Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10619 on‎ 26 September 2022. 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

We are aware that employers across many sectors across the country, including, the meat processing sector, are experiencing challenges in attracting and retaining workers. These significant workforce challenges have been exacerbated by the pandemic and the impact of Brexit. We are working with business organisations and industry representatives to better understand the challenges we face and to develop mitigating activity, with a focus on employability, skills and fair work, investing an additional £500m over the course of this Parliament to support new jobs and reskill people for the good, fair and green jobs of the future.

However, we do not have control of all the levers we require to support the food and drink sector, including migration. While the UK Government introduced temporary visa routes for pig and poultry workers in the run up to Christmas last year, only a tiny proportion of butchery visas and less than half of poultry worker visas had been issued by mid-December. We continue to call on the UK Government to revise its restrictive migration policy, and to establish a specific Labour Market Shortages Taskforce with the Devolved Governments to enable constructive discussion on the measures required to tackle labour shortages

We have supported many of our abattoirs with grants through the Food Processing, Marketing & Cooperation Scheme. The scheme provides grant funding to businesses (or groups of businesses) within the Scottish food and drink sector which includes the meat processing sector.

Throughput for abattoirs is vital to ensure that plants are fit for purpose and have a viable future, however it is a commercial decision as to what abattoir producers wish to use for processing their animals. As any commercial arrangement is between producers and processors, the Scottish Government does not decide or influence the number of animals processed in a particular plant, which may be to the detriment of others. In addition, the size of the abattoir and its layout and structure will be decisive factor in establishing the abattoir’s throughput.

Changing ownership of an abattoir is an entirely commercial decision, therefore the government has no influence on it. There could be no interested parties in the uptake of the abattoir, as was highlighted in the closure of the abattoir in Orkney, where the local council were also involved, and provided a £50k challenge fund which did not entice anyone to come forward.

In 2019 we commissioned a feasibility study which provides details of what would be required to operate mobile abattoirs in Scotland, including the regulatory framework, and offers a cost-benefit analysis of possible operational models. However, the report also highlights the difficulty in achieving a sustained economic return from a mobile abattoir in Scotland. The full report can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/assessing-viability-sustainability-mobile-abattoirs-scotland/

I met with Cumbrae ferry stakeholders on 1 June 2022 to discuss a range of ferry issues. It was agreed that Transport Scotland and CalMac would consider if books of tickets could be offered to islanders under the new ‘Ar Turas’ ticketing & reservation system.

The intention is to provide users of the Largs-Cumbrae service with the option to purchase a convenience 10-journey ticket product online or at the Largs ticket office. I await an update from my officials in Transport Scotland and CalMac on this matter.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10619 on‎ 26 September 2022. 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

We are working closely with local authorities and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and doing all we can to speed up the matching process and increase the numbers of displaced people moving into host accommodation.

On 22 September, the Scottish Government published its first summary of the latest Scotland-level data and information on people displaced by the war in Ukraine coming to Scotland through the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme visa schemes, including data on the number of displaced people in welcome accommodation: Key points - Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government recognises that Social Isolation and Loneliness is a public health issue, which has been exacerbated because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue to be affected by the ongoing cost crisis.

The independent Scottish EPA is required by law to identify unsatisfactory CSOs, primarily for water quality or sewage related debris impacts, in order to reduce those impacts on the water environment. SEPA also identifies unsatisfactory CSOs that impact on bathing water quality classification at the 87 designated Bathing Waters to reduce the risks to public health. Between 2010 and 2021 Scottish Water invested £335m improving 279 CSOs previously classed as unsatisfactory. The Scottish Government takes very seriously the issue of sewage spills, and my statement in Parliament last December set out comprehensive plans to reduce sewage spills over the coming decade.

We have committed £250 million to restoring 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands by 2030.

In 2021-22, the Scottish Government provided £15.58 million to our delivery partners to support peatland restoration across Scotland.

In our 2021-22 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government pledged to take forward work to develop and consult on a ban on the sale of peat-related gardening products as part of our wider commitment to phase out the use of peat in horticulture. This aligns with the Welsh and UK governments’ proposal, as stated in their joint consultation, to end the retail sale of peat and we support their approach. We chose to continue with our plans to launch our own consultation, designed to gather the information we need to form a plan honed to the specific needs of Scotland and its people.

The Scottish Government will soon launch our consultation, which will inform ambitious timescales for phasing out the use of peat in horticulture.