- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 2 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-21487 by Graeme Dey on 3 October 2023, what progress it has made regarding the next round of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund; whether it plans to announce the next round of the fund in 2023, and what discussions and meetings it has had with the Scottish Funding Council regarding the fund.
Answer
Budget discussions are still ongoing. We are working hard to confirm the final position for FWDF in 2023-24 as quickly as possible. An announcement will be made once a final decision has been reached. Meetings with the Scottish Funding Council and Skills Development Scotland are held regularly to discuss updates and any issues relating to the Fund.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 2 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a list of all verbal engagements and meetings that it has had with Circularity Scotland, in 2023 to date, including the (a) basic facts of and (b) names of those in attendance at any such meetings.
Answer
The Scottish Government had regular engagement with Circularity Scotland (CSL) as part of preparations for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Circularity Scotland Ltd went into administration in June 2023 following the UK Government’s decision not to grant a full exclusion from the UK Internal Market Act.
It is not possible to provide a list of all verbal engagements between Scottish Government officials and CSL staff due to the frequency of these working-level engagements and the fact that many of them were informal discussions rather than scheduled meetings. However, the main meetings between CSL and Scottish Ministers or officials are as follows:
1. CSL met with the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity on a monthly basis, [link] .
2. CSL were members of the System-Wide Assurance Group, a DRS governance groups comprised of a range of stakeholders. The Meetings and minutes (including attendees) for DRS System-Wide Assurance Group: EIR release .
3. CSL were members of the DRS Executive Oversight Group. This group was responsible for overall system readiness, risks, and mitigations across all relevant bodies. This meeting was also attended by Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) and the Scottish Government.
4. CSL attended regular Sectoral Stakeholder Meetings to discuss implementation design with industry e.g. producers, retailers and the hospitality sector.
You may find it helpful to utilise the Scottish Government publications below:
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 2 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what range of benefits or grants are available to assist people with sight loss to live independently at home, including aids, equipment and adaptations.
Answer
An individual with sight loss may receive Child and Adult Disability Payment to help mitigate the costs they incur as a result of a disability or long term condition. This means individuals can use it to pay for things such as care, access to community resources, transport, social activities, and any other goods or services of their choosing, including aids or equipment.
Additionally, grant funding is available from Local Authorities, to homeowners and private tenants who require significant changes to the structure of their home. When adaptations are identified as necessary, grant funding will be provided to cover between 80% to 100% of the total costs. Where adaptations are not covered by 100% grant funding, local authorities have a duty to provide assistance to the individual. This can be given in the form of advice, guidance or practical help.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the suitability of the current Residential Visual Amenity Assessment distance of 3km for onshore wind farm developments, in light of the height of turbines now regularly being above 150m and, therefore, the distance that these developments have an impact reportedly being greater.
Answer
All applications are subject to site-specific assessments. National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) states that potential impacts on communities, nature and other receptors will be important considerations in the decision-making process. NPF4 Policy 11 requires project design and mitigation to demonstrate how impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including residential amenity, visual impact, noise and shadow flicker will be addressed. It is for the decision maker to determine what information is required to support an application, and where Residential Visual Amenity Assessment is provided, to determine the distance to be considered in that assessment.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many councillors have been reported for a breach of the Code of Conduct for Councillors in each local authority in each year since 1999.
Answer
Breaches of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct are a matter for the independent Ethical Standards Commissioner. The member can obtain this information by contacting the Commissioner directly.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the national code of conduct for local government employees.
Answer
The Scottish Government has no responsibility for any code of conduct for employees of local government.
Any review of a code of conduct for local government workers would be a matter for individual councils. The Scottish Government is not aware of any plans by councils to introduce any new code for their employees.
- Asked by: Mark Ruskell, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 2 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on (a) its position on aligning its Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP) with Scotland’s pathway for achieving net zero and (b) whether it has discussed creating a new methodology for assessing the contribution of individual infrastructure projects within the IIP to greenhouse gas reduction efforts.
Answer
Scottish Ministers are committed to complying fully with the requirements of section 94A of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and are engaging with Environmental Standards Scotland on this matter through the informal resolution process. To this end, the Scottish Ministers intend to publish an assessment of the extent to which investment in accordance with the Infrastructure Investment Plan is expected to contribute to the meeting of the emissions reduction targets in Part 1 of the 2009 Act. In the context of the informal resolution process, it is the Scottish Ministers’ intention to share with ESS the proposed assessment prior to publication. This will be done as soon as possible and before the end of the calendar year, with publication anticipated in early course thereafter.
An enhanced taxonomy approach will be adopted and will include an assessment on whether the IIP is contributing positively to the emissions reduction targets.
As set out in the Infrastructure Investment Plan, Scottish Ministers are committed to considering developments in methodologies for assessing the contribution of infrastructure investment plans to the emission targets and this will be pursued in relation to future IIPs.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 2 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has set any targets on the number of jobs to be created through the £500 million strategic investment to help create thousands of green jobs and deliver the full economic potential of offshore renewables projects, as announced on 17 October 2023.
Answer
Our aim is to maximise the number of green jobs and we are considering how we can best work collaboratively with the renewables sector to do that.
The latest report from the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) [June 2023], predicted jobs in this sector in the UK could grow to over 100,000 by 2030. This OWIC report also shows a 4% increase in offshore wind jobs compared to 2021-22, showing that the sector currently supports over 32,000 jobs, almost 30% of which are in Scotland.
This £500m investment will help to support market certainty, creating the environment that will deliver these jobs, whilst creating a highly productive, competitive economy, embedding innovation and boosting skills.
- Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 October 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 2 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on embedding equality and human rights in social care services, including for accountability purposes and complaints by service users.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to advancing equality and furthering the realisation of human rights in Scotland. Social Care support is provided by Local Authorities and we are working closely with local government to further advance equality and realise human rights for supported people and staff. This includes recent updates to Self-Directed Support guidance, which was developed in participation with a wide range of stakeholders and is grounded in a human rights-based approach to social care. We are also co-designing Getting It Right For Everyone (GIRFE), a national practice model for health and social care, with pathfinders across Scotland and people with lived experience. Respect, dignity, kindness, and human rights are integral to the GIRFE approach, which seeks to put what matters to a person at the heart of the decision-making which impacts their own life.
The Scottish Government is also working to establish a National Care Service (NCS) to provide national oversight and accountability to locally delivered care support, community health and social work. We are committed to developing the NCS with human rights at its heart and ensuring that the voices of lived experience are central to our decision making. As part of our human rights-based approach to the development of the NCS, the NCS National Board will be underpinned by robust and effective complaints processes that deliver accountability for people accessing social care support, social work and community health services.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the ability of children living in temporary accommodation to access health services, in particular in relation to current levels of treatment from mental health services.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2023
