Seòmar agus comataidhean

I have overall responsibility within my portfolio for support for business, industry and manufacturing.

The Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, under circular economy, is the lead on the Circular Textiles Fund.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20381 on 17 August 2023 All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Legal Aid Fund is an open-ended, demand led budget. Last year total expenditure on legal aid was £138.3m. Civil legal aid is available in a wide scope of actions with generous eligibility thresholds and the application is subject to statutory tests which cover the merits of the case and the means available to the applicant. This can include contested divorces and applications for non-harassment orders if the tests are met. Means testing is an important lever for retaining this wide scope.

We are implementing ‘Equally Safe’, Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls. This is backed by £19m of annual funding to support 121 projects from 112 organisations that focus on early intervention, prevention as well as support services.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse, and ensuring that victims receive the support they need. We have invested significant levels of funding into front line services, as well as working closely with statutory agencies to improve their response to victims and survivors. It is vital that those who suffer domestic abuse have the practical and emotional assistance they need, which is why we are providing £18.5m, through our Victim Centred Approach Fund, for specialist advocacy support for survivors of gender-based violence.

We support the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre (SWRC) which is at the forefront of improving access to justice offering free legal information and advice to women in Scotland who have or are experiencing gender-based violence. Funding has been provided to the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre through the Scottish Legal Aid Board since 2015 and the Scottish Government continues to provide funding in 2023-24 up to a limit of £230,000. The SWRC provide a range of services, including a national helpline, legal surgeries, advocacy services and online legal guides.

Under the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is excluded from considering complaints about the curriculum offering or teaching. They can consider complaints about complaints handling.

While the Curriculum for Excellence provides the overarching framework and sets out the eight curriculum areas, the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education sits with local authorities and schools under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges faced by our rural and island communities and works closely with stakeholders and partners to ensure that those challenges are addressed.

All relevant authorities listed in the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 , must have regard to island communities in carrying out their functions. They must prepare an Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) in relation to a policy, strategy or service, which is likely to have an effect on an island community, which is significantly different from its effect on other communities (including other island communities). The islands team supports colleagues from across the Scottish Government as well as relevant authorities in completing ICIAs. This includes offering island specific knowledge, published ICIA guidance , and providing links to key stakeholders.

As committed to in the Policy Prospectus, we are developing a Rural Delivery Plan, which will provide a platform to prioritise and progress existing work to seize opportunities and address the challenges faced by rural Scotland, as well as drive greater rural mainstreaming and reprioritise action to support our rural communities.

Where Scottish Government has the powers to do so, we have provided funding that responds to rural and island communities’ specific needs through, for example, the Islands Programme and our Community Led Local Development (CLLD) programme.

Over the period 2021-2026, the £25.8 million Islands Programme is providing targeted capital funding to support delivery of the National Islands Plan across a range of areas, including tourism, infrastructure, innovation, energy transition and skills. We have invested over £14.6m of CLLD funding in our rural communities following the end of the LEADER programme in December 2021.

There are many other, independent organisations which provide funding that may benefit rural and island communities. The terms and conditions applied to each open fund are clearly stipulated when a fund is announced. Scottish Government has no locus in setting these terms unless it is a fund which is being distributed on our behalf.

NatureScot are able to license beaver management activities under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994. However the legislation requires the same tests to be met for trapping (or taking) as for killing a protected species and does not require the use of trapping to be considered before a licence for lethal control is granted.

However, NatureScot recognise the hierarchy of impacts of control methods on populations and individual animals and as such have been proactively working with licence holders over the last four years to encourage the use of trapping and translocation wherever this is feasible. Trapping is carried out by NatureScot at no cost to the licence-holder. In their Beaver Management Report for 2022 NatureScot reported the proportion of beavers being removed by trapping as opposed to lethal control had increased from 28% in 2021 to 42% in 2022. The Code of Practice that accompanies lethal control licences also asks licence applicants to consider whether trapping would be a feasible means of control.

