Chamber and committees

Consistent enforcement was one of the key issues identified by the Local Government and Regeneration Committee, which required detailed consideration. If re-elected, the Scottish Government will bring forward suitable legislation in the next parliamentary session to address obstructive and irresponsible parking, including pavement parking.

As part of this work, we intend to undertake a full review of the issues raised during the Stage 1 scrutiny of Sandra White's Footway Parking and Double Parking (Scotland) Bill. This will build on the work already undertaken by Ms White and others and on the evidence gathered by the committee. We will examine all options that seek to address enforcement and workability issues, particularly, where decriminalised parking enforcement does not apply as we develop a Government Bill.

We have made significant progress against the key deliverables of the 2020 Vision route map and these include:

Improvements in care for people with long term conditions have resulted in the avoidance in 2009-10 of over 125,000 bed days for people aged over 65;

A reduction in the rates of clostridium difficile of over 70% since 2007;

Reduction in unexpected deaths in Scotland's hospitals (hospital standardised mortality ratios) down 16.5% since 2007;

Over recent years, surgical mortality has reduced by 23.5%;

Cases of MRSA reduced by 88% (from 249 in quarter January to March 2007 to 31 in quarter July to September 2015);

Compared to a decade ago (October 2005) the number of standard delays over three days are down by 62%, and delays over four weeks have been reduced by 76%;

Scotland has a world leading patient safety programme which is making a real difference to standards of care provided to patients we are producing improved outcomes for, people in terms of reduced need for hospitalisation, shorter stays, faster recovery and longer life expectancy.

I welcomed the publication of Pulling together: transforming urgent care for the people of Scotland in November 2015, which highlighted the variability of responding to uninjured fallers.

The Scottish Government continue to work with delivery partners at both national and local level throughout Scotland developing the implementation of the recommendations. This work will help ensure that the people of Scotland get the right help at the right time, regardless of where they reside.

Scottish Futures Trust continues to work with public authorities in Scotland to assist in making savings and improving performance across PFI/PPP contracts.

In relation to interest rates, there is a mechanism within PFI/PPP contracts for the private sector to pursue a process known as refinancing, in circumstances where a reduction in financing costs can be achieved.

PFI/PPP contracts use long term senior debt financing that comprises either a completely fixed rate or more usually, a fixed element and a variable element (known as a margin). Given their nature, savings generally cannot be made on the fixed element. Economic conditions in the financing markets has meant that for projects entered into prior to 2008, margins were generally lower then than in current conditions which means that savings are not possible. Most local authority contracts were conclude within that period.

Scottish Futures Trust is currently supporting a number of public sector stakeholders whose contracts completed after 2008 where refinancing gains may be possible.

Any budget comparisons should take into account all funding available to local authorities to support their expenditure on services.

The Scottish Government’s research projects for the consultation on unconventional oil and gas has received the following number of tenders:

a) Understanding and mitigating community level impacts from transport – five tenders.

b) Decommissioning, site restoration and long term monitoring – obligation and treatment of financial liabilities – five tenders.

c) Understanding and monitoring induced seismic activity – four tenders.

All contracts will be awarded in line with Scottish Government procurement guidance available at http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0045/00459290.pdf.

Like the rest of the public sector, councils face significant financial and other pressures but it is for the councils as independent bodies, accountable to their electorates, to decide how to respond to those pressures. The Scottish Government remains committed to a no compulsory redundancies policy for the Scottish Government. That policy does not apply to councils, but we hope that they can take a similar approach.

Taking into account the addition of the £250 million to support the integration of health and social care, next year’s reduction in local authority overall estimated expenditure is less than one per cent. I believe that such a reduction should have minimal impact on the jobs, services or the area's economy of any of Scotland's councils as they should be able to address these challenges from a healthy base as local government funding has been rising in Scotland in recent years with core funding protected and new money provided for additional responsibilities.

The First Minister has spoken personally with senior Whitehall officials regarding the impact of HMRC’s organisational change programme which will see the closure of smaller tax offices over a 10 year period, including Cumbernauld and East Kilbride. Much of the work will be centralised in Edinburgh and Glasgow and the estimated overall reduction in staff in Scotland is around 825.

This is a worrying situation for staff, those they serve and the local economies concerned. Throughout the duration of the programme we will work with all relevant parties at local, national and UK level, including the trades unions, in order to mitigate the impact of HMRC office closures in Scotland.

I held a series of meetings with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) both in the lead up to, and following, my announcement of the 2016-17 local government finance settlement on 16 December 2015. I have also met trade union representatives from across Scotland to discuss the reported anticipated job losses.

During these discussions I explained that the package of funding the Scottish Government is providing for the coming financial year to local government will enable councils to increase the pace of reform and improve public services to communities across the country. Taking into account the addition of the £250 million to support the integration of health and social care, next year’s reduction in local authority overall estimated expenditure is less than one per cent. I believe that such a reduction should have minimal impact on the jobs, services or the area's economy of any of Scotland's councils, including those in the Central Scotland region, as they should be able to address these challenges from a healthy base as local government funding has been rising in Scotland in recent years with core funding protected and new money provided for additional responsibilities.

I also confirmed to Parliament on 24 February 2016, in the Budget Bill Stage 3 debate, that we will double the amount of funding we had planned to allocate to local authorities through the Attainment Scotland Fund over the next three years, from £80 million to a total of £160 million.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Steel Task Force is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a sustainable future for the steel sector in Scotland. To this end, we have made significant progress in five key areas: business rates, energy costs, support for staff, environmental matters and procurement

We have legislated for a business rates relief at Dalzell and Clydebridge from 1 April 2016 up to the 2017 revaluation, in the quest to secure an alternative commercial operator for the sites, and secured from the Lanarkshire assessor a commitment to consider the state of the industry in respect of revaluation for the two sites.

We are working both to reduce the overall energy consumption at the sites and also to reduce the cost of energy, where we were pleased to see that the EU cleared the energy intensive industries compensation package which took effect from 14 December 2015.

Skills Development Scotland has developed a £195,000 upskilling programme for key staff, that would safeguard the future manufacturing capability across the two locations, should a new operator be secured.

On environmental matters, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has put in place a team of specialists managed by the head of operations in the West of Scotland to ensure that any and all support and advice to Tata Steel and/or any new operator is provided in a swift and efficient manner.

We are committed to implementing measures to address the barriers preventing UK suppliers of steel from competing effectively for public sector contracts in Scotland, including in the supply chain. The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 places sustainable and socially responsible purchasing at the heart of public procurement in Scotland. We have made it clear that within that duty it will be appropriate to consider the contribution that can be made by strategically significant industrial sectors, for example steel and other manufacturing.