Seòmar agus comataidhean

Under the Environment Act 1995 and associated regulations all Scottish local authorities are required to regularly assess air quality in their areas against objectives for several pollutants of concern for human health, including PM2.5 particulate matter. If any objective is found to be exceeded, or at risk of being exceeded, the authority concerned is required to declare an Air Quality Management Area and produce an action plan setting out how it will address the issues identified. These action plans are agreed by both the Scottish Government and SEPA.

To date no local authority has identified an exceedance of the PM2.5 objective relating to the Scotch whisky industry. However this is kept under regular review, with all authorities required to submit an annual air quality progress report to the Scottish Government. Should the situation change in any local authority area, we would expect the necessary action to be taken.

My officials have sought confirmation on this issue from panel members. There are 25 panel members, of whom 18 have responded to date.

Of those responses:

• 1 member of the 2018 panel and 3 members of the 2020-21 panel had a role in designing BS 8414;
• 1 member of the 2018 panel and 2 members of the 2020-21 panel have worked for organisations that carry out BS 8414 tests on behalf of commercial sponsors; and

Once a full response is received I will provide an update on the above information.

We have removed the requirement for self-isolation for under 18s who are normally resident in the UK or are a dependent of those exempt having been fully vaccinated. Children aged 12-17 travelling from Amber list countries will only take day 2 test and younger children are already not required to take tests. Other children are still required to follow self-isolation and testing rules.

The Scottish Government recognises children and young people with care experience, including adoptees, have poorer outcomes and can often need additional support. The Scottish Government has provided Local Authorities with £11.5 million for academic year 2021/22 through the Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund to support the educational development of children and young people with care experience d from birth to the age of 26.

The introduction, in 2017, of a full care experience bursary reinforces the Scottish Government’s ambition to improve outcomes for young people with care experience by ensuring that they are supported to access further and higher education.

The Young People’s Guarantee aims to ensure that every person between 16 and 24 has the opportunity of a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training programme or volunteering. Supporting greater equity and opportunity is central to the Young Person’s Guarantee and additional support is available for those that need it most, with care experienced young people specifically referenced. Through the Young Person’s Guarantee, over £1.7 million has been committed to delivering the Discovering Your Potential employability programme which provides flexible and intensive support for young care leavers.

Scottish Ministers have committed to “Keeping the Promise”. The Promise was published in February 2020 and highlighted the need for robust “scaffolding” or support network to support those with care experience. On 31 st March 2021, The Promise Scotland published ‘The Plan 21-24’ the first of 3 plans which outlines what actions must be taken to deliver The Promise. In June this year The Change Programme was published by The Promise Scotland which shows what work is underway and what work is required to ensure each of the actions in The Plan 21-14 can be delivered.

In the 2021 SNP Manifesto, we committed to the introduction of a new grant of £200 a year for care experienced young people between the ages of 16 and 26 – as part of the Scottish Government’s Promise to those with experience of care. This will provide additional support and security as young people transition from the care system to more independent living.

We welcome the publication of Audit Scotland’s report on community justice, and its intention to carry out further work in this vital area in 2022.

While sentencing decisions in individual cases are a matter for the independent courts, we are committed to encouraging more widespread use of community-based interventions where appropriate. These are often more effective at reducing re-offending, as Audit Scotland sets out, and for keeping our communities safe.

In addition to continued investment in community justice services, which will total more than £117m this year, Parliament agreed in 2019 to extend the presumption against short custodial sentences from 3 to 12 months. Although it is too early to determine the impact of the extension, the use of such sentences has fallen significantly in recent years, with those receiving a sentence of 12 months or less reducing by 13% in the most recent data between 2018-19 and 2019-20, whereas the number of convictions reduced by 4%.

Our firm focus on prevention and effective community interventions has helped see Scotland’s reconviction rate fall to its lowest level since comparable records began more than 20 years ago. We intend to continue building on progress to date, including through a review of the National Strategy for Community Justice, expanding availability of alternatives to custody, and exploring legislative opportunities for a sustainable reduction in the prison population.

We will consider the issues identified by Audit Scotland in its report, including as part of the review and expected refresh of the Community Justice strategy, which we anticipate will be published in 2022 alongside an update Outcomes, Performance and Improvement Framework.

The data currently held on heat networks comes from data collected by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) under the Heat Metering and Billing Regulations. Heat network operators are required to notify every 4 years. The latest data held is for 2018. Figures for 2019 and 2020 are not yet available.

The latest statistics from OPSS indicate that at the end of 2018:

• Almost 30,000 homes were connected to district or communal heating networks in Scotland
• An estimated 1.18 TWh of heat and cooling demand was supplied via heat networks.

The ‘Bairns’ Hoose’ refers to the Scottish Government’s application of the international concept of Barnahus to the Scottish context.

The Scottish Government has an unashamedly bold aspiration to create our own Bairns’ Hooses in Scotland. We believe that every child victim or witness has the right to consistent and holistic support that enables them to tell their stories, access specialist services and recover from their experiences, and that these services should be delivered under one roof.

Work is currently underway to understand the required infrastructure to support Bairns’ Hooses across Scotland. We would envision a number of bespoke child friendly spaces with both urban and rural accessibility to ensure that every child victim/witness will have support from a Bairns’ Hoose by 2025.

We regularly assess workforce requirements across the whole of the Scottish economy, including in construction.

The construction industry is a core sector of the Scottish economy, providing infrastructure to businesses across all sectors of the economy. We are aware that the pandemic and Brexit may impact on the supply of labour in this sector.

For a successful recovery and to ensure no one is left behind we have a heavy focus on employability and skills. We continue to support our apprentices during these challenging times, including those in the construction sector, and have introduced additional interventions, such as an enhanced Adopt an Apprentice programme, to encourage employers to recruit and retain apprentices supporting the long-term future of work-based learning and the economy. In addition, we supported a range of skills-related activity, including supporting 5,033 people into modern apprenticeships in the construction sector during 2020-21. In 2021-22 we will invest more than £1bn to drive forward our national ambition for jobs and to equip our workforce with the future skills it needs.

The Construction Recovery Plan launched in 2020 sets out a range of short, medium and longer term actions to support employment, fairness of work, encourage new entrants into the sector, and address upskilling and reskilling needs to enable the sector adapt to technological change and net zero carbon in the built environment.

The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 sets out a statutory duty for local authorities to provide adoptive families with the support that they require, like the provision of counselling, guidance and any other assistance in relation to the adoption process that the local authority considers appropriate in the circumstances of that particular case.

As the support required by adopters and their families varies significantly from case to case, the Act provides the flexibility for individualised support plans to be developed to best meet the needs of families, at a time that is right for them.

The Promise Report of the Independent Care Review made it clear that adoption has an important role in providing permanent, loving nurturing home and set out that an adoption placement should not be the conclusion of the support offered to adoptive families. The Promise makes clear that all families need support to thrive. Through the work of the Family Support Delivery Group we are working in partnership with the third sector, statutory services and across government to deliver a vision that ensures all families can access the right support when they need it for as long as they need it, aligned with the implementation of the Promise.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to work with partners to take forward the recommendations of the National Review of Care Allowances, including development of a Scottish Recommended Allowance for foster care and kinship care. This will improve consistency and transparency for looked-after children, their families and their carers across Scotland.