Currently we have not undertaken any modelling and do not have an estimate of property acquisitions likely to be supported. All acquisitions will align with Local Housing Strategies.

The Scottish Government is committed to the creation of a Scottish Veterinary Service (SVS) to ensure there are highly trained staff to provide Scotland with good animal health and food safety to meet all our needs across the public and private sector for animal health issues.

A Programme has been established to manage the work required to create an SVS, which includes conducting a financial appraisal of the operational and investment costs of the Service.

All potential functions considered for future delivery by the SVS are already funded by the Scottish Government under a variety of arrangements. Some of those functions already attract fees raised from industry, but it is too early to consider any new future charges.

The financial appraisal will assess how consolidation under a single body provides opportunities to enhance quality, efficiency, resilience and value for money.

The advice provided on the Scottish Government website is correct. Home owners may use either sealed battery or mains-wired fire alarms to meet the Tolerable Standard guidance. The Building Standards Domestic Technical Handbook 2022 sets a higher standard requiring two power supplies for new buildings under the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, as amended.

Since 1 February 2022, the Tolerable Standard has required every home in Scotland to have interlinked smoke alarms and a CO alarm where there is a carbon-fuelled appliance.

This requirement already applied to new build and private rented properties since 2013. The Tolerable Standard ensures the same level of protection now applies to all tenures, regardless of whether someone owns their home or rents from a private or social landlord.

The Tolerable Standard sets out the following requirements for coverage in every home:

• One smoke alarm installed in the room most frequently used for general daytime living purposes (normally the living room/lounge);

• One smoke alarm in every circulation space on each storey, such as hallways and landings;

• One heat alarm installed in every kitchen;

• All smoke and heat alarms to be ceiling mounted; and

• All smoke and heat alarms to be interlinked.

Having an interlinked system means the occupier will be alerted immediately, regardless of the room in which the alarm is triggered, increasing the chance to escape.

Sealed battery alarms or mains-wired alarms are compliant with the standard. Both types of alarm are interlinked by radio frequency and do not need WiFi.

If battery alarms are used, they must be sealed tamper-proof units and have long-life lithium batteries. Batteries last for the duration of its operational lifespan, which may be up to 10 years or more - although sensors degrade over time.

The Tolerable Standard is a minimum standard, and does not preclude more effective or extensive systems provided that they meet the basic requirement of (a) a secure power source for the lifetime of the unit, and (b) effective means to provide an immediate alert in the event of any part of the system being actuated.

New build homes and homes undergoing refurbishment work that requires a building warrant are required to comply with the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, as amended. Guidance on this is set out in the Building Standards Domestic Technical Handbook. This requires that smoke alarms be mains operated with battery back-up and all alarms interlinked.

However, long-life and tamper-proof battery powered alarms have been allowed as part of the Tolerable Standard in recognition that it may not be possible or may be prohibitively costly to install mains powered alarms in existing properties where there is no refurbishment work planned.

NatureScot regularly reviews its approach to licensing to ensure that any licences that are issued are informed by the best information available, including taking into account any policy developments or legislative changes.

NatureScot issues licences that permit the use of lethal control of beavers only where it is necessary as a last resort. In addition, NatureScot have been proactively working with licence holders over the last 4 years to encourage a greater use of trapping and translocation wherever this is feasible. In their Beaver Management Report for 2022 NatureScot reported the proportion of beavers being removed by trapping as opposed to lethal control had increased from 28% in 2021 to 42% in 2022.

NatureScot have included the need for consideration of trapping in the Code of Practice that accompanies lethal control licences. Lethal control licences have a maximum period of two years and as a result of the most recent internal review of beaver licensing (undertaken in Spring 2023), licence holders are being asked to reapply for a new licence when their licence expires to ensure that licences are issued based on an up to date assessment of the three European Protected Species licensing tests.