Jenny Marra

Answer · Clare Haughey · 6 Jan 2021

Since the Interim Director for Mental Health was appointed to the role, she has attended two virtual meetings I have held with Tayside's Leadership Team. These took place on 11 September and 2 October 2020. The Minister for Public Health was also in attendance during the September meeting with the Interim Director. I will write separately to the member to share a copy of the minutes from these meetings.
In addition, there have been monthly meetings between Scottish Government mental health officials with the Interim Director to discuss progress on Tayside’s mental health action plan, ‘Listen, Learn, Change’. Minutes are not routinely taken at these meetings.
The Interim Director has been also been part of the weekly Tayside Silver Command meetings that were set up in response to Covid to share intelligence and understand where support needs to provided. The Scottish Government was in attendance for approximately 20 of these meetings. The minutes of these are held by and available from NHS Tayside on request.
The Chair of the Perinatal and Infant Programme Board and SG officials met with the Interim Director as part of a series of meetings with the Executive Leads for perinatal mental health at Boards. The meeting was on the 7 August 2020. The output of these meetings are not published but can be provided.
The Director for Mental Health and Social Care also had an additional telephone update discussion with the Interim Director on 11 October 2020. Minutes of this conversation were not taken.

Answer · Humza Yousaf · 16 Mar 2020

The Scottish Government is clear that any form of human trafficking or exploitation is completely unacceptable, and funds services to provide vital support to victims of this crime.
In April 2019, Migrant Help and Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance (TARA) were awarded a combined £1,032,160 for the current financial year to support victims of trafficking and exploitation across Scotland. In November 2019, the Scottish Government awarded a further £85,334 to reflect an increase in numbers accessing these services through the National Referral Mechanism. Officials are in regular contact with both organisations and levels of funding are continually under review.
The Scottish Government are also providing £120,000 this financial year to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to provide a national psychological trauma support service to adult trafficking victims. The Scottish Guardianship Service (SGS) has provided support to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, including victims of child trafficking, since 2010. The Scottish Government is providing SGS with funding of £300,000 in 2019-20.
The Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy, published in 2017, sets out the framework within which partners across Scotland are tackling human trafficking by supporting and protecting victims, disrupting the activities of perpetrators and addressing the conditions which foster trafficking.
Funding for these bodies is specifically for supporting victims of trafficking and exploitation; they are not directly involved in interrupting the criminal supply chain. However, a wide range of activity by the Scottish Government and partners has been undertaken to improve evidence-based interventions and address human trafficking in supply chains. Detail of this work can be found in the two annual progress reports on implementation of the Strategy: https://www.gov.scot/policies/human-trafficking/trafficking-and-exploitation-strategy/.
Under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, the Strategy must be reviewed within three years of publication. A comprehensive engagement process to gather views from a variety of groups and individuals including survivors, support organisations and key partners is ongoing.
The current three-year funding agreement for Migrant Help and TARA runs until 31 March 2021 and decisions on future arrangements will be considered following the Strategy review and as part of the 2021-22 Draft Budget process.

Answer · Humza Yousaf · 16 Mar 2020

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling human trafficking and exploitation by working in partnership with criminal justice agencies to improve the detection and disruption of perpetrators who facilitate human trafficking and exploitation, in line with Action Area Two of the Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy.
Police Scotland have developed an intelligence operation to assess threats and emerging trends using a number of methods including setting up the National Human Trafficking Threat Desk (NHTTD). The NHTTD monitors intelligence from a number of sources and develops an emerging threat picture which is used to inform operational activity. There are currently a number of live joint cross-border investigations including methods of travel, embarkation and disembarkation points and developing opportunities to disrupt the facilitators of human trafficking. Police Scotland also have four large-scale dedicated investigations across Scotland carrying out enquiries into human trafficking as well as a number of smaller investigations being conducted at Divisional level.
Border Force carried out a month long partnership intensification period at Glasgow Airport in November 2019 where at-risk flights were targeted. Analysts are currently compiling profiles on routing, types of exploitation, modes of transportation and connection to traffickers.
Operation Aidant, coordinated by the NCA, are human trafficking themed joint working intensification periods which take place six times a year. In 2020 the themes include ports and borders, labour exploitation, child trafficking, sexual exploitation and adult services websites.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick · 4 Mar 2020

I have asked the Chief Executive of sportscotland, Stewart Harris, to write to you and provide an answer to your question.

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick · 4 Mar 2020

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-27536 on 4 March 2020. 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 .