Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government supports the Scottish Venison Strategy and its ambition for 2030 to make Scottish Venison the premier choice of consumers and commercial buyers, both here in the UK and in international markets. We have provided funding to support a venison promotion campaign earlier this year.

I was delighted to recently support Scottish Venison Day on 4 September and I was pleased that retail sales of Scottish venison have recently increased. As part of the Food and Drink Recovery Plan, the Scotland Food and Drink Partnership has also provided £80,000 to support demonstration sites for locally based chill and processing facilities.

The Scottish Government has no plans to introduce a wild venison marketing board.

The Scottish Government intends to publish the British Sign Language (BSL) Progress Report by the end of October 2021, which will outline progress being made towards implementing the BSL National Plan.

Local authorities received funding amounting to £21,000 per authority over 4 years from 2018 to 2021, as part of the Local Government Finance Resettlement, to facilitate on-going dialogue with their local BSL-using community to support the creation of their first-ever Authority BSL Plans.

The British Deaf Association are funded through the Equality and Human Rights Fund to support local authorities to develop and monitor their Authority BSL plans, and to engage with their local BSL-using community.

The co-operation agreement between the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party seeks to provide effective and responsible leadership in the interests of the people of Scotland.

A number of machinery of government changes are being made to reflect the agreement:

• The membership of the existing Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation will contain a minister from the Scottish Green Party.
• A Cabinet Sub-Committee on the Climate Emergency will be established.
• A working group will be established to oversee the development of effective, deliberative engagement on sources of local government funding, culminating in a citizens’ assembly.
• To support growth in Active Travel, a task group will be formed to plan the most effective route for the implementation of the 20 mph speed limit on all appropriate roads by 2025.
• The previous Ministerial Working Group on Food will be reinstated

Scotland did not vote to leave the EU, but the UK’s departure means that there is now a trade border between Scotland and the EU. While our preference remains to have tariff and barrier free trade with the EU, as a responsible Government, the Scottish Government started work to build a Border Control Post (BCP) to apply devolved sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls on EU goods arriving into Scotland through the Loch Ryan ferry routes from Belfast and Larne. Work began to consider our needs in this regard last autumn, including appropriate engagement and liaison with UK Government. Dumfries and Galloway Council and other devolved administration officials to determine the scope, scale and specification of what might be required as a BCP for these Loch Ryan routes. During this time, I have sought assurances from the UK Government regarding the funding for this infrastructure and the effect of its approach to guaranteeing access for Northern Ireland goods to the market in Great Britain (Phase 2 Unfettered Access) on transiting EU goods.

In the absence of any such assurances from the UK Government, and given the enduring uncertainty surrounding the UK Government’s approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol, I have taken the decision to pause the construction of the BCP until there is greater clarity on the long term funding, the need for this infrastructure, and more information about the timescales when controls might come into effect. Once we have greater clarity, work on the BCP can recommence with a view to completion to accommodate Phase 2 Unfettered Access should that be introduced. Contingency plans are also being made to enable SPS checks to take place away from the ports, should that be needed. I will update Parliament of any relevant developments relating to this BCP.

The UK Government’s decision unilaterally to further postpone the introduction of border controls adds to this uncertainty. That decision was made without any prior or meaningful engagement with the Devolved Administrations, which I have continued to push for recently at an Inter-Ministerial Group meeting on 13 September and in a separate call with UK Ministers on 14 September. We have advised Dumfries and Galloway Council and will continue to engage with them regularly.

There are no specific delays recorded affecting the updating of online vaccination status on or after 22 July 2021.

Currently there is an interim solution to provide access to vaccination status for those who need it for international travel. It is only designed to be in place for a short period of time and we are focussing all our efforts on developing a digital Covid Status Certificates App ready for the end of September this year. This long-term solution will have accessible options for those who need them.

We have made vaccination records available to Scottish citizens who have been vaccinated in Scotland should they be required for entry into another country. It is possible for an individual vaccinated in England and Scotland to obtain a letter from each.

We currently advise people to check the requirements of entry into another country, which can be found on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) website: Foreign travel advice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . If individuals are in any doubt as to what will be accepted, we recommend checking with the country they are travelling to.

For further details, anyone can call the National Helpline on 0800 030 8013.

The Scottish Government believe that transport plays a crucial role in supporting a green and fair recovery and that in the face of the climate emergency we need to shift away from new road projects that encourage more people to drive, and instead focus on maintaining roads, improving safety and providing a realistic and affordable alternative through investing in public transport and active travel. This is set out in the shared policy programme element of the agreement with the Scottish Green Party.

Future investment in our transport network will be set out in the second Strategic Transport Projects Review and will align with the sustainable mode and investment hierarchies. In the shared policy element of the agreement we state that during this parliamentary session, new roads projects will normally only be taken forward where they reduce the maintenance backlog; address road safety concerns or adapt the network to deal with the impacts of climate change or benefit communities such as bypassing settlements. We will not build road infrastructure to cater for forecast unconstrained increases in traffic volumes.

The Scottish Government recognises the important role the A1 plays in providing access to key markets, jobs and services between the south east of Scotland and north east England, and beyond. The Borders Transport Corridors Study, published in March 2019, identified intervention on the A1 within its 21 recommendations and further appraisal work is being down through STPR2.

The appraisal process for STPR2 is considering the performance of all options against the transport outcomes we are seeking, and against the Transport Planning Objectives, which are aligned to our National Transport Strategy priorities and outcomes. Therefore, we need to consider the social and economic benefits and impacts based on performance against these objectives, and against the five Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance criteria, to determine overall Value for Money. Also underpinning STPR2 is the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy where we will aim first to reduce the need to travel unsustainably, make better use of and enhance existing infrastructure, before investing in new capacity. This hierarchy is also central to the Infrastructure Investment Plan. STPR2 will conclude later this year, with publication of recommendations for investment and an appropriate statutory consultation period.

Until the appraisal process is completed, it is not possible to make individual decisions on options being considered including improvements to, or dualling of, the A1 south of Dunbar.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02280 on 7 September 2021. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02280 on 7 September 2021. 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 Scottish Government has no record of grant funding provided to The Seafarers' Charity in the period since 2007 and we are unaware of any funding provided prior to this period. There are a number of Scottish Government grant schemes that may be available to the Seafarers’ Charity to apply to, should it require grant funding for specific purposes which align with Scottish Government grant making criteria.