Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16574 on 19 April 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The allocation of SEPA staff resource is the responsibility of SEPA’s CEO and Senior Management Team.

SEPA’s Corporate Plan will be renewed in 2024 and Ministers will work with SEPA to agree the Key Performance Indicators and priority areas to be included in that Plan.

The Scottish Government recognises the important international platform offered by the Venice Biennale to promote the best contemporary art and architecture from Scotland on the world stage.

The decision by Creative Scotland and the other Scotland + Venice partners to pause their involvement in the Venice Biennale in 2024 allows for an important period of reflection and review.

The decision does not affect the delivery of the 2023 Scotland + Venice Architecture project, A Fragile Correspondence, which will take place in Venice from May – November, this year.

The Scotland + Venice partners will be undertaking sectoral engagement to explore new approaches to the project for the longer term while also looking to identify opportunities for artists and curators to experience the Biennale in 2024.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to supporting the Scottish culture sector’s international interests and ambitions and is currently developing an International Culture Strategy to that end.

Currently, there are charges in place for the use of toilet facilities at Inverness, Fort William, Aberdeen, and Glasgow Queen Street stations.

In 2021, the Scottish Government reached a joint agreement with local authorities to increase the national minimum school clothing grant to £120 for each eligible primary school pupil, and £150 for each eligible secondary school pupil. This was an increase from the national minimum grant of £100 per eligible pupil which was agreed with local authorities in 2018.

The Scottish Government provided funding to local authorities of £11.8m in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 financial years to support eligible families to benefit from the minimum school clothing grant. In 2023-24, the Scottish Government has increased funding to £13m to support local authorities to maintain the school clothing grant in line with increased inflation costs.

It is for local authorities to determine their own eligibility criteria for school clothing grant and authorities have the option to set their grant level higher than the minimum if they wish.

Decisions about funding to local authorities in respect of the school clothing grant in future financial years will be made as part of wider considerations on the Scottish Budget, taking into account economic and other circumstances, including continued delivery of the Covid Recovery Strategy and its aim to increase support for low-income households.

Remuneration for the incoming Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Rail Holdings will be published, in due course, on the Salary Publication section of the Scottish Rail Holdings website:-

Who we are — Scottish Rail Holdings

The Scottish Government has continued the commitment to support SFRS service delivery and reform with a further uplift of £10m resource for 2023-24. In recognition of the pay and inflationary pressures faced by SFRS, we have provided SFRS with additional budget cover of up to £4.4m on top of the allocation set in the 2023-24 budget announcement.

The Scottish Government’s Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022 sets out that SFRS should ensure that the capability of its assets and staff, combined with technological improvements, enable it to respond to incidents with the right resources at the right time across communities in Scotland. The deployment of the appropriate level of resources to deal with an incident is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The Scottish Government moved swiftly to meet with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) after the Members debate on the FBU DECON Campaign on 19 January 2023. In addition to regular discussions with the SFRS Chair and Chief Officer, the former Minister for Community Safety met with the SFRS at their Headquarters on 21 February 2023 to discuss current actions that the SFRS are taking and also future plans to further protect firefighters from contaminants. Officials are also in close contact with the SFRS on an ongoing basis on these issues.

The range of drugs that exist for clinicians to prescribe to people in prison across all prison estates is the same as those available to NHS patients across the same geographical areas (Health Boards).

There may be some difference in what the first line and second line formulary recommendations are in each of the Boards, with these differences being attributable to local variation in assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) is responsible for approving all medicines for use in the NHS in Scotland. Once a medicine has been approved by the SMC it is then considered for addition to the local formulary by the Boards Area Drugs and Therapeutic Committee (ADTCC). The ADTCC is a statutory committee of the Board with responsibility for the safe and effective use of medicines in that Board.

All medicines approved for use in the NHS in Scotland are available to all people in prison regardless of location, through the same processes that are available to the non-custodial population.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. We advise the member to contact the NHS Boards directly.