March 2022 that will look to support people in housing and mental health with greater access to services.

Connecting Scotland is also working closely with the Digital Lifelines team to identify opportunities and further enhance digital services to support people with multiple and complex digital needs. The digital lifeline programme aims to connect individuals and support services to prevent drug related deaths, or reducing the risk of harm.