Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government will liaise with all parties with an interest to ensure that the Regulations to be brought forward provide the best possible support for victims recovered in Scotland. However, consideration of immigration status will remain the responsibility of the UK Government.

The operation of the National Referral Mechanism, including the guidance for Competent Authorities and the decision making timescales for conclusive grounds determinations is a matter for the Home Office.

Section 9 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 obliges the Scottish Government to ensure support is provided to victims of human trafficking for a minimum specified period, or until there is a conclusive grounds decision, whichever comes first. Section 9 of the Act – which was unanimously passed by the Scottish Parliament – also permits discretionary support to be provided outwith those parameters, including in cases where a conclusive grounds decision takes place before the specified period ends. The Scottish Government already liaises with service providers to ensure that victims are given the support they need for as long as necessary, including beyond the relevant period should that be necessary, and will continue to do so taking particular account of the needs of individual victims.

The Scottish Government intends to bring forward regulations under Section 9(2)(b)(i) of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 in early 2018, which will give effect to the intention to extend the period of support to 90 days. These regulations will be subject to the affirmative procedure.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the energy efficiency of all types of buildings across Scotland as part of Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP). A key element of SEEP will be to ensure that we have a workforce with the right skills, including those for traditional buildings, in the right places and numbers to deliver the programme aims. We will publish a routemap on the future direction of the programme next year.

As an early action, the Scottish Government has commissioned the Climate Exchange to provide independent expertise on which materials and technologies could be suitable across a range of house and building types in the near future. http://www.climatexchange.org.uk/reducing-emissions/technologies-to-support-energy-efficiency/

Energy Saving Trust (EST) work with key partners to provide skills training to help businesses, particularly those in remote rural and island areas where the supply chain is relatively sparse, gain the necessary skills and certifications to operate in the energy efficiency and renewables market.

Further, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is undertaking research commissioned under the SG Energy Efficiency Action Plan to progress research and publish guidance on the appropriate thermal refurbishment of traditionally built and historic properties (dating from pre 1919). This work is still continuing.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the energy efficiency of all types of buildings across Scotland as part of Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP). A key element of SEEP will be to ensure that we have a workforce with the right skills, in the right places and numbers, including for small and medium sized enterprises in remote and island communities, in order to deliver the programme’s aims. We will publish a routemap on the future direction of the programme next year.

Energy Saving Trust (EST), though the Sustainable Energy Supply Chain, deliver a programme to support SMEs and local suppliers in all parts of Scotland to maximise their share of spend from a range of current energy efficiency, low carbon heat and other large-scale sustainable energy investment programmes.

The former Low Carbon Skills Fund, managed by Skills Development Scotland (SDS), which gave Scottish businesses across all of Scotland employing fewer than 100 employees the opportunity to apply for up to £5,000 (or 50% of training costs) towards employee training costs is being reviewed to ensure that it continues to be fit for purpose in providing training and support to all of Scotland’s low carbon industry.

Further, we continue to work with the six local authorities who are represented on the Islands Strategic Group, to ensure any proposals for change are sufficiently flexible to respond to their unique but varied local circumstances.

The Far North Line Review Team was established by the Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity in December 2016 to consider opportunities to improve overall performance and make the most of this important asset for passengers, for sustainable freight transport, and for the communities and businesses along its length. As part of its remit, the Review Team is considering whole system rail improvements which can be considered for the rail investment strategy beyond 2019. The Scottish Government is also promoting rail freight through its rail freight strategy Delivering the Goods which looks at new and efficient ways of transporting goods in addition to building strong and lasting partnerships to grow existing and new markets.

The Freight Facilities Grant scheme remains open for applications. As a state aid approved grant scheme, it is currently in the process of being re-notified to the European Commission. Any new applications will be determined following this process.

The Scottish Government is preparing a full statistical release which will include answers to these questions which we expect to publish on 8 December 2017. The provisional estimate for Scotland is 563,000 acres, but the data are undergoing quality assurance before the final publication will be made including local authority and Scottish Parliamentary Constituency breakdowns.

The Scottish Government is preparing the first official statistical publication 'Estimate of Community Owned Land in Scotland, 2017'. We expect to publish these first official estimates to be published on 8 December 2017.