Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has already been taking action to improve business cash flow and annual farm payment dates are to be brought forward to September. Subject to the approval of the Scottish Parliament, farmers and crofters will receive their advance payment for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening around a month earlier than originally planned, and we remain committed to delivering over 70% of payments by the end of December and over 95.24% of payments by the end of February 2023.

In October 2021 the Scottish Government piloted a fund of up to £10,000 for organisations across Scotland to support additional activity to tackle inequalities and prejudice in line with the goals and outcomes of Black History Month. Organisations could apply for small grants in an open competition.

The Scottish Government received six applications to this fund, and following assessment of the bids against the aims and criteria for the fund, made two grants totalling £2,000 to Scoutable United and Economic Lead for projects to provide and promote opportunities for people from minority ethnic communities to participate in sport, and for women to participate in decision-making at Board level, increasing diversity in decision-making.

The rest of the funding was subsequently allocated to other organisations and projects working to tackle discrimination and advance race equality, such as supporting staff training and development (Intercultural Youth Scotland), and work with young people in the Gypsy/Traveller community to develop skills for life, training and work (Article 12).

Two applications met the aims and criteria of the fund.

Scoutable United received £1,000 to provide and promote equal opportunities for people from minority ethnic communities to participate in football. The funding was utilised to secure training facilities and organise games, and to invest in equipment such as training bibs, cones and footballs. This aimed to increase the number of people participating in the sport and to provide a platform to demonstrate talent, increasing representation and encouraging active lifestyles.

Economic Lead received £1,000 to organise workshops for minority ethnic women to increase their ability and confidence to participate on Boards and in strategic groups, and to establish a peer support network. This aimed to support an increase in representation by minority ethnic women and boost diversity in decision-making within the public and third sectors.

We are currently reviewing all of our budgets for promoting Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights, in the light of the constraints imposed by the Resource Spending Review. We have no current plans to provide a Black History Month Fund for 2022, but across Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights we have a budget allocation of £46.9m. A significant portion of this will be dedicated to promoting race equality through a range of means, including supporting the capacity of race equality organisations, which are well placed to mark and celebrate BHM in a range of ways.

A series of meetings to explore the issues and options available were held between officials on 30 June, 13 July and 1 August.

Following these meetings, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government and myself met with a delegation of COSLA’s political leadership on 3 August and held a further meeting with their Resources Spokesperson on 8 August.

Those discussions resulted in the Scottish Government committing an extra £140m on a recurring basis to support councils and COSLA with the local government pay negotiations.

We again met with representatives of COSLA’s political leadership on 17 August.

All Ukrainian refugees living in Scotland are entitled to access free NHS dental care. The Scottish Government has issued guidance to Health Boards explaining this policy, a copy of which can be found at: https://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/publications/nhs-scotland-services-ukraine.pdf .

Yes. Scottish Government officials are engaged with partners in Highlands and Islands Enterprise to discuss this opportunity.

The Scottish Government remains committed to answering all correspondence as quickly as possible and within agreed timescales.

In relation to (a) freedom of information requests, the figures for the last five financial years are as follows:

The Scottish Government’s intervention in March 2016 was designed to ensure that steel communities in Scotland had a future. The benefits of the intervention are manifest in the high-quality steel products that continue to be produced in Lanarkshire, the skilled employment retained and the economic multiplier effects that accrue via ongoing payments to suppliers and the circulation of income through the local economy. Tata Steel, Liberty House and the Scottish Government were all aligned in agreeing a transaction that secured the earliest realisation of the commercial and wider economic benefits of the deal, and the selected structure was the best available means to deliver this.

The three parties to the sale and purchase of the Lanarkshire steelworks on 2016 – Tata Steel, Liberty House and the Scottish Government – were all aligned in agreeing a transaction that secured the earliest realisation of the commercial and wider economic benefits of the deal, and the selected structure was the best available means to deliver this. Following negotiation the particular commercial requirements of each party are captured in the transaction documentation.