Chamber and committees

Section 40 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 amends section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971 to include a new offence of arriving in the United Kingdom without a valid entry clearance. The new offence comes in force on
‎ 28 June 2022.

There are no plans to introduce Lord Advocate’s guidelines in relation to the new offence.

Where the circumstances of alleged offending are reported to the Procurator Fiscal, prosecutors will decide on appropriate prosecutorial action, if any, on the basis of both the principles in the published Scottish Prosecution Code and, where relevant, the published Lord Advocate’s instructions for non-prosecution of victims of human trafficking.

The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 is a complex piece of legislation. The Scottish Government raised significant concerns about the likely impacts during the passage of the Bill, and the Scottish Parliament voted to withhold consent on two clauses. The Act will affect people living in Scotland, but the full extent of this will depend on how it is implemented by the Home Office.

(a) In relation to whether the Scottish Government plans to review strategies in light of the Act:

(i) The New Scots refugee integration strategy has been developed and is led in partnership by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council. The current strategy was published in 2018. We have committed to refreshing the strategy with our partners in 2023 and to ensuring that it is shaped by refugees and people seeking asylum, as well as those with expertise supporting them. The impact of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 will be considered in the development of the new strategy.

(ii) The first statutory review of the Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy was published in May 2020 and was clear that the strategy remained fit for purpose in the short term. However, we remain committed to the development of a refreshed strategy which will take into account a range of developments since publication of the review, including the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.

(iii) The Ending Destitution Together strategy was published in March 2021, in partnership with COSLA, and focuses on improving and strengthening support provision and service access for people subject to No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) living in Scotland. This strategy is the first of its kind and is being delivered in partnership with the third sector, public services and local authorities over the next two years. Ending Destitution Together clearly sets out our inclusive approach, while recognising that there are limits on action that can be taken because immigration and nationality, including NRPF policy, are reserved to the UK Parliament. As the strategy is implemented, we will consider all developments since the publication of the strategy, including the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.

(iv) The Mental Health Strategy was published in 2017 and set out 40 actions to improve mental health care. This was followed by a Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 2021-22 Programme for Government committed to “review and refresh” the Mental Health Strategy at its halfway point in 2022 and work is already underway to do this. The scope of the refreshed strategy will be wider than before, with an increasing focus on wellbeing and prevention. We will also consider how the strategy can take account of social factors and inequalities that may impact a person’s mental health and wellbeing. We have already undertaken extensive engagement with our stakeholders to help us shape the strategy. We will be launching a public consultation later this month and will take forward further engagement activity over the summer months to inform this important work.

(b) Following on from the work and recommendations of the First Minister’s Advisory Group, and the National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership, a new Human Rights Bill will be introduced to Parliament during this parliamentary session.

Our commitment to bringing forward a Human Rights Bill this Parliament, as far as we can within devolved competence, remains and we are proceeding on that basis.

ScotRail introduced a temporary timetable on 23 May to provide certainty to train passengers about the availability of ScotRail services, this was in response to train drivers choosing not to work overtime or rest days – as is their right. ScotRail could not, therefore, maintain a Service Level Commitment (SLC) as a result, however given that ASLEF have now moved to ballot their members in a referendum on the pay deal, it is hoped ScotRail will be able to return to normal rail services as soon as possible. ScotRail reviewed the temporary timetable on June 3 rd and as a result have reintroduced a number of services.

However, it is also clear that wider UK-wide industrial action between Network Rail and the RMT is going to impact on ScotRail services from the 21 st of June.

Land and property is one of five key pillars of the Community Wealth Building (CWB) approach to economic development. Initially, actions taken will centre on how public sector partners such as local authorities and health boards might use the land and assets that they own to drive creation of fair work opportunities and higher levels of community ownership.

Through encouraging local and regional partnership working between public and private sectors, we will support advancement of the principles underpinning the CWB approach as they relate to land and assets, and the promotion of higher levels of community ownership.

We have committed to introducing legislation on Community Wealth Building during this Parliamentary session. This will involve consideration of a wide range of views and proposals and we will ensure close alignment with the provisions set out in the forthcoming Land Reform Bill.

A: The Scottish Government has not held any recent meetings with the government of Norway where the viability of replicating a sovereign wealth fund in Scotland was discussed.

The Scottish Government is not currently working to build a sovereign wealth fund. Under the current constitutional arrangements, the Scottish Government does not have the power to set up a sovereign wealth fund, similar to that of Norway, which is currently worth $1.2 trillion. We will set out our proposed approach to the economy of an independent Scotland in the forthcoming independence prospectus papers.

Scotland’s natural environment will be critical in our action to tackle climate change and ecological breakdown. We are fortunate to have such potential to sequester carbon and support biodiversity in our natural environment. The public purse cannot fund this action alone - we will need private investment to help realise this potential. It is, however, vital that this investment is responsible, high-integrity and values led where the benefits are shared with local communities.

We already have a suite of measures in place to mitigate the impacts of this rapidly evolving market. We recently published our “Interim Principles for Responsible Investment in Natural Capital”, which set out the Government’s expectations of those who wish to invest in our land. These include delivering community benefit, engaging communities and supporting the creation of more diverse patterns of land ownership. The principles also state that investment in offsetting should not be a replacement for emissions reductions, and should always be made in addition to having plans and demonstrable actions in place to reduce emissions as close to zero as possible, and as part of targets and transition plans aligned with the Paris Agreement.

The Interim Principles sit alongside our ongoing pursuit of Land Reform in Scotland. Existing provisions under previous land reform acts have created a range of community rights to buy, some of which are compulsory. These provide the opportunity for communities across the whole of Scotland to buy land or assets to support their aspirations. Over 940,000 people across Scotland already live in communities where assets have been acquired over the last five years with funding from the Scottish Land Fund. Both the Programme for Government 2021-22 and the Bute House agreement commit to doubling the Scottish Land Fund (SLF) to £20m to further support community ownership.

We are also developing proposals for a new ambitious land reform bill, which will build on our land reform measures to date and will further tackle Scotland’s historically iniquitous patterns of land ownership - including by tackling problematic scale and concentration of ownership. In addition, the Scottish Land Commission is consulting on a new protocol on responsible natural capital and carbon management.

Scotland’s Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement (LRRS) introduced in 2017 is a ground-breaking example of Scotland’s ambitious land reform journey. We are currently reviewing the LRRS, have recently published an analysis report of the consultation responses and will report our response (with any revisions following the consultation process) to Parliament in September. We are also committed to bringing forward a new Land Reform Bill in this parliamentary session and will undertake a wide-ranging consultation later this year on proposals for the Bill.

Scottish Government officials last met with COSLA on 26 May 2022 to discuss progressing the introduction of a national recommended allowance for foster and kinship carers. They are next due to meet at the end of June.