- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the potential impact on widening the accessibility of and encouraging participation in sport in Scotland, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding (a) the affordability of viewing packages for Scottish men’s and women’s football and (b) any action that can be taken to ensure free to view access.
Answer
Broadcasting is reserved to the UK Government. We have not had any recent discussion with the UK Government on this particular issue, however we remain strongly committed to a fairer and more representative service for Scotland, and we will continue to press for its improvement to ensure it better reflects the specific needs and interests of Scottish audiences in terms of all programming, including sport.
We will continue to support expanding the offer for audiences to enjoy Scottish international football and other major sporting events on free-to-air broadcast TV.
Although the Scottish Government cannot influence access rights, and the listed events regime is the responsibility of the UK Government, we maintain a close interest in audience and stakeholder views in Scotland and we meet regularly with representatives of Ofcom and the broadcasters to urge them to consider how they can ensure that audiences in Scotland receive the best possible level of service.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much private sector investment has been secured, to date, for Scotland’s transition to net zero, as part of the Green Growth Accelerator programme.
Answer
The pathfinder projects supported through the Green Growth Accelerator are still at the development stage and, as such, no private investment has been secured yet.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) assessments.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting all Boards to achieve the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral. We allocated nearly £40m additional funding in 2021-22 to NHS Boards to improve CAMHS, which included £4.25m specifically for clearing backlogs. In 2022-23 we allocated a further £36.7m via the Mental Health Outcomes Framework to improve the quality and delivery of mental health and psychological services for all.
We recognise that performance varies across Health Boards and we continue to provide targeted, tailored support towards those Boards with the longest waits and poorest performance. We have asked Boards to submit trajectories up to March 2024 for performance against the CAMHS standard, and for clearing long waits.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its announcement of the successful projects for year one, whether it will provide further detail on the allocation of the Just Transition Fund to ensure transparency and value for money.
Answer
The £500 million Just Transition Fund for North East and Moray has allocated £75 million to date, including a multi-year capital programme supporting 24 projects. The open and competitive bidding round assessed projects against published criteria in line with public finance guidelines. Details of successful projects are published here: Just Transition Fund: year one projects - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . I have committed to regular updates on progress towards a just transition to net zero to Parliament and the Just Transition Commission.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19560 by Lorna Slater on 18 July 2023, on what specific date the Scottish Government first informed the UK Government that Circularity Scotland was likely to go into administration.
Answer
Scottish Government officials were in regular discussions with UK Government officials regarding the Internal Market Act (IMA) exclusion process for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Throughout these discussions officials made it clear that not providing a timely and complete exclusion would jeopardise the future of the DRS in Scotland and by extension the viability of Circularity Scotland. Scottish Ministers and officials wrote to UK Ministers a number of times throughout April and May highlighting the risk to the scheme and to Circularity Scotland due to the uncertainty around the IMA exclusion. This included letters from myself on 19 May and from the First Minister on 22 April and 3 May 2023.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in each case where a risk assessment has been
carried out of school buildings that contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete,
whether any recommendations made as part of the assessment have been undertaken
and completed, and if this is not the case, what the reasons are for this not
having been done.
Answer
Building safety is a matter for the owner - who in this case would be individual local authorities - acting in accordance with the relevant health and safety legislation. Moreover, health and safety legislation is not devolved to the Scottish Government.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many out-of-catchment applications have been
submitted for pupils in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in the last five
years, and what proportion of these applications were successful, broken down
by year and local authority area.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not routinely collect data on out-of-catchment applications and does not hold information about the number of applications that have been submitted for pupils in primary and secondary schools or what proportion of those were successful.
Local authorities are responsible for procedures for dealing with out-of-catchment applications for school places and will hold such data locally.
- Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many pupils are currently learning in a school that requires major rebuilding or refurbishment, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information on major rebuilding or refurbishment requirements. It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage and maintain their school estate.
Since 2007 the quality of the school estate has improved from 61% to over 90% of schools reported in good or satisfactory condition.
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has published all minutes of any discussions that relevant ministers have had with (a) officials and (b) local authorities regarding the issue of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in school buildings.
Answer
The issue of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete was discussed at the Building and Fire Safety Ministerial Working Group in both January and June of this year. The minutes can be accessed at: Building and Fire Safety: Ministerial Working Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it last carried out risk assessments on each
school building for which it is responsible and that contains reinforced autoclaved
aerated concrete; whether it has published the outcomes of any such
assessments, and if this is not the case, whether it plans to do so, and how
regularly any such assessments will take place in the future.
Answer
Building safety is a matter for the owner - who in this case would be individual local authorities - acting in accordance with the relevant health and safety legislation. Moreover, health and safety legislation is not devolved to the Scottish Government.