Chamber and committees

As set out in my answer to S5W-29857, the National Trust for Scotland has committed to providing us with a turnaround plan setting out its strategy for recovery to accompany a revised case for support which is focused on reopening properties, and protecting jobs. This follows the previous request to the Scottish Government for assistance in order for the Trust to continue its current operations.

Scottish Enterprise met with NTS representatives on 29 June to discuss progress and I understand the Trust has indicated that a revised business plan will be completed shortly.

Through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund, we are providing support to pivotal SMEs which is unavailable elsewhere in the UK. Due to significant demand, we doubled the Fund to £90m and have since further increased it to £120m.

We will publish the number of applications and a list of all awards through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund shortly broken down by Local Authority area. Our Enterprise Agencies are currently processing appeals and following this stage of the process, we will publish the details in the coming weeks.

Survey and design work has been undertaken in the period since both contracts were signed at the turn of the year. Premises level plans will be published through our new online checker, which we will launch later this summer.

Prior to Covid19 emergency the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate was working closely with the National Gender Identity Clinical Network Scotland and those board areas that host gender identity clinics to better understand their needs and support them in an effort to reduce the waiting times for first appointments. As the NHS begins to remobilise the National Gender Identity Clinical Network for Scotland has been planning the recovery of Gender Identity Clinics. The plans include, the assessment of the impact the response to the pandemic has had on waiting times for services, supporting patients through telephone and video consultation and planning for innovation and adaptation to offer services that facilitate physical distancing and contribute to reducing waiting times.

I am advised by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) that as its revenue comes largely from non-Government sources it is eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and thus HES has appropriately claimed CJRS in accordance with UK Government guidance, and that it has proportionately furloughed staff according to the reduced level of commercial income impacted.

HES states that with the remaining staff it is continuing to deliver its core functions and is reallocating staffing and resource as needed. Given the necessary restrictions that are currently in place, there are activities where HES is not able to continue to provide normal service. HES is working to minimise the impact of this on core activities as well as ensuring plans and resources are in place to allow it to reopen properties and resume activities as quickly as possible and in the most appropriate manner as COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has published an Action Plan for 2020-21 identifying how it will maintain and develop its core activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the actions it is taking to support the wider historic environment sector. The Action Plan is publicly available on HES website: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/about-us/news/hes-publish-six-month-action-plan-in-wake-of-covid-19/

The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with HES to look at the resources needed to support its resumption plans and organisational priorities for the remainder of 2020-21.

In Scotland, wild camping is an exercise of responsible non-motorised access rights established under Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. These rights only apply if they are exercised responsibly. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code defines wild camping as follows:

“Access rights extend to wild camping. This type of camping is lightweight, done in small numbers and only for two or three nights in any one place. You can camp in this way wherever access rights apply but help to avoid causing problems for local people and land managers by not camping in enclosed fields of crops or farm animals and by keeping well away from buildings, roads or historic structures. Take extra care to avoid disturbing deer stalking or grouse shooting. If you wish to camp close to a house or building, seek the owner’s permission. Leave no trace by: taking away all your litter; removing all traces of your tent pitch and of any open fire (follow the guidance for lighting fires); not causing any pollution.”

Wild camping includes what some may call informal, roadside or freedom camping, all of these being types of camping undertaken beyond the confines of established campsites. These types of camping are wild camping if they are conducted responsibly in accordance with the advice in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Overnight stays in vehicles are not included.

There are no plans to provide additional measures to Police Scotland to address overnight camping in areas where permission has not been sought or granted. This is an operational matter for Police Scotland.

The criteria for the Business Support Grant Scheme are based in large part on property use and rateable value, which are determined by independent Scottish Assessors who are responsible for the valuation of all non-domestic property in Scotland. Ratepayers can challenge their property valuation through an independent statutory appeals process in certain circumstances and within timescales prescribed in statute.

The Business Support Grant Scheme is administered by local authorities. If an individual is unhappy with a decision in relation to an application for a support grant then they should raise that with their local authority in the first instance, and where possible provide any further relevant information that may be necessary to satisfy the council that the established criteria have been met. Any individual that is unhappy with the outcome of this process may also approach the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, if they believe there has been maladministration, or seek a judicial review of the local authority’s decision if they have grounds to do so.

The Scottish Government has been working in partnership with Legion Scotland and Poppyscotland to arrange events to mark the 75th Anniversaries of both VE and VJ Day. We have provided funding to Legion Scotland so that they may lead the nation and local communities in commemorating and celebrating our Second World War generation.

We had intended to mark VJ Day with a Service of Remembrance, Parade and reception for our Second World War Veterans. However, the importance of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our elderly veterans during the pandemic means that this is no longer possible and has had to be postponed.

Instead the Scottish Government will support Legion Scotland to mark the anniversary online. The full programme of events is still undergoing preparation and will be announced in due course. Additionally, we have been working with Poppyscotland to produce a range of freely available online activity and educational resources for both VE and VJ Day so that communities across Scotland can mark these anniversaries safely at home.

Whilst we appreciate that many communities across Scotland will wish to mark the anniversaries through local commemorative ceremonies, we have taken the difficult decision to ask them not to. We do not expect that mass gatherings will be able to resume until we are in phase 4 of the Scottish Government’s transition out of the lockdown and the virus is contained and/or a vaccine developed. Mass gatherings will then be able to resume in line with public health advice, though at this stage we cannot give a specific date as to when this will be.