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The recruitment and appointment of children’s panel members is the statutory responsibility of the National Convener of Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS). A 2022 recruitment campaign is underway. The 2021 recruitment campaign for panel members won a Scottish Public Services Award for communications.

Scottish Government officials hold regular sponsorship and accountability meetings with CHS. Monitoring information on performance against agreed indicators and finance are routinely provided to the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government has received no information that would indicate that there are significant concerns regarding the recruitment of new volunteers, or regarding any CHS internal processes.

Although Scottish Ministers are not responsible for day to day operational matters of public bodies, and Ministers neither direct nor guide the National Convener in relation to specific statutory functions, I have asked officials to make enquiries with CHS for any further information.

CHS have advised that they are not aware of anyone raising concerns regarding this year’s recruitment process, or any failures of internal processes. CHS reported some minor revision activity on internal policies, which has either been completed or is on schedule.

We expect the expert panel to be assembled in the coming months and to consist of a broad range of stakeholders. There are a diverse range of issues to be considered including biomass availability, competing demands, technology readiness, environmental and sustainability issues. Representation and format for the panel are yet to be agreed.

I refer the member to the question S6W-05690 answered on 9 February 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 .

Payments to Abellio ScotRail Ltd. during the current transitional period are currently covered by the Emergency Measures Agreement, which includes provisions concerning financial transparency and to ensure value for money.

Legal aid applications are prepared by an applicant’s solicitor, who provides all the details of the case to the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB). Solicitors have professional duties not only to their client, but to SLAB and to the court; therefore it would not be professionally appropriate for a solicitor to submit an application for legal aid if they were of the view that a client’s case was “spurious”.

Legal aid is granted only if the applicant meets the strict eligibility criteria set out in legislation, which apply to all civil cases, including family law matters. This includes the merits of a case. Applicants need to demonstrate that they have a sound legal basis for their case, and that it is reasonable for legal aid to be made available. When looking at the reasonableness test, The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) considers a range of factors including whether the application is premature and whether there are reasonable prospects of success. If the criteria are not met then legal aid will be refused.

Opponents will generally be notified when an application for legal aid is submitted and have the opportunity to make representations to SLAB prior to legal aid being granted. Opponents can also provide any additional information which may affect the merits of the case during its lifetime after legal aid has been granted and does not require legal representation.

It is for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as independent regulator, to regulate facilities like the Mossmorran Complex in order to provide assurance that operators are managing the risks created during their activities. The HSE liaises regularly with SEPA and Fife Council with regards to management of the site. The Scottish Government, as a matter of course, liaises regularly with SEPA, which is one of the public partners, including also NHS Fife and Public Health Scotland, in relation to the management and regulation of the Mossmorran complex.

The Scottish Government’s Home Energy Scotland (HES) loan scheme provides up to £15,000 for energy efficiency improvements plus up to £17,500 for zero emissions heating and micro-renewables and up to £6,000 for battery storage. Cashback grants are available with the loans of up to £7,500 on zero emissions heating systems plus up to £6,000 for energy efficiency measures.

We have committed to replacing the cashback offer in 2022-23 with a grant scheme to support energy efficiency and zero emissions heat improvements.

The Scottish Government is aware of a small number of people who have raised concerns based on how they see rights requirements pertaining to volunteer roles with Children’s Hearings Scotland.

Officials and Ministers have extensively engaged on this subject with individual correspondents and Members on multiple occasions over the course of the last Parliament. Detailed information and reassurance on the context of relevant legislation, the autonomy of statutory office holders like the National Convener and the appropriate demarcation of roles in relation to the sponsorship of Non Departmental Public Bodies have been covered extensively. Children’s Hearings Scotland have communicated their position. Ministers have no locus in these matters.

This information is available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202100267407/ .

Domestic CCTV, such as video doorbells, is covered in legislation by the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and regulated by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Data protection is a matter reserved to the UK Government; the Scottish Government therefore do not have powers to make laws in this area.