Seòmar agus comataidhean

Whilst there have been homes delivered in rural areas since 1999, this has only been reported on since 2015 -16. Data on new build affordable homes in rural areas is therefore provided from that year onwards in the following table below. Figures relating to 2021-22 will be published early in 2023. There were also non-new build homes provided and the final column in the table includes all affordable homes delivered in rural areas.

There is ongoing work related to identifying and monitoring risks from PFAS.

The environmental regulator SEPA has been working with partners in recent years to understand the sources, environmental concentrations, and risks of perflourinated compounds in the environment.

A 2019 SEPA study looked at the potential for organic contaminants to be present in materials spread to land, and carried out a basic risk assessment using monitoring data for prioritised substances. This study included measurement of 1 PFA substance (PFOA) levels in sludges from two waste water treatment plants, and did not identify a risk for reasonable worst-case spreading scenarios. In 2018, SEPA carried out a limited monitoring exercise looking at several PFAS in a number of rivers across Scotland, though monitoring locations were not directly targeted to potential sources of these chemicals. 65% of the 550 datapoints reported were below limits of detection.

A Scottish Government commissioned report by the James Hutton Institute on the impact of sewage sludge spreading on human health was published in 2021 and indicated that risks to human health from the polyfluorinated compounds PFOS and PFOA in sewage sludge spread to land in Scotland are likely to be low.

However, scientific understanding of risks posed by PFAS in the environment continues to develop. For example :

• SEPA is reviewing its approach to evidence gathering to better characterise the current distribution of PFAS in Scotland’s environment. It is working with partner organisations to develop this understanding, and working across the regulatory landscape to support revisions to legislation, regulatory approaches, and support site operators or users of PFAS based substances to meet their legal obligations. This includes engagement with large research programmes such as ECORISC (Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment Towards Sustainable Chemical Use).
• UK environmental regulators have been engaged in the UK Water Industry Research Chemical Investigations Programme (CIP UK). Through this programme SEPA has been working in partnership with Scottish Water on various workstreams for a number of years, and this investigation has included evaluation of PFAS in waste water treatment works effluent and sludge, risks to the environment and effectiveness of treatment processes.

Details of Parliamentary business, including motions for debate, are published in the Business Bulletin when the Parliament is in session. This includes details of current and future business of the Parliament and the business motion setting out the date for the debate on ‘Improving care and services for people with chronic pain’ was proposed and agreed by MