3 April
S5W-08543 – Devolved employment services – Education and
Skills
Ivan
McKee, Glasgow Provan, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 31/03/2017
To
ask the Scottish Government when the transitional devolved employment services
will go live and when it will set out its plans for the publication of
statistics and the evaluation of performance.
Answered
by Jamie Hepburn (03/04/2017): In one of
the first exercises of devolved powers under the Scotland Act 2016, the
Scottish Government will deliver new employment support services from today,
Monday 3rd April 2017. Work Able Scotland and Work First Scotland will provide
12 month transitional arrangements by helping up to 4,800 people with health
conditions and disabilities into work. We intend to publish the first
statistics in December 2017, reporting on quarters 1 and 2 (April-September
2017), and intend to publish an evaluation report in early 2019.
11 April
S5W-08769 – Nursing and Midwifery workload and workforce
planning tools – Health and Sport
Fulton
MacGregor, Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged:
11/04/2017
To
ask the Scottish Government when it will consult on proposals to enshrine safe
NHS staffing in law, starting with the nursing and midwifery workload and
workforce planning tools.
Answered
by Shona Robison (11/04/2017): We are
launching a formal consultation on legislative proposals on 12 April 2017. The
consultation paper seeks views on proposals to introduce legislation that would
require organisations providing health and social care to apply evidence based
approaches to nursing and midwifery workload and workforce planning as there is
already a validated framework, methodology and suite of planning tools that are
mandated for use in NHS Scotland as part of Local Delivery Planning. However,
the consultation proposes that this approach could be extended to other staff
groups and care settings when methodologies are developed.
The
consultation will run from 12 April to 5 July 2017. During this period, we plan
to hold regional and other engagement events across Scotland in order to gather
as many views as possible, including from practitioners and the public.
The
consultation can be accessed through the following link:
https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/nursing-and-midwifery/safe-and-effective-staffing-in-health-care-setting.
12 April
S5W-08777 – Lord Bracadale’s review of hate crime
legislation – Justice and the Law Officers
Ben
Macpherson, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged:
11/04/2017
To
ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with Lord Bracadale’s
review of hate crime legislation, and how people can take part in the process.
Answered
by Annabelle Ewing (12/04/2017): I am
delighted that Lord Bracadale is making good progress with his review. He has
today published material at www.hatecrimelegislationreview.scot which sets out
the process he will follow, the key timescales, the composition of his reference
group and how he plans to hear from those who have experienced hate crime and
from those who apply the law as it currently stands.
Lord
Bracadale wants to make this process as accessible as possible and there will
be a range of options through which people can participate and engage with the
review. Lord Bracadale is meeting with a wide range of interested parties to
gather information and evidence about how hate crime is understood, what its
impact is, and how effectively the current law deals with it. He is also
inviting people to submit their experiences in confidence via a questionnaire.
The views and issues expressed in the questionnaire will enable Lord Bracadale
to make his consultation paper, which will be available in the summer, as
relevant and informed as possible. Public events across Scotland are planned
during the consultation exercise to encourage participation. More information
about ways to engage with the review can obtained from Lord Bracadale’s team:
[email protected]
20 April
S5W-08856 – First Minister visit to US – Culture, Tourisn
and External Affairs
Ash
Denham, Edinburgh Eastern, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged: 19/04/2017
To
ask the Scottish Government what information it can provide regarding the most
recent visit to the United States by the First Minister.
Answered
by Fiona Hyslop (20/04/2017): The First Minister visited the United States
between the 2nd and 7th April attending events and meetings in California and
New York.
The
visit focused on promoting trade and investment, boosting tourism, sharing best
practice across the public and private sector and promoting Scottish
innovation, entrepreneurship and culture.
The
relationship between Scotland and America is an important one with deep and
long-standing ties reflected by the strong economic, cultural and personal
links of our citizens. The US is Scotland’s top source of inward investment,
accounting for 36% of projects and is Scotland’s second largest export partner
- worth £4.56 billion or 15.9% of all international exports.
This
visit came at a crucial time following the UK’s vote to leave the EU and the
single market, and only days after the formal triggering of Article 50. It was
important that the First Minister took this opportunity to reassure businesses
and visitors from the United States that Scotland is an outward looking,
welcoming country and remains open for business.
Beginning
her engagements in California the First Minister, joined by Dr Lena Wilson of
Scottish Enterprise and Chief Scientific Advisor Professor Sheila Rowan,
focussed on opportunities for Scotland’s technology sector, low carbon
innovation, university collaborations, and Scottish start-ups.
The
First Minister met representatives from Par Equity and confirmed that Par
Equity will open its first office in San Francisco and launch a $125 million
fund, focussed on providing investment opportunities in health technology in
Scotland and access to the US market for Scottish companies.
