Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The release of non-native common pheasant and red-legged partridge for shooting purposes is permitted under Section 14 (2A) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. There is no statutory requirement under this legislation (or any other) requiring those releasing non-native gamebirds to submit records of numbers of birds released.

The Scottish Government does not provide specific funding to local authorities to support breakfast and after school clubs which are struggling financially. Local authorities have flexibility to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities. In 2023-24 local authorities have autonomy to allocate over 93% - £12.5 billion – of the funding provided by the Scottish Government, plus all locally raised income.

Over the last 5 years, there have been 781 large outdoor fires, 243 of which were deliberate (31%). Th Scottish Fire and Rescue Service does not routinely gather information on the number of wildfires that happen as a result of Muirburn. However, a 2019 sample of the available evidence for the most severe wildfire incidents concluded that out of control burning was a relatively rare cause of these incidents.

Although UCAS has confirmed that at the end of the January equal consideration date there has been a reduction in applications compared to this time last year, our higher education institutions will continue to accept, and consider, applications until the end of June and thereafter through any clearing process. Therefore, we expect application numbers to continue to increase. Scotland’s higher education institutions are working hard to recruit applicants to their nursing programmes and it is worth noting that not all funded places are applied for via UCAS(for example our Open University funded places), and these applications will also contribute to final numbers.

Alongside this, we continue to explore alternative pipelines into the nursing profession such as earn as you learn routes and apprenticeships. In addition to that work we will also address current challenges to the nursing profession in relation to workforce supply, retention and professional development as part of the new Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce. This will ensure our nurses, already the best paid in the UK, will have the best conditions and career opportunities.

We realise that recruitment to initial teacher education is challenging for various reasons and this is being seen across the UK. However, as in previous years, Scottish universities will keep their application processes open until they have met their targets in both primary and secondary by subject. We will continue to work with universities to monitor applications to all initial teacher education programmes. Typically, we have seen teacher training applicants increase by around 17% by the end of the application cycle.

SEPA’s grant in aid funding from Scottish Government has increased over the last five-year period from £34,936,000 to £41,406,000. SEPA determine the amount of resources allocated to meeting their statutory obligations through their Annual Operating Plan in each year in agreement with the Scottish Government.

SEPA Grant in Aid Funding:

£34,963,000 in 2018-19

£34,425,000 in 2019-20

£37,098,000 in 2020-21

£44,449,000 in 2021/22

£41,406,000 in 2022/23 [figures subject to year end audit]

SEPA operate under statutory frameworks to recover the costs associated with their role as the environmental regulator. The annual income recovered across all charging schemes and other incomes as notified to the Scottish Government was as follows:

Charging scheme & other income:

£47,282,000 in 2018-19

£47,807,000 in 2019-20

£44,901,000 in 2020-21

£46,010,000 in 2022-23 [figures subject to year end audit]

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) does not have a wildfire investigation capability as it is an extremely rare discipline in UK Fire and Rescue Services. As such, no official investigations were carried out into the large fires in Flow Country or Ballindalloch in 2019.

Official statistics for Fair Start Scotland (FSS) are published quarterly by the Scottish Government. The most recent publication was on 22 February 2023 ( Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary February 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ) and includes demographic breakdowns such as for participants with learning disabilities. The latest official statistics show:

Start and job outcomes for FSS participants with a learning disability, by start year

I refer the member to the answer to question S6T-01111 on 24 January 2023. The answer to the Topical question is available on the Parliaments website, the Official Report can be viewed at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-24-01-2023?meeting=14109&iob=127786

The Scottish Government does not collect data on local authority expenditure on the provision of temporary accommodation to households experiencing homelessness. This information would need to be requested from each local authority directly.

The majority of homelessness funding since 1999 has been provided to local authorities through the annual local government finance settlement, which is £13.2 billion in 2023-24. Local authorities decide how best to use this resource to prevent and respond to homelessness on the basis of local needs and priorities, including the provision of temporary accommodation. This has been supplemented in recent years by £5.5 million from the Scottish Government’s health and housing budgets for the Housing First pathfinder and identifiable resource as follows:

The Scottish Government is investing £79.5 million, an increase of almost 60% from 2022-23, to deliver climate action through an updated climate change plan and Scottish adaptation programme, a public engagement strategy and community action.

The Scottish Government will provide £50 million in capital and financial transactions to support the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray to accelerate the development of a transformed and decarbonised economy in the region. This increase from 2022-23 is part of the Scottish Government's commitment to spend £500 million over ten years.

The Scottish Government will also continue to influence positive and progressive international climate action investing at least £6m in the Climate Justice Fund.