Seòmar agus comataidhean

I would like to thank the Scottish SPCA Taskforce for conducting the review and providing the final report. Following consideration of the report provided by the Scottish SPCA Taskforce, I can announce that I will be bringing forward provisions in the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill at Stage 2 to allow for a limited extension of the Scottish SPCA’s current powers to investigate wildlife crime.

The powers will allow the Scottish SPCA to in certain circumstances search, examine and seize evidence in connection with specified wildlife crime offences.

Our full proposals have been published on the Scottish Government webpages, which you can find here: www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835210468 , and I have written to the Parliament notifying them of the proposals. We will also be consulting with key stakeholders on the proposals over the summer.

The Scottish Government welcomes this report, commends the working group for its detailed work and recognises the important part that the recommendations play in creating a secure future for Gaelic in Scotland. The report’s recommendations will be allocated to appropriate policy areas within the Scottish Government for response and a combined response will be provided to the Short Life Working Group, the authors of this report. The Cabinet Secretary will also meet with the Chair of the working group responsible for this report. In addition, the Scottish Government will also consider if progress could be made with any of the recommendations of the report by means of including relevant provisions in the Scottish Languages Bill or the forthcoming version of the National Gaelic Language Plan.

The SPCB provides a range of benefits to support the physical health and wellbeing of MSPs, MSP staff and SPCB employees.  This includes the provision of a free on-site gym, corporate gym membership discounts and the cycle to work scheme.  

The Healthy Living Scheme, which reimburses costs associated with physical activity, is currently open to SPCB staff.  Members can however choose to utilise their own Staff Cost Provision Budget to replicate this scheme for their own employees.     

The SPCB recently implemented a new Employee Assistance Programme which is delivered by Spectrum Life.  One of the benefits of this new service is that it provides all staff, including MSP staff, with free access to an online wellbeing platform as well as an app which includes:

• fitness programmes
• nutrition guides and recipes
• on-demand e-learning webinar across multiple wellbeing topics
• self-guided meditation; and
• wellbeing podcasts
  

The SPCB also provides a range of measures to support financial wellbeing.  Examples of this include membership of the Capital Credit Union and regular pension webinars.   

The SPCB takes very seriously its responsibility to support the wellbeing of staff (both those employed by the SPCB and those employed by Members).  The Positive About Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy sets out the SPCB’s aim to support a workplace environment that promotes good mental health and wellbeing of all colleagues.

My officials in Scottish Enterprise remain in regular contact with the Joint Administrators, Interpath Advisory, and are working with them to consider all viable options for the Stoneywood site in Aberdeen.

The administration process continues to progress, and I understand the Stoneywood site continues to be marketed by the Joint Administrators.

The Scottish Government offers a range of grants for the installation of electric vehicle charge points at properties, including flatted dwellings where there is access to shared off-street parking. The residential grants are delivered by the Energy Saving Trust (EST) on behalf of Scottish Ministers and are designed to ensure that a lack of traditional off-street parking is not a barrier to EV adoption. More information can be found on the EST website.

Being unable to charge at home using a private charger should not be a deterrent to making the transition to EV. The Scottish Government has invested over £65m to develop the ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) public electric vehicle charging network. CPS now has a network of over 2,500 publicly available charge points spread across Scotland, making it the 4th largest network in the UK and the most comprehensive per head of population outside London.

As part of the comprehensive approach being taken by the Scottish Government, new legislation has also been introduced to ensure new buildings in Scotland are equipped with charge points – for flats with designated parking, one socket for per flat should be provided. Steps have also been taken to amend existing Permitted Development Rights legislation to make it even simpler and quicker to install charging infrastructure, including in residential areas containing all dwelling types.

The National Statistics publication Provisional Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistics: 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) provides information on the number of fishers on Scottish registered vessels. On 31 December 2022, there were 4,117 fishers employed on Scottish registered fishing vessels.

We do not routinely collect information on the nationality or migrant status of fishers. We last collected information on the nationality of fishers in 2015 from around 15% of the Scottish fishing fleet. This is published in Scottish Sea Fisheries Employment 2015 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and showed that 28% of the crew surveyed were from outside the UK.

Some more recent information on the nationality of fishers was collected from a sample of vessels by Seafish in 2021. This is published in 2021 Employment in the UK Fishing Fleet — Seafish. This publication shows that, based on the sample of Scottish vessels surveyed, 31% of the workers were from outside the UK. If a similar proportion of non-UK workers were employed on Scottish fishing vessels in 2022, then approximately 1,300 fishers were from outside the UK.

Police Scotland provided an update on the National Dashcam Safety Portal (NDSP) to officials at the Strategic Partnership Board meeting on 5 June, the highest tier to the Road Safety Framework to 2030 governance structure.

Prior to this, officials received a scoping paper from Police Scotland that outlines what will be required in order to initiate a business case that considers the development and anticipated demand of the pilot project before full national capability can be implemented.

Officials will meet with Police Scotland on 20 July to discuss the next steps.

Our Agencies, on behalf of Scottish Government, commissioned a series of reports into the economic opportunities around battery use and the circular economy, including Scotland as a potential location for future gigafactory opportunities. Our Enterprise Agencies in partnership with Department of Business and Trade and others will continue to respond positively to any business considering gigafactory scale manufacturing in Scotland.

As required by Section 103 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, the next report to the Scottish Parliament on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) will be published in 2024. Reporting occurs in a 6-year cycle. The last report was published in 2018, and is available here: Marine Protected Area Network - 2018 Report to the Scottish Parliament - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The potential impacts on the future transport connectivity needs and any impacts on the Clyde & Hebrides and Northern Isles Ferry Services will be considered as part of the Islands Connectivity Plan in conjunction with the local authorities responsible for implementing the Islands Growth Deal.

Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council are wholly responsible for their inter-island ferries, including considering any such impacts.