Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-14772

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the report, Caledonian Pinewoods: Findings from the Caledonian Pinewood Recovery Project, Trees for Life, which was published in February 2023.

Scottish Government recognise that Scotland’s Caledonian Pinewoods are an irreplaceable and iconic habitat which is a treasured part of Scotland’s natural heritage. Scottish Forestry, NatureScot and Forestry and Land Scotland were partners in this project along with Woodland Trust Scotland, Scottish Land and Estates and the lead organisation Trees for Life. We are currently working through the findings of the recently published reports.

Scottish Government currently support landowners and managers to improve the condition and extent of Caledonian Pinewoods through the Forestry Grants Scheme. This funding supports regeneration and expansion of pinewoods through management of deer as well as ongoing maintenance and improvement work. Support is also provided to help with preparing long-term forest plans for these woodlands, which is often the first step towards recovery. Engagement with private land managers is ongoing in order to encourage them take up and make use of this available funding. Forestry and land Scotland who manage approximately 10% of Scotland’s Forests and Land, are actively engaged with pinewood restoration.

Scottish Forestry has committed over £14 million since 2015, to help secure the sustainable management of native woodlands and associated habitats, and much of this funding will directly benefit the Caledonian Pinewoods . In the same timeframe current figures show that an additional 20 million has been committed on creating nearly 5000 hectares of new pine woodland.

Question reference: S6W-15441

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to the local authority’s decision not to approve plans for a housing development on Sibbald’s Brae in Bathgate on three occasions, prior to it granting planning permission.

Independent reporters have decided three planning appeals relating to housing development on Sibbald’s Brae in Bathgate. In 2014 a reporter refused planning permission; in 2020 a reporter granted planning permission; and in 2022 a reporter amended the planning conditions attached to the 2020 permission. All three decisions were made on the planning merits of the cases and in overall accordance with the development plan. The reporters took full account of all submissions made by parties on the appeals, including those from West Lothian Council and also from members of the local community.

Question reference: S6W-15228

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding SEPA receives annually, and what its position is on whether SEPA has the necessary resources to fully exercise all of its statutory functions in a timely manner.

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]

Question reference: S6W-15239

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what is being done to tackle misogyny in schools, and what plans there are to improve education on misogyny in schools.

Question reference: S6W-15194

Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with learning disabilities have accessed the Fair Start Scotland employment support service in each year since it was established, broken down by the outcomes for those people, including how may have gone onto sustained employment.

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

	All Participants	Participants with a Learning Disability		Job Outcomes (Participants with a Learning Disability)
Year	FSS Starts	FSS Starts	Job Starts	3 Months	6 Months	12 Months
1	10,063	185	33	28	17	16
2	12,085	118	33	26	22	18
3	10,359	51	16	11	10	6
4	12,533	108	30	21	*	6
5 (to date)	8,990	62	16	5	*	N/A

Notes:

1. Data for year 5 is only available up until the end of quarter 3 (October - December 2022).

2. Number of starts is not equal to number of people. From April 2021 (year 4 onwards), following the extension of FSS beyond the initial three year period, people who have previously received support have been able to re-join the service. As a result of this change, the number of starts on FSS from year 4, and thus overall, is not the same as the number of people who have received support. For an individual to be eligible to re-join, there must be a break of at least 13 weeks since the person left FSS.

3. Job outcomes can only be reached when the participant has been in the service for at least that length of time. This means that the most recent months will not show final figures for sustained job outcomes. For each start cohort, the number of job starts and outcomes will continue to increase until participants' time in FSS comes to an end. Near final figures for:

job starts are available up to the end of December 2021 (Quarter 3 of Year4 )
3 month job outcomes are available up to the end of September 2021 (Quarter 2 of Year 4)
6 month job outcomes are available up to the end of June 2021 (Quarter 1 of Year 4)
12 month job outcomes are available up to the end of December 2020 (Quarter 4 of Year 3)

4. To reduce the risk of individual participants being identified, statistical disclosure control has been applied and some figures are not reported. This is indicated by an asterisk (*).

5. Information is provided for those who reported the long-term health condition, learning disability (for example, Down's Syndrome). Participants may report more than one health condition.

Question reference: S6W-15323

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to establishing the post of an Older People’s Commissioner.

We do not have plans to introduce legislation to establish an Older People’s Commissioner. There are existing commissions that protect the rights of older people. The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) already play a role in relation to the rights of older people in respect of age as a protected equality characteristic. In addition, we continue to work closely with the Older People’s Strategic Action Forum on a range of priorities for advancing age equality.

We are committed to promoting the rights of older people and ensuring that they benefit from all that we are doing to improve people’s lives. That is why we provide over £2.2million to support older people's organisations to tackle inequality and discrimination and support our aim to promote the rights of older people.

Question reference: S6W-15238

Asked by: Pam Gosal, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent UCAS Equal Consideration application deadline data for 2023, in light of reports that, for Scotland-domiciled students of all ages, there has been a 23% reduction in applicants to nursing courses and a 25% reduction in applicants to teacher training courses.

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.

Question reference: S6W-15718

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 March 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the implementation of the Career Review recommendations.

Today the Career Review Programme Board, chaired by Grahame Smith, have published the Career Review: Final Report, titled 'Skills and experiences to grow and succeed in a rapidly changing world' . This report concludes a comprehensive review of Scotland's career services and provides detail on how the ten recommendations that the Scottish Government accepted in February 2022 will be taken forward.

The report is available at www.careerreview.scot

Question reference: S6W-15459

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and Minister with special responsibility for Refugees from Ukraine on 1 November 2022, whether it will provide an update on its plans to work with Palladium to deliver modular housing for Ukrainians moving from temporary accommodation in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government is working with Palladium to consider how modular housing could be used to provide longer-term sustainable housing. . The contract that the Scottish Government entered into with Palladium in August last year will end on 15 March 2023. The Scottish Government has competitively tendered for a successor contract to be put in place after the current contract ends. This will support the Scottish Government’s plans to pilot the use of short-term modular accommodation. However, the successor company will also work with the Scottish Government to continue to develop a proposal to deliver longer-term modular housing. Bids for the successor contract are currently being reviewed and a decision will be taken very shortly.

Question reference: S6W-15623

Current Status: Withdrawn

Seòmar agus comataidhean