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Following careful consideration of responses to the consultation on the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill, the Scottish Government is content that there is sufficient legislative provision to enable secure transport to be utilised when necessary, and to ensure the safety of the child and others.

An overly prescriptive approach to minimising restraint practices could bring adverse consequences around escalation and criminalisation. Instead, Ministers consider that a blended framework of regulation, guidance, practice support and precise reporting is likely to best serve Scotland’s children.

Work is ongoing with partners to reduce, and where possible eliminate, the use of restraint in respect of children in care. This includes working with the Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG) to explore definitions of restraint, along with the availability of data, training and support.

A national service specification for secure transport is being developed by the joint Scottish Government and COSLA led Secure Care Group. The specification states that any use of restraint must be in line with Scotland’s Holding Safely guidance. This specification aims to bring consistency to the expectations and requirements, wherever secure transport requires to be commissioned. It covers areas such as data gathering and staff training. It also prohibits the use of mechanical restraint, handcuffs or pain-inducing techniques.

Following careful consideration of responses to the consultation on the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill, the Scottish Government is content that there is sufficient legislative provision to enable secure transport to be utilised when necessary, and to ensure the safety of the child and others.

An overly prescriptive approach to minimising restraint practices could bring adverse consequences around escalation and criminalisation. Instead, Ministers consider that a blended framework of regulation, guidance, practice support and precise reporting is likely to best serve Scotland’s children.

Work is ongoing with partners to reduce, and where possible eliminate, the use of restraint in respect of children in care. This includes working with the Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG) to explore definitions of restraint, along with the availability of data, training and support.

A national service specification for secure transport is being developed by the joint Scottish Government and COSLA led Secure Care Group. The specification states that any use of restraint must be in line with Scotland’s Holding Safely guidance. This specification aims to bring consistency to the expectations and requirements, wherever secure transport requires to be commissioned. It covers areas such as data gathering and staff training. It also prohibits the use of mechanical restraint, handcuffs or pain-inducing techniques.

Following careful consideration of responses to the consultation on the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Bill, the Scottish Government is content that there is sufficient legislative provision to enable secure transport to be utilised when necessary, and to ensure the safety of the child and others.

An overly prescriptive approach to minimising restraint practices could bring adverse consequences around escalation and criminalisation. Instead, Ministers consider that a blended framework of regulation, guidance, practice support and precise reporting is likely to best serve Scotland’s children.

Work is ongoing with partners to reduce, and where possible eliminate, the use of restraint in respect of children in care. This includes working with the Scottish Physical Restraint Action Group (SPRAG) to explore definitions of restraint, along with the availability of data, training and support.

A national service specification for secure transport is being developed by the joint Scottish Government and COSLA led Secure Care Group. The specification states that any use of restraint must be in line with Scotland’s Holding Safely guidance. This specification aims to bring consistency to the expectations and requirements, wherever secure transport requires to be commissioned. It covers areas such as data gathering and staff training. It also prohibits the use of mechanical restraint, handcuffs or pain-inducing techniques.

From 16 August 2023 SEPA will become the enforcement authority for the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland and as part of this will carry out audits, inspections and enforcement activity in relation to the obligations and offences contained within the regulations. Staff have been allocated accordingly.

SEPA is not empowered to investigate and report instances of fraud, but they have a close working relationship with Police Scotland who are the competent authority for this sort of criminality.

The transparent, evidence-based review of the A96 corridor has included a public consultation which received an unprecedented level of engagement, with approximately 4,600 responses, generating more than 11,000 suggestions and potential opportunities for the route.

Given the sheer volume of responses received and the high level of options generated, it has rightly taken Transport Scotland more time than originally anticipated to examine and appraise all these options. However, we have now reported on the Public Consultation and the Initial Appraisal, which were published on 22 December 2022.

Transport Scotland is now pushing forward with the next phase of further detailed work to inform the remaining stages of the Review. These include a robust appraisal of the retained options alongside a Climate Compatibility Assessment, with outcomes expected to be announced in the first half of 2023 for final public consultation, before a final decision on the route can be reached.

There have been no compulsory purchases of a building or land under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 since 2003.

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 originally contained two rights to buy.

The Community Right to Buy (Part 2) which is a right for a compliant community body to register an interest in land. If granted, this right means that if and when an owner of such land should decide to sell, then the community body is given the first option to buy at market value. This is not a compulsory purchase power.

The Crofting Community Right to Buy (Part 3) is a right that applies only to crofting areas and which, if granted, gives a compliant crofting community body the right to force the compulsory sale of the crofting land identified in their application. Only two Part 3 applications have ever been approved, but these were not taken forward as the owners in both cases agreed to a negotiated transfer.

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) 2015 inserted a third right to buy to the 2003 Act. This third right was the Community Right to Buy Abandoned, Neglected or Detrimental Land. This right, if granted, gives a compliant community body the right to force a compulsory sale of land which is either abandoned, neglected or detrimental to the wellbeing of the community. To date, there have been three applications under this part of the Act and none of these have been approved by Scottish Ministers.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy is built on partnership and collaboration, led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council, and involves a wide range of partners across different sectors.

The strategy provides a clear framework for all those working towards refugee integration in Scotland. It has also assisted in coordinating the work of the Scottish Government and its partner organisations to maximise impact and make the most of limited resources, placing Scotland in a strong position to respond to recent humanitarian crises.

The New Scots Core Group brings together key stakeholders and is responsible for monitoring and reviewing progress against the overarching outcomes of New Scots during the strategy implementation period. The Core Group is chaired by Professor Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow.

The year one report for the New Scots refugee integration strategy 2018-2022 was published on 2 April 2019. The report can be found here: New Scots refugee integration strategy 2018-2022: first year progress report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The COVID-19 pandemic and work to support people arriving from Afghanistan and Ukraine have impacted delivery of the strategy and meant that it has not been possible to produce the year two and three reports as originally planned. However, the New Scots Core Group continues to meet four times a year to monitor and review progress of the strategy, as well as identifying areas for collaboration.

The New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project includes a workstream on research and evaluation. This entails working with our partners and external evaluators to carry out project monitoring, research work and an evaluation of the strategy. An evaluation report of the current strategy is due to be published in Spring 2023.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy is built on partnership and collaboration, led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council, and involves a wide range of partners across different sectors.

From 2017-22, the Scottish Government had one civil servant working on the New Scots refugee integration strategy, although the post was redeployed to support the Covid-19 response in 2020-2021. An additional civil servant has supported work on the strategy since May 2022. Other civil servants have worked in support of the New Scots strategy across a range of policy areas.

In addition to the permanent civil servants working on the strategy, from January 2021, up to three additional temporary staff have worked to manage the delivery of the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project.

Currently, five funded projects are being delivered by local authorities in partnership with commercial partners, including third sector and/or for profit organisations:

• North Ayrshire

• Fife

• Aberdeen City (two projects)

• East Lothian

The funding programme is only open to local authorities and local authority-led partnerships, no applications were therefore received directly from commercial partners.

The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Flood Forum (SFF) to provide help to businesses and families in the event of flooding. They can offer advice, information and support to help those flooded – from advice on managing insurance claims, drying out, finding a builder, to protecting property from flooding.

The Scottish Welfare Fund helps families and people in Scotland who are on low incomes through Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants. Crisis Grants are available to those hit by crisis such as a flood. Applications can be made through local authorities.