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The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce legislation to sanction residential park owners who do not supply timely and fully completed written statements to their residents. The Mobile Homes Act 1983 states that if the owner has failed to give the occupier a written statement, the occupier may apply to the court for an order requiring the owner to give him a written statement.

The Scottish Government fully appreciates that many students are facing higher energy bills and increased financial hardship as a consequence of the current cost of living crisis.

Over £37 million of hardship funding has been provided to colleges and universities by the Scottish Government since June 2021. These funds are available for colleges and universities to use up until 31 July 2022.

Students in further or higher education currently experiencing financial hardship should apply to their college or university for support from Discretionary Funds. I wrote to college and university principals last month asking them to continue to prioritise the allocation of hardship funds to those students most in need, and to take account of the impact of rising energy bills.

The Scottish Government has also recently announced a £350 uplift to the undergraduate student loan package from 2022-23. This represents the first step in delivering our manifesto commitment to provide student support equivalent to the living wage over the next three years. This increase ensures that the most disadvantaged students in higher education will receive bursary and loan support of up to £8,100.

We recognise that, given the long-term investment horizons of insurance firms, reforms to Solvency II could enable the release of more productive investment into the economy which can be utilised to boost low-carbon infrastructure and achieve climate pledges. It is imperative, however, that the proper safeguards for the insurance sector within the existing Solvency II regime are maintained.

Through Scotland’s Global Capital Investment Plan and our Green Investment Portfolio, which brings together projects worth £3 billion, we are well positioned to attract investment in low-carbon investments that the industry has stated could be released by reforms to Solvency II. It will also be important for Scotland - as a major hub for the insurance and long-term savings industry - to ensure that the UK regime aligns where appropriate and keeps pace with the approach being taken by the European Union, particularly in relation to impacts on commercial (re)insurers with European platforms.

Ultimately, the regulation of financial services is reserved to Westminster and we await the full detail of the HM Treasury proposed reforms. We do note that the Economic Secretary to the Treasury has claimed the pending reforms will be an area for Brexit opportunity which will unlock tens of billions of pounds of investment by "slashing red tape.” The experience of Scottish businesses to date has shown that Brexit has not reduced “red tape” and instead has been the direct cause of trade friction, additional checks and bureaucracy and increased administration costs. Whilst we do welcome the ambition to release greater levels of capital for infrastructure and green investment, it appears that, in light of the European Commission’s recent proposals for amendments to the Solvency II Directive and for a new Insurance Recovery and Resolution Directive which promises to release 90bn of insurers’ capital for investment in the short term, similar benefits could have been achieved within the EU regime.

I can confirm that at present 48 schools have registered for access to ESAS materials and resources. While some of these schools are very active and have undertaken many ESAS activities, others are planning to begin the work next academic year and so are not yet “active” ESAS schools.

During the ESAS design and pilot stages (2016-2020), the University of Glasgow carried out formative evaluation research with staff and students. This type of evaluation seeks to test acceptability and feasibility with a view to improving the intervention. The research team also used ‘systems thinking’ to map sexual harassment within school systems (drivers, occurrence of, and responses to); understand ‘what counts’ as sexual harassment). Learning from the formative stage can be found at: https://www.equallysafeatschool.org.uk/research/ .

Alongside the roll out of ESAS, the research team has designed a ‘real-world’ evaluation study (2022-2024) that will aim to 1] assess whether the ESAS intervention improves ‘whole-school’ culture in relation to preventing and addressing gender-based violence; and 2] to understand what works, how, for whom and under what circumstances. We plan to follow up 30 schools, randomised to immediate start and delayed start (one year later). Schools will have option to opt into the evaluation. Students and school staff will have the opportunity of providing direct feedback on ESAS activities in various ways including during group interviews.

Cemre Marin Endustri’s shipyard has provided Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd with a full report of their shipyard practices at the workplace. Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd has made a full assessment of the report including trade union recognition and have found all of the practices to be acceptable.

As the answer to question S6W-06722 set out, we consider that any switching away from glass containers as a result of our Deposit Return Scheme would not be extensive given the range of factors affecting formatting decisions.

The Scottish Government has been clear that fair work practices sit at the heart of Green Freeports. All applicants are required to set out their strategy for embedding fair work across the Green Freeport area. Any application which does not show a clear commitment to fair work practices will not be supported by the Scottish Government.

The manner in which P&O decisions have been communicated is completely unacceptable. Scottish Ministers expect all businesses to apply fair labour practices and treat their staff with respect. P&O Ferries have fallen well short of that standard.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce an independent residential park evaluation and grading system.

The Scottish Government has no plans to establish an arbitration service at local authority level for residential park owners.

The Scottish Government believes that where appropriate family cases should be resolved outwith court. A number of forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) are available in family cases, including mediation, arbitration, collaborative law and family group decision making.

The Scottish Government provides funding to Relationships Scotland who provide a number of services, including family mediation.

The cost of family mediation may be funded through the Scottish Legal Aid Fund, where a person who is in receipt of legal aid is referred by a court.

Section 23(1) of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 requires the Scottish Ministers to set up a scheme to make assistance available so that individuals can meet the costs of alternative dispute resolution procedures in certain cases such as those dealing with contact and residence for children.

Work has progressed in this area, but the provision will take time to implement. Two reports on the Scottish Ministers’ progress between 1 October 2020 and 31 October 2021 on implementing provisions in the 2020 Act on ADR have been published:

• Scheme for funding for ADR - Children (Scotland) Act 2020 - alternatives to court and funding of alternative dispute resolution pilots: report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
• Scheme for funding for alternative dispute resolution (section 23 of the 2020 Act) - Children (Scotland) Act 2020 - section 23(1) and section 24(1): second report on the Scottish Ministers’ duties - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)