Seòmar agus comataidhean

As set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Action: Policy Package, Climate change action: policy package - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , we are developing a package of incentives schemes for deer management to pilot across Scotland. These local schemes will be implemented this year in different parts of Scotland to test different approaches to incentives and to better understand the barriers to deer management.

In addition to this the Managing Deer for Climate and Nature: consultation closed on 29 March 2024. This consultation sought views on proposed legislative changes to Scotland’s systems of deer management, including in relation to a number of recommendations made by the Deer Working Group (DWG) in their 2020 report. The responses are currently being analysed and an update will be provided in due course.

The Scottish Government’s future legislative programme will be set out as part of the upcoming Programme for Government in due course. In the meantime we are working on those DWG recommendations that do not require primary legislation through the Strategic Deer Board. Deer Management Strategic Board - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Development of a national pilot scheme to provide travel support for people seeking asylum and not currently eligible for the existing National Concessionary Travel Schemes continues with the Working Group. Further information will be published on the Scottish Government website and provided to third sector organisations as preparations for the pilot to open are made.

The scheme will build on learning from the small local and regional pilots that have been delivered by third sector organisations over recent years. Expected learning from the scheme includes impact of providing free bus travel, demand for this concession, the cost of providing this concession, and the practicalities of delivery of such a scheme at the national level.

The Scottish Government is providing record funding of over £14 billion to local authorities in the 2024-25 financial year, including £600.6 million of additional revenue funding for day to day services.

It should be noted that the vast majority of funding available to councils is provided by means of a block grant from the Scottish Government. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocated the total financial resources available to them on the bases of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The responsibility for staff training in schools is a matter for local authorities.

The Scottish Government has published guidance on supporting children and young people with healthcare needs in schools. Annex B of this guidance focuses upon UK-wide Regulations which allow schools to buy and hold spare adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) devices to treat pupils suffering from allergic reactions in emergency situations where their own prescribed device is unavailable. This guidance is available through the following web link: Supporting children and young people with healthcare needs in schools: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Our guidance states that schools must arrange specialist anaphylaxis training for staff where a pupil in their school has been diagnosed at risk of anaphylaxis. The specialist training should include practical instruction in how to use the different AAI devices available.

I will be responding directly to the EIS on the important issues raised around teacher workload in their most recent report.

I have also strengthened teacher union engagement in recent months through the creation of the Professional Association Forum, which allows for more routine engagement to discuss issues such as workload.

Any changes to teachers’ terms and conditions require tripartite agreement through the SNCT.

The Recorded Theft of Dogs in Scotland April 2019 - March 2021 was published by Police Scotland in response to queries they were receiving relating to dog theft. The data published revealed once ownership disputes arising over dogs were excluded from the data, the number of dogs thefts recorded in 2019-20 was 48 and the number of dog thefts recorded in 2020-21 was 60. It is an operational matter for Police Scotland as to information they publish as contained on their internal management information systems and any query as to whether Police Scotland will publish further information in this area would therefore best be directed to Police Scotland.

Due to wider funding constraints, we have operated the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme (OMSE) with a reduced budget in 2024-25.

Following extremely high demand in June 2024 and in order to ensure that we settle all properties within budget, we have paused new applications from 19 July 2024 and will review remaining budget allocations in the coming months.

The scheme is likely to reopen when current passports expire and/or are withdrawn making funding available for reallocation.

Our evaluation reports are available via this link: Shared equity schemes: evaluation reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The evaluation concluded that OMSE provides significant additionality, and is effective in enabling lower income households to overcome price and deposit constraints to become a homeowner.

The Scottish Government has continued to monitor the performance of OMSE which delivered over 900 affordable homes for priority groups and first time buyers in 2023-24. In 2022 we also made several evidence based adjustments to the scheme to further support priority groups into affordable home ownership.

Based on previous years’ financial spend we expect that the current budget could provide up to an additional 466 units.

Details on the application process and eligibility criteria for the Open Market Share Equity Scheme (OMSE) can be found in our administrative procedures: https://www.gov.scot/publications/open-market-shared-equity-omse-administrative-procedures-2020/ .

The following table shows a breakdown of the spend for the Open Marked Shared Equity Scheme (OMSE) in each financial year: