Seòmar agus comataidhean

Discussions on the Skills Development Scotland budget for 2024-2025 are ongoing. We hope to confirm the ITA position in the coming weeks.

In Scotland, colleges and universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for business planning. This includes ensuring they meet the needs of students and the local economy and can respond to external factors, such as geopolitical shocks.

The Scottish Government published Purpose and Principles in June 2023. In doing so it created a framework and outcomes for the post-school education system to ensure it is sustainable, resilient and capable of responding to future challenges.

Community youth work remains an important pillar of local authority provision, including in schools. The Scottish Government utilises a Block Grant system, affording local authorities significant autonomy in allocating financial resources, including those designated for youth work in schools. This approach empowers councils to prioritise local needs and tailor services accordingly, while fulfilling mandatory obligations and adhering to nationally-agreed priorities. Transparency is ensured through annually-published breakdowns of spending on the Scottish Government website, though there is no statutory obligation for youth work activity to be recorded or monitored by local authorities, third sector organisations or voluntary organisations.

An independent review of Community Learning and Development (CLD), encompassing youth work, was launched in December 2023 and is expected to conclude in June 2024. This review aims to assess the impact of CLD on learners across Scotland, providing valuable insights for the future.

Community youth work remains an important pillar of local authority provision. The Scottish Government utilises a Block Grant system, affording local authorities significant autonomy in allocating financial resources, including those designated for youth work. This approach empowers councils to prioritise local needs and tailor services accordingly, while fulfilling mandatory obligations and adhering to nationally-agreed priorities. Transparency is ensured through annually-published breakdowns of spending on the Scottish Government website.

Furthermore, an independent review of Community Learning and Development (CLD), encompassing youth work, was launched in December 2023 and is expected to conclude in June 2024. This review aims to assess the impact of CLD on learners across Scotland, providing valuable insights for the future.

Community youth work remains an important pillar of local authority provision. The Scottish Government utilises a Block Grant system, affording local authorities significant autonomy in allocating financial resources, including those designated for youth work. This approach empowers councils to prioritise local needs and tailor services accordingly, while fulfilling mandatory obligations and adhering to nationally-agreed priorities. Transparency is ensured through annually-published breakdowns of spending on the Scottish Government website.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) was published on 29 February 2024. In 2022 the Scottish House Condition Survey asked the following new question on fire alarms: Has the dwelling satisfactory equipment for detecting fire and giving warning in the event of fire or suspected fire? Responses were recorded as a yes or no answer, and in order to be recorded as ‘yes’ a dwelling must have interlinked fire alarms installed meeting a number of criteria.

In 2022 around 1.91 million homes in Scotland (75%) have fully compliant interlinked fire alarms, while 25% (around 638,000) were recorded as not having satisfactory equipment for detecting and warning in the event of fire.

While all dwellings meeting the fire alarm criteria have interlinked fire alarms, there may be some dwellings recorded as having insufficient fire detection equipment that do have interlinked fire alarms but failed the fire alarm criteria due to other factors such as insufficient number of alarms, improperly powered alarms, or improper locations of alarms. However, due to the yes/no mode of question this number cannot be quantified from 2022 SHCS data.

From 2023 the SHCS question on fire alarms will provide details as to why a dwelling’s equipment for detecting a fire is unsatisfactory which will allow analysis in this area from 2025.

The Scottish Government provided a total of £2.1 million between Care & Repair and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to support those in greatest need or at greatest risk of fire, to meet the new standard. No new funds have been allocated to these schemes since 2022.

An independent review of Community Learning and Development (CLD) was launched in December 2023 and is expected to conclude in June 2024. This review aims to assess the impact of CLD on learners across Scotland and is likely to consider the regulatory framework alongside other aspects of the current approach to CLD, taking the original commitment further and providing valuable insights for the future.

As the member is aware, the Scottish Government supports a new station in Winchburgh, it is our understanding of the station proposal that it is and always has been a developer-led station, as outlined in the original Winchburgh Developments Ltd Masterplan for the wider development.

Transport Scotland reviewed both the design and construction cost proposals from Network Rail for a new station at Winchburgh and proactively suggested amendments to these proposals, which would see any new station delivered significantly more efficiently.

As primarily a building maintenance issue it is the responsibility of building owners to maintain their properties. Local authorities manage their own budgets and allocate financial resources on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and jointly agreed national and local priorities. The Cross Sector Working Group and its Housing and Management sub-groups have representation from across multiple public and private sectors and provide forums for stakeholders such as Aberdeen City Council to help facilitate engagement, develop connections (including with construction industry bodies), raise awareness, share information and discuss good practice.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that crofters can benefit from investment in projects such as peatland restoration and woodland creation, particularly when carried out on common grazing land, much of which we know is underutilised.

The Crofting Bill Team and stakeholder group are considering a number of proposals that will hopefully make it easier for crofters to use their common grazings for purposes other than agriculture, including peatland restoration. One of the proposals would make provision for crofter-led projects and landlord collaborations / joint ventures, for carbon sequestration, habitat restoration and biodiversity enhancement.

We are committed to taking forward the Crofting Bill before the end of the current parliamentary term.