Scottish Government

Monday 05 March 2018

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

Crown Office

Elaine Smith (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set out the reasons for the decision not to reconsider the rape case of the two footballers, David Goodwillie and David Robertson, in light of the successful civil action against them. (S5W-14543)

James Wolffe QC: As a result of the decision in the civil case referred to, the Lord Advocate instructed that all of the available case materials and Lord Armstrong’s judgement be considered by a Senior Crown Counsel who had had no previous involvement in the case. Senior Crown Counsel reviewed the case and concluded that, looking at the evidence as a whole, the decision not to raise criminal proceedings was the correct one.

Economy

Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many seafarers who have been made redundant from the offshore supply vessel sector have (a) applied for and (b) been awarded support by the Transition Training Fund. Holding answer issued: 05 March 2018 (S5W-14384)

Paul Wheelhouse: ‏I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.‏

Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many offshore oil and gas workers have (a) applied for and (b) been awarded support by the Transition Training Fund to refresh their basic offshore induction and emergency training (BOSIET). Holding answer issued: 05 March 2018 (S5W-14385)

Paul Wheelhouse: I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.‏

Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many Decommissioning Challenge Fund grants have been awarded; what the value of each grant has been, and when the next round of grants will be issued. Holding answer issued: 05 March 2018 (S5W-14386)

Paul Wheelhouse: ‏I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.‏

Dean Lockhart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what the business case is for the closure of the Scottish Loan Fund. (S5W-14431)

Keith Brown: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have passed your query to Paul Lewis, the Interim Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, who will provide an answer to you directly.

Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the proposed ban on electric shock collars for dogs will be introduced as guidance and not through secondary legislation; what the legal status of this guidance will be, and how it will be enforced. Holding answer issued: 05 March 2018 (S5W-14706)

Roseanna Cunningham: ‏I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.‏

Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what devices will be covered by the proposed ban on electric shock collars for dogs. Holding answer issued: 05 March 2018 (S5W-14707)

Roseanna Cunningham: ‏I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.‏

Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether the proposed ban on electric shock collars for dogs will be extended to apply to other animals and, if so, which. Holding answer issued: 05 March 2018 (S5W-14708)

Roseanna Cunningham: ‏I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.‏ Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of salmon that have escaped from Scottish farms in each year since 1999, and what action it is taking to help reduce these numbers. (S5W-14787)

Fergus Ewing: Details on the number of salmon that have been reported to have escaped from Scottish fish farms are published on Scotland’s aquaculture website - http://aquaculture.scotland.gov.uk/data/fish_escapes.aspx . The Fish Health Inspectorate undertake a programme of statutory inspections conducted in association with fish health surveillance to ascertain whether satisfactory measures are in place for the containment of fish, prevention of escape of fish and recovery of escaped fish, in accordance with the requirements of Aquaculture and Fisheries (Act) 2007.

In addition, the Scottish Government published ‘A Technical Standard for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture’ in 2015 which determines technical requirements for fish farm equipment in Scotland and applies to all species of finfish. The Standard is designed to be used alongside operational procedures and training of staff to ensure equipment is used and maintained appropriately and procedures followed correctly.

Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what advice it gives to salmon farmers to protect against the escape of stock into the wild. (S5W-14788)

Fergus Ewing: As part of their responsibilities, the Fish Health Inspectorate will make recommendations and outline enforcement action where necessary following statutory inspections and fish health surveillance to ascertain whether satisfactory measures are in place for the containment of fish, prevention of escape of fish and recovery of escaped fish, in accordance with the requirements of Aquaculture and Fisheries (Act) 2007.

Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it will undertake with Grieg Seafood, in light of reports that 21,700 farmed salmon escaped from its Loch Snizort site. (S5W-14789) Fergus Ewing: In accordance with standard practice, the site will be visited by the Fish Health Inspectorate to undertake an escape investigation and enhanced containment inspection.

Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what environmental assessment it has undertaken regarding reports of 21,700 farmed salmon escaping at Loch Snizort. (S5W-14790)

Fergus Ewing: At this stage it is important that the Fish Health Inspectorate undertake their escape investigation and enhanced containment inspection before any further assessments are considered.

Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the main causes of net breaches at Scottish salmon farms, and what advice it gives to operators to minimise these. (S5W-14791)

Fergus Ewing: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14787 on 5 March 2018. An assessment of the main causes of net breaches at Scottish Salmon farms is available in the following report - http://www.sarf.org.uk/reports/

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Kate Forbes (Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will undertake any engagement with salmon farm operators regarding netting materials in order to minimise breaches and escape of stock. (S5W-14792)

Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Technical Standard determines technical requirements for fish farm equipment in Scotland and applies to all species of finfish. Discussions will continue with the industry to ensure that these standards are adhered to. Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of what impact exiting the EU might have on the rural economy. (S5W-14818)

Fergus Ewing: This Government established the National Council of Rural Advisers in Summer 2017. One the Council’s first tasks was to consider the potential implications for rural Scotland of the UK leaving the EU. Their analysis (published in late November 2017) makes clear the fundamental and significant role played by EU membership in the environmental, social and economic well-being of rural Scotland.It also makes clear the scale of the challenge and the enormity of the threat posed by Brexit to Scotland’s rural economy. http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/11/6792

