Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government has read BASC Scotland’s report on Community Integrated Deer Management in Scotland with interest. We greatly value the contribution of local deer stalkers, their skill set and those involved in the management of deer across Scotland.

We are focusing our efforts on progressing the recommendations made in the independent Deer Working Group (DWG) report, published in December 2020. The DWG report made recommendations to improve Scotland’s systems of deer management and included consideration of the points made in BASC Scotland’s report such as, training for deer managers, availability of deer larders and engagement with local communities.

A project board has been established under the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Programme to progress these recommendations. As the board sets priorities and works to progress these recommendations we will be working with stakeholders, such as BASC, for their views on key issues.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government has provided £80,000 via the Scotland Food & Drink Covid Recovery Fund to support development of local chills and/or primary processing (deer larders). We expect that up to three projects could be supported from the fund as part of a pilot exercise.

I refer the member to my response on this matter, which was sent to the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee on 25 March 2022, and which is published in the correspondence of that Committee on the Scottish Parliament website at response-from-shona-robison-25-march.pdf (parliament.scot) .

Scotland’s widespread vaccination coverage and access to new Covid treatments have meant we are now in different phase of the pandemic. On 1 May, testing changed from a population-wide intervention to a targeted response, focused on reducing severe harm of the virus.

Testing remains available to specific groups in order to protect people in higher risk settings and to support clinical care. You can still access testing if:

• you work in NHS health or social care settings
• you have a health condition which means you’re eligible for new coronavirus treatments
• you're going into hospital for surgery or a procedure
• you're visiting a hospital or care home
• you're an unpaid carer
• you're applying for the self-isolation support grant

Those not eligible for testing, should follow the guidance to stay at home in order to aid recovery, and to reduce the risk of passing your illness onto others if they experience symptoms and have a fever or feel unwell. Up to date Stay at Home guidance can be found online at www.nhsinform.scot/covid19 .

The Scottish Government gathers data on peatland restoration carried out by the Peatland ACTION programme each financial year in hectares (ha). The total number of restored hectares of peatlands in 2020-21 was 5,658ha; and the total number of restored hectares of peatlands in 2021-22 was 5,370ha.In 2022-23, we are on track to deliver a substantial increase in the number of hectares restored.

We are committed to further increasing the annual area of peatland we restore. To support this we are gathering evidence on the key bottlenecks as well as how we can best target restoration activity to deliver maximum value for money in terms of carbon, biodiversity and just transition outcomes.

LFD testing remains in place for specific population groups including unpaid carers, in order to in order to protect people in higher risk settings.

LFD tests can be ordered online through the GOV.UK portal, or by calling 119. More information can be found online at www.nhsinform.scot/covid19

Rooms for Refugees is a hosting service run by Positive Action in Housing. Scottish Government officials met with representatives from Positive Action in Housing on 4 August 2022 and discussed the Scottish Government’s Super Sponsor scheme.

Officials updated Positive Action in Housing on our Warm Scottish Welcome programme and discussed how the Scottish Government could continue to collaborate with Positive Action in Housing going forward.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09976 on 16 August 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

The Tackling Child Poverty Programme Board is part of the Scottish Government’s internal governance. It advises the Scottish Government’s Director-General Communities for tackling child poverty on the Scottish Government’s overall performance in relation to the implementation of Best Start, Bright Futures : Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-26.

The Board has both Scottish Government senior officials with expertise from areas which will contribute most to tackling child poverty and leaders, delivery partners and champions of change from beyond the Scottish Government. This includes representatives from organisations with extensive experience working with women with lived experience of poverty, such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation; One Parent Families Scotland; Child Poverty Action Group; The Poverty Alliance; and Aberlour Children’s Charity.

The Scottish Government recognises the inextricable links between women’s poverty and child poverty. As part of overall monitoring and governance for the delivery plan, the Scottish Government will seek to maintain and further strengthen the collection and use of qualitative data in order to continue making progress towards the statutory Child Poverty Targets and to further understand and address the specific barriers faced by women experiencing poverty.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information however the Scottish Legal Aid Board does record applications for legal aid in Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act (DASA) 2018 cases applied where Section 22(1)(dd) of the Legal Aid Act (Person accused of certain offences) applies.

This classification does not specify the circumstances of the grant, only that the grant was made. Therefore it cannot be determined from the data below what ratio of those applications came from court appointed solicitors. This designation under section 22(1)(dd) is also not exclusive to DASA cases but is also applicable to all cases where an accused cannot represent themselves i.e. cases involving sexual offences, child witnesses, vulnerable witnesses, Abuse Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016, and trials in absence.

The annual figures for all section 22 (1)(dd) cases are as follows:

The Scottish Government is providing over £30 million this financial year to accelerate the shift to zero emission transport. This includes support for zero emission community transport and car clubs in addition to funding interest free loans for electric vehicles. This approach is designed to support more people and households on lower incomes to make the switch to electric.

In January we also announced a new fund that would enable £60 million investment in the public charging network over the next four years, anticipating over half of this investment will come from the private sector. The fund aims to ensure the right level of investment in public charge points across all of Scotland, including in settings, where lower demand for electric vehicle charging means that there is less opportunity for commercial investment.