At
Stanford the First Minister hosted a business breakfast for an influential
business and academic audience in which she promoted Scottish Government
support for high quality international research partnerships that further the
economic, scientific and social aims of both Scotland and California, with
specific reference to Strathclyde, Stanford and the SU2P initiative which also
includes the universities of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Heriot Watt and Glasgow.
Meetings
with Apple and Tesla concentrated on opportunities for shared public and
private sector collaboration in the areas of next generation health and
well-being research, including the use of digital health and care to deliver
better results through personalised, proactive and self-managed care and on
opportunities to further develop Scotland’s sustainable energy initiatives and
reinforce the strategic importance of energy storage technology to Scotland’s
wider energy strategy, highlighting the common goal of a holistic energy
system.
The
First Minister also hosted a dinner with representatives of major US firms to
discuss opportunities for Scotland in Silicon Valley and met with American
angel investors, ahead of a delegation of seven female CEO’s supported by
Investing Women to California, to highlight the Scottish Governments vision of
Scotland as a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation committed to
unleashing the economic potential of women.
Building
on the technology focus of the visit, the First Minister later visited the
Flatiron School, a digital skills academy in New York that is helping equip
people with skills to gain employment in ICT and digital technology
occupations. The Flatiron school provided an opportunity to learn from one of
the foremost digital skills academies in the world and followed the
announcement that the Scottish Government is to make £36 million available in
loans to business to support digital skills training.
The
visit also focussed on key economic opportunities in the financial services
sector, food and drink and tourism.
In
New York the First Minister met with representatives of Marriott Hotels and
welcomed their continued investment and strong growth pipeline in Scotland
including their commitment to create 7 new hotels and 1,400 new rooms in
Scotland by 2021, reinforcing Scotland’s key tourism investment and visitor
attraction strengths at a global leadership level.
She
also met with Executives from TripAdvisor and announced a European-first,
multi-year collaboration, with VisitScotland. The unique partnership with the
world’s largest travel website will attract up to 70 million new visitors every
year generating a potential additional spend of £150million.
Celebrating
Scotland’s food and drink industry success the First Minister attended a
showcase event in New York organised by Scottish Development International to
promote Scottish produce to an audience of over 100 North American buyers and
industry influencers and to showcase new agreements secured by Scottish firms
worth £8m of export sales to North America, further strengthening food and
drink exports in a market that was worth £1billion in 2016.
The
First Minister also held business meetings with Morgan Stanley and BlackRock to
further develop the relationships with key inward investors and met with staff
and graduates at Aberdeen Asset Management, officially opening their expansion
in New York and discussed economic developments in Scotland, Europe and the US
with Professor Joseph Stiglitz of the Council of Economic Advisers.
In
addition to the focus on business and investment, the First Minister met
Scottish Ballet Youth Exchange students studying at the prestigious New York
University TISCH School of the Performing Arts, supported by Scottish
Government funding.
Fourteen
participants from Scotland’s leading performing arts schools aged between 14
and 24 are currently taking part in a two week visit to the US, collaborating
with dance students from TISCH. This allows Scottish Ballet to showcase
Scottish dance training abroad and to create a new work to be premiered at The
Joyce Theater in New York City.
This
initiative was part of a wider £100,000 International Touring Fund awarded to
Scottish Ballet this year to enable their first ever run in New York
The
First Minister also hosted a reception to celebrate the Scottish Ballet’s first
tenure in New York City, and promoted the world-class calibre of Scottish
performing arts.
The
visit also provided an opportunity to highlight the contribution Scotland can
make to key global challenges.
During
the California leg of her visit the First Minister reaffirmed Scotland’s role
in tackling climate change during a meeting with the Governor of California.
She signed a joint agreement between Scotland and California committing to work
together on climate change. The First Minister and the Governor discussed how
the two administrations could work together to achieve the ambitions set out in
the Under2 MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) and the importance of offshore
wind in tackling climate change and considered how the two governments could
share knowledge and best practice in developing this technology.
The
First Minister followed the agreement with a speech to over 250 Stanford
academics and students on Scotland’s Place in the World which can be viewed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T4QeptQTV0 The First Minister then took part
in a Q&A, hosted by Professor Michael McFaul, Director at The Freeman
Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.
Attending
the 8th Women in the World Summit, the First Minister discussed Scotland’s
commitment to equality, her personal experience of being a female leader and
the importance of empowering women and girls. This followed on from a visit by
the First Minister to the UN where she held meetings with UN Women, the Head of
the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UK’s Permanent
Representative to the United Nations. During a speech at the UN, the First
Minister announced £1.2m of funding to train more than 200 women from conflict
zones around the world on peacekeeping and conflict resolution. The First
Minister used her address to highlight the importance of mediation and respect
for human rights as a way of preventing conflict, and lent her support to the
UN Secretary General’s call for more female representation in the United
Nations.
