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I thank the members of the Legal Aid Payment Advisory Panel for the careful consideration taken over the recommendations in its report.

We will carefully consider the recommendations in the Report and these will help shape future reform to the legal aid system.

In particular, I welcome the recommendation that further research is needed to ensure that fees are set at appropriate levels, therefore we will now begin the process of commissioning that research and will continue to engage with stakeholders throughout that process.

Legal Aid Payment Review Panel: report to the Minister for Community Safety

I have today launched a consultation on the next Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland which invites comment on our future strategic priorities for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. I encourage everyone who has an interest in this important consultation to have their say. You can access and respond to this consultation online at https://consult.gov.scot/safer-communities/fire-and-rescue-framework .

The Single Building Assessment (SBA) pack contains the current criteria and guidance which will used by those undertaking the SBA in conjunction with the Scottish Advice Note. Visual and physical inspections will determine, as part of the SBA process, what needs to be removed on a building by building basis.

The Scottish Advice Note is used to help inform this process by determining the fire risk posed by external wall systems in multi-storey residential buildings. This process will determine which properties require mitigation or remediation.

As Lord Advocate, I am head of the system for the investigation of deaths in Scotland, as well as of the system of criminal prosecution. I am, accordingly, constitutionally responsible for the investigation of sudden, unexpected, and unexplained deaths in Scotland, as well as for the prosecution of crime. These are functions which I exercise independently of any other person.

Death investigations are undertaken on my behalf by Procurators Fiscal, who act under the direction as required of Crown Counsel. Procurators Fiscal are professional lawyers, who act independently in the public interest. Crown Counsel are likewise senior lawyers who act independently in the public interest and who are responsible for prosecuting the most serious criminal cases and for providing instructions to Procurators Fiscal as required.

Where an inquiry is to be held into the death of a person, the procurator fiscal must investigate the circumstances of the death and arrange for the inquiry to be held.

An inquiry is to be conducted by a sheriff. The purpose of an inquiry is to establish the circumstances of the death and consider what steps (if any) might be taken to prevent other deaths in similar circumstances.

The appointment of a sheriff to the Fatal Accident Inquiry is a matter for the Sheriff Principal and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.

All women in Scotland should have access to abortion services without feeling harassed or intimidated when accessing these services. Local authorities may wish to consider using their byelaw powers to put in place protest-free buffer zones outside clinics that provide abortion services where the specific circumstances justify imposing those measures. We have made a commitment in our Programme for Government to support any local authority who wishes to use bye-laws in this way.

Home owners are responsible for the costs of on-going work needed to protect and preserve their own property, which includes the costs for the fire alarms to meet the new standard.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a comprehensive awareness raising campaign across a range of channels including TV, Radio and digital as well as leaflets in public libraries to ensure people are aware of the new legislation and to encourage compliance.

We have provided £0.5 million additional funding for Care and Repair Scotland to provide help installing alarms for older and disabled homeowners on low incomes. We have also provided £1 million to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to provide alarms for owners who are considered most vulnerable to the risk of fire. Local authorities also have broad discretionary powers to provide advice and support to owners.

The Scottish Government understand the important role sport plays in communities, bringing people together, and contributing to a sense of local belonging and inclusion. Through the Programme for Government we have committed to double investment in sport and active living to £100 million a year by the end of the Parliament ensuring more people can enjoy active lives as we recover, improving physical, mental and social health.

We will work with sport scotland, and wider partners to understand how best to increase investment in physical activity and sport, while ensuring we address inequality of access. We will continue to work with sport scotland and wider partners to understand how best we can ensure opportunities are available for everyone.

Our National Agency for Sport, sport scotland, invests in and supports more than 50 Scottish Governing Bodies of sport (SGBs) to develop their sport-specific pathways, including pathways for participants with disability. The Equality Standard for Sport is a shared approach by all UK sports councils to help address the inequalities that exist within the sector. sport scotland has focused on supporting Scottish Governing Bodies of Sport to progress against the Equality Standard and implement the action plans that are developed through this.

More recently, sport scotland published their new equality? outcomes for 2021-25. These new equality outcomes are person centred and look to address inequalities and ensure everyone has the opportunity to take part in sport and physical activity.

Scottish Disability Sport is the Scottish Governing and co-coordinating Body of all sports for people of all ages and abilities with a physical, sensory or learning disability. Scottish Disability Sport have developed an Activity Inclusion Model (AIM) which is being used widely across Scottish sport to ensure inclusive sport to strategy, education and participation.

The Scottish Government are aware of the continued disruption as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the significant impact on the sport and physical activity sector particularly, on disability sport. The Scottish Government and sport scotland worked with local and national partners across Scotland to ensure people with a disability were considered in any return to sport plans.

During the lockdown period , Scottish Disability Sport developed a suite of online projects and programmes to meet the identified needs of volunteers, coaches, participants and athletes to maintain engagement and support wellbeing .

The Scottish Government have produced updated guidance Coronavirus (COVID-19): vaccine certification update - 23 September 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot), which states that an exemption will be in place for those working and performing at venues requiring proof of vaccination from attendees/spectators. This exemption will therefore cover officials and players.

Payment of Carer’s Allowance Supplement to people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance provides support to those carers typically on lower incomes and has enabled the Government to deliver much needed increased support as quickly as possible.

Extending eligibility to those with underlying entitlement would be a very significant undertaking requiring a completely new application process. Designing and developing the systems required and providing support to clients would require substantial additional resource within Social Security Scotland. New data sharing and co-operation arrangements would be required with DWP both to provide the data required to ensure those with underlying entitlement receive the payment and to ensure that payments were disregarded in the calculations of other benefits. All of this work would be complex and time-consuming and could only realistically be achieved with changes to the timetable for the delivery of the social security programme.

Developing Scottish Carer's Assistance, the replacement for Carer's Allowance, is a priority for delivery following the introduction of disability benefits. Support for carers with 'underlying entitlement' is being considered as part of that work. The Government will begin a consultation before the end of this year on proposals for Scottish Carer's Assistance.

The location of the court where the Fatal Accident Inquiry will be heard is a matter for the Sheriff Principal and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. The criminal proceedings in relation to the deaths of Mr Dyson and Mr Midgley took place at Dumbarton sheriff court.