To assist the NCRA in their work we have published a paper on understanding the rural economy, which sets out core information including on GVA, employment and businesses in rural Scotland. http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2018/02/3310

Through the Strategic Research Programme we funded Scotland’s Rural College to produce a report into farm level profitability for four Scottish farm types (dairy, beef, sheep and crops) under three potential post-Brexit trade scenarios. The report was published in February 2018. https://www.sruc.ac.uk/downloads/file/3606/assessing_the_impacts_of_alternative_post- brexit_trade_and_agricultural_support_policy_scenarios_on_scottish_farming_systems

Along with Defra, NI Daera and WG we funded the FAPRI Brexit report, which outlines the impact of a range of Brexit scenarios on the agriculture sector. https://www.afbini.gov.uk/sites/afbini.gov.uk/files/publications/FAPRI-UK%20Brexit %20Report%20-%20FINAL%20Clean.pdf

We have also commissioned a consortium including SRUC and UHI to research Seasonal Workers in Agriculture on a year-long project which will report by ‎ 31 March. The James Hutton Institute is carrying out demographic work including projections of the numbers of migrants needed to support the economy and society of remote and sparsely populated Scotland which will be also published by ‎ 31 March.

We are currently considering the further analytical requirements to help us to better understanding the impacts of brexit on our remote and rural areas and as we seek to collaborate and improve our evidence in the months ahead.

A number of other papers have been published by the Scottish Government following the EU referendum on the impacts on Scotland of the UK leaving the EU, including: • ‘Potential Implications of the UK Leaving the EU on Scotland's Long Run Economic Performance’ (August 2016) • ‘The impacts of migrants and migration into Scotland’ (October 2016) and ‘Characteristics of migrants in Scotland: Analysis of the 2011 Census’ (October 2016) • ‘State of the Economy’ (October 2016) • Scotland: A European Nation (November 2016) • ‘Scotland’s Place in Europe (December 2016) • Protecting the Rights of EU Citizens – Position Paper (July 2017) • Brexit: What's at stake for businesses (October 2017) • Scotland’s Place in Europe: People, Jobs and Investment (January 2018)

The dedicated Europe section on the Scottish Government website also contains a number of relevant including the First Minister’s letter to EU citizens in Scotland and minutes of Standing Council meetings.

Education, Communities and Justice

Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13691 by Annabelle Ewing on 24 January 2018, what progress has been made with the establishment of the joint working group; what the key milestones are in this process; what the reason has been for the reported delay with it being set up, and whether the Orange Order will be invited to join and/or participate in it. Holding answer issued: 05 March 2018 (S5W-14713)

Annabelle Ewing: ‏I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.‏

Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what preparations the Scottish Prison Service is taking to implement the no smoking policy across the prison estate, which is due to be introduced in November 2018, and whether electronic cigarettes will be permitted. (S5W-14729)

Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

SPS has made changes to the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011 and single use, first generation e-cigarettes are being introduced for sale to those in our care. Further changes to these Rules will be made which will enable simultaneous implementation of smoke free prisons across Scotland on 30 November 2018.

SPS will deliver support to those in our care through facilitating additional smoking cessation classes and provision of an effective range of nicotine replacement therapies. SPS has also been working collaboratively on an ongoing basis, with NHS and other partners, in order to implement and review our integrated Smoke-free Prisons’ Strategy and Communication Plan.

These initiatives will assist those who wish to stop smoking or manage their nicotine intake in a much less harmful way, whilst maintaining safety and security for those who live, work and visit our prisons.

Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) officers and (b) other staff have been absent due to sickness in each of the last three years, broken down by prison. (S5W-14734)

Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The following table shows the total number of (a) officers and (b) other staff who have incurred one or more periods of sickness absence during the financial year.

Financial Years 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Officer All Other Officer All Other Officer All Other Establishment Grades Grades Grades Grades Grades Grades Barlinnie 278 58 258 59 286 63 Cornton Vale 147 30 167 32 107 20 Dumfries 77 19 79 19 83 22 Edinburgh 255 44 267 49 283 58 Glenochil 187 38 203 40 208 47 Grampian 191 39 175 53 166 41 Greenock 95 16 104 20 100 18 Inverness 54 10 52 13 62 13 Low Moss 168 37 191 40 192 38 Open Estate 27 17 44 18 40 22 Perth 184 43 173 45 189 48 Polmont 212 43 220 44 248 51 Shotts 180 35 176 40 194 42 2055 429 2109 472 2158 483

Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many people have accessed services at each rape crisis centre in each year since 2014-15. (S5W-14794)

Angela Constance: Rape Crisis Scotland publish annual reports which detail the number of people who have accessed services at each rape crisis centres across Scotland. These annual figures are as follows:

2014-15 – 2,665

2015-16 - 3,315

2016-17 - 4,108

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government to what extent the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation determines the allocation of funds; what its position is on whether this adequately identifies rural deprivation, and what plans it has to review how rural deprivation is identified and better taken into account by funding formulas. (S5W-14797)

Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is the Scottish Government’s official tool for identifying concentrations of deprivation in Scotland. It is a relative measure of deprivation and takes into account aspects of deprivation that affect local areas, whether rural or urban.

While resource allocation does take aspects of deprivation into account where relevant and appropriate, the SIMD ranking in itself is not used in isolation in Scottish Government without due consideration to the issues and balancing factors, such as rurality and the local economic context. For example the SIMD has a minimal role in the allocation of funding in the local government finance settlement. The vast majority of funding to local government is calculated using the Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) methodology. GAE is a needs based allocation methodology which attempts to establish direct measures of the “clients” for a particular service. Within the GAE methodology, the SIMD is used only to calculate one secondary indicator (road density/area deprivation) used in Street Cleaning GAE. The indicators used in the GAE methodology are agreed in conjunction with COSLA and local authorities and kept under constant review. The SIMD adequately identifies elements of rural deprivation. However, when developing policy or making funding decisions we always recommend that policy makers use data appropriately. The SIMD team have provided training for analysts and policy makers in central and local public sector organisations to ensure that they fully understand the implications of their data. For example, we recommend that policy makers consider the individual SIMD domains for particular aspects of deprivation. One element of SIMD with particular relevance to rural deprivation is the geographic access to services domain. This reflects the adverse effects of long travel times for basic services, which are more common in rural than urban areas, and means that this domain is a good proxy measure for the additional barriers that people in rural areas face. We also recommend that additional indicators are used to supplement SIMD, whether in an urban or rural context. To assist with this in a rural context, the Scottish Government published case studies on how SIMD can be combined with other data to further target child poverty on Orkney Islands and fuel poverty in Dumfries and Galloway.

SIMD is kept under constant review taking advice from a range of external stakeholders.

Health and Social Care

Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government which autism-related services it has provided funding for, and what the total funding provided has been, in each year since 2015-16. (S5W-14758)

Maureen Watt: Health and Social Care Partnerships have devolved responsibility for the strategic planning and decision making for all functions delegated to them, including autism services for autistic adults and children in line with their statutory responsibilities under the Public Bodies (Scotland) Act (2014). This means they have a major role to play in designing and ensuring delivery of local autism strategies and action plans, alongside NHS Boards and local authority colleagues in housing, education, Health Boards and other relevant local services which may not be delegated to the IA, and services delivered by other community planning partners.

The Scottish Government has provided funding to each partnership area through the Scottish Strategy for Autism to enable the innovation and development of autism services across Scotland. The Scottish Government will publish full details of the Strategy spend to date when it publishes the strategies priorities for 2018 to 2021 later in March.

Organisational Development and Operations Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13896 by Keith Brown on 31 January 2018, on how many occasions it has sought Parent Group Guarantees from a private contractor after the (a) tendering process and (b) signing of the contract in instances where there has been concerns regarding a company's financial health. (S5W-14375)

Keith Brown: We are able to provide information on contracts awarded after March 2016 when the Scottish Government introduced a single contracts database for contracts worth more than £50,000. Gathering information on contracts awarded prior to this date could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as it would require the search of historical databases and hard-copy archives.

For contracts awarded since March 2016, the Scottish Government has twice sought and received Parent Company Guarantees following assessment of a company’s financial records. These were both sought after the tendering process but before signing the contract.

If financial checks reveal issues during a tendering process public bodies can choose not to contract with a bidder. They may also ask for further assurances such as Banker’s Guarantees or Parent Company Guarantees. One example is the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration’s agreement with Carillion where a parent company guarantee was sought and received. Unfortunately, the parent company went into liquidation meaning that the Parent Company Guarantee offered no protection.

Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13896 by Keith Brown on 31 January 2018, how many of its current contractors are subject to Parent Company Guarantees, and how much these represent as a percentage of the total (a) number of contractors and (b) value of contracted work. (S5W-14376)

Since March 2016 the Scottish Government has requested and received Parent Company Guarantees from two contractors. This represents 2% of contracts listed and 0.6% of contract values listed. Transport Scotland

Mike Rumbles (North East Scotland) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the changes to the cost of tickets on the Caledonian Sleeper service since it has been operated by Serco. (S5W-14492)

Humza Yousaf: The Caledonian Sleeper operates in a highly competitive market for Anglo-Scottish travel, with alternatives available by road, air or other rail operators. Fares charged by the Caledonian Sleeper are therefore unregulated. Serco has worked to rationalise the types of fare available. Fares have remained attractive to the travelling public, as evidenced by the 21% increase in passenger patronage over the first two years of the franchise.

Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Green Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10828 by Humza Yousaf on 14 September 2017, how many incidents of stop-skipping have occurred on the ScotRail network since 20 August 2017, and what percentage of trains this represents, broken down by station affected. Holding answer issued: 05 March 2018 (S5W-14724)

Humza Yousaf: I shall reply to the member as soon as possible.‏