Seòmar agus comataidhean

Scottish Government and some agencies publish all public consultations on the consultation hub. Respondents can decide whether they would like their response to be published on the consultation hub after the closing date. Thereafter, published responses will be visible to the public.

The Scottish Government can confirm the numbers of local authorities who responded to the consultations listed below.

a) the Heat in Buildings Strategy - 20 local authorities

b) Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - 8 local authorities

c) Climate Change - Net Zero Nation: draft public engagement strategy - 9 local authorities

d) Establishing a Scottish Nitrogen Balance Sheet - 1 local authority

e) Investing in and paying for your water services from 2021 - 10 local authorities*

f) the Local Energy Policy Statement - 6 local authorities

g) Scottish Low Emission Zones: Consultation on Regulations and Guidance - 9 local authorities

* A later consultation 'Investing in and paying for you water services from 2021: final consultation' was responded to by an additional 2 local authorities.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), as the Independent Professional and Regulatory Body for teachers in Scotland, has a published Fitness to Teach Threshold Policy which sets out what GTCS will investigate under its fitness to teach procedures. It is available on the GTCS website and members of the public are encouraged to read it prior to submitting a referral to GTCS regarding a registered teacher.

The Scottish Government is aware of these issues and continues to have regular dialogue with GTCS on these matters.

We know that childcare providers are concerned about the impact of the new Omicron variant on their businesses. The Scottish Government is working as a matter of urgency to assess the implications of the most recent public health interventions on the sector.

The Scottish Government is limited as to what additional financial support can be provided as our budget is fully committed at this late stage of the financial year. That is why we have urged the UK Government to make further funding available to support our public health interventions and the impacts of restrictions.

Since the start of the pandemic the Scottish Government has made more than £22 million of dedicated support available to day care of children services through the Temporary Restrictions Fund and the Transitional Support Fund. Round 3 of the Temporary Restrictions Fund was targeted at school age childcare services recognising the specific impacts for those services. We have also provided up to £3.2 million to childminding services, in particular through the Childminding Business Sustainability Fund.

Our Financial Sustainability Health Check, published on 31 August, sets out the further actions that we will take to build on the substantial targeted financial support made available to the sector since March 2020.

This includes commitments to review the administrative requirements on providers, to develop a five-year workforce strategy for the childcare sector, and to deliver a programme of targeted business, financial management, marketing, and human resources support. We will also work with COSLA and local authority childcare teams in order to map the various existing approaches to the contract management of let agreements, understanding how important that is to financial sustainability.

The Scottish Government has committed to build a system of school age childcare by the end of this Parliament, free to those families on the lowest incomes. We will continue to work closely with school age childcare services to do all that we can to offer support, within the budgetary constraints that we face.

Following a fair and open recruitment exercise Scottish Ministers have appointed a Chair and three non-executive Directors to the Board of David MacBrayne Limited.

Analysis of the recruitment exercise confirms that a total of 52 applications were received, and 6 of those were from Island residents.

A total of 6 applications were received for the position of Chair of the Board, direct links to Scottish islands cannot be broken down for this appointment.

While the Scottish Government and our agencies sometimes make use of aerial imagery services, excluding this, spend on “Photography Service Providers” – the relevant category in our accounting system - per year since 2016 is shown in the following table:

Public Health Scotland publish a monthly census of delayed discharges in Scotland, broken down by Health Board and Local Authority, which allows for public scrutiny of progress in every partnership.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with the Chief Executive of NHS Lothian, the Chief Executive of City of Edinburgh Council and the Chief Officer of Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership to monitor progress in tackling delayed discharges in Edinburgh.

We know meaningful, fair work can provide important benefits for people’s mental health and wellbeing. Creating workplaces which support and promote good mental health benefits individuals and employers.

Our ‘Mental Health – Transition and Recovery Plan’ outlines our response to the mental health impacts of COVID-19 and our commitments to support mental health and wellbeing. The plan includes key employment actions to promote and support mental wellbeing at work.

A Short Life Working Group, consisting of employer groups, trade unions and mental health organisations has been established to help take forward key employment actions. The group is working collaboratively to identify the issues and challenges employers are facing in supporting mental health in a range of different workplaces, including office and home-based environments. The outcomes of this will inform the next steps to be undertaken to ensure employers have the support they need to create mentally healthy workplaces, free of stigma and discrimination across all sectors.

The group has a dedicated sub-group reviewing current national guidance on safer workplaces, including guidance on home working to ensure it reflects the importance of looking after employees’ mental wellbeing while working from home, and signposting to appropriate sources of advice and support.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05073 on 7 January 2022. 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05073 on 7 January 2022. 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 General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), as the Independent Professional and Regulatory Body for teachers in Scotland, has a published Fitness to Teach Threshold Policy which sets out what GTCS will investigate under its fitness to teach procedures. It is available on the GTCS website and members of the public are encouraged to read it prior to submitting a referral to GTCS regarding a registered teacher.

The Scottish Government is aware of these issues and continues to have regular dialogue with GTCS on these matters.