21 April
S5W-08882 – Drug drive limits in Scotland – Justice and
the Law Officers
Fulton
MacGregor, Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged:
20/04/2017
To
ask the Scottish Government what plans it has for the introduction of drug
driving limits in Scotland.
Answered
by Michael Matheson (21/04/2017): I can
advise that the Scottish Government intends to bring forward before the end of
2017 the necessary secondary legislation to introduce drug driving limits in
Scotland.
This
legislation will provide for specific limits for a range of drugs and will
provide for commencement of drug driving limits in 2019. This timing will allow
for criminal justice agencies such as Police Scotland, the Scottish Police
Authority and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to make the
necessary preparations for the introduction of drug driving limits. This
includes making arrangements for the introduction of necessary testing equipment.
25 April
S5W-08961 – SNP Manifesto commitment on review of
regulation of the legal profession – Justice and the Law Officers
Stewart
Stevenson, Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Scottish National Party, Date Lodged:
24/04/2017
To
ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its
implementation of the SNP manifesto commitment to take forward a consultation
to review the regulation of the legal profession and to support a modern and
effective legal sector, including new forms of business model.
Answered
by Annabelle Ewing (25/04/2017): Scottish
Ministers propose to establish an independent review of the regulation of legal
services. The purpose of the review will be to make independent recommendations
to reform and modernise the statutory framework for the regulation of legal
services and complaints handling. The review is intended to ensure a
proportionate approach to regulation that supports growth in the legal services
sector. It should also place consumer interests firmly at the heart of any
system of regulation, including the competitive provision of legal services.
The review will focus on the current regulatory framework, the complaints and
redress process for providers of legal services including solicitors and
advocates, and ongoing market issues such as investigating the benefits of
regulating firms as well as individual solicitors.
Key
stakeholders including the Law Society of Scotland, the Scottish Legal
Complaints Commission and the Scottish Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal have
previously produced policy papers calling for change to the current system
including reviewing the complexity of current processes. The Solicitors
(Scotland) Act 1980 (“the 1980 Act”) forms the bedrock legislation underpinning
the regulation of legal services in Scotland. It sets out how the Law Society
of Scotland regulates solicitors. Some ‘legal’ matters such as will writing and
other issues may be handled by unregulated firms or persons. Additionally
claims management companies are unregulated in Scotland. The review will be
able to investigate all of these areas.
The
independent Chair of the review is Esther Roberton, current Chair of NHS 24. Ms
Roberton has extensive senior leadership experience in the NHS and other areas
of public life. She is also currently a Board member of the Scottish Ambulance
Service (2014-18). She was Chairman of SACRO (2010-2014) and until recently
also sat on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Audit and Risk
Committee (COPFS ARC).
The
Scottish Ministers expect that the review panel will undertake stakeholder
engagement with the full range of stakeholders with an interest in its work and
will gather evidence and have due regard to relevant research and previous
reviews into the regulation of legal services where appropriate.
The
remit for the Independent Review of the Regulation of Legal Services will be to
review the regulation of legal services in Scotland and in undertaking this
review, to:
-
consider
what regulatory framework would best promote competition, innovation and the
public and consumer interest in an efficient, effective and independent legal
sector;
-
recommend
a framework which will protect the public and consumer interest, promote the
principles of accountability, consistency, flexibility, transparency,
cost-effectiveness and proportionality;
-
ensure
that the regulatory framework retains the confidence of the profession and the
general public;
-
undertake
specific research into the extent of the unregulated legal services market in
Scotland and investigate any impacts on consumers, as well as developing a
better understanding of the structure of the legal services market.
The
review panel have confirmed their participation as follows:
Christine
McLintock - Immediate Past President Law Society of Scotland
Alistair
Morris - Chief Executive - Management Board, Pagan Osborne (Law Society of
Scotland)
Laura
Dunlop QC- Hastie Stables (Faculty of Advocates)
Derek
Ogg QC - MacKinnon Advocates (Faculty of Advocates)
Neil
Stevenson – Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
Nicholas
Whyte – Chair of Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal
Ray
Macfarlane – Chair of the Scottish Legal Aid Board
Jim
Martin – outgoing Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
Dr
Dame Denise Coia – Chair of Healthcare Improvement Scotland
Prof
Russel Griggs - Chair of the Scottish Government’s Independent Regulatory
Review Group
Prof
Lorne Crerar - Chairman, Harper Macleod LLP
Trisha
McAuley - McAuley Policy and Management
The
independent Chair will lead the review and it is intended that it reports to
Ministers within 15 months. The outputs will inform future reforms of the
regulatory system for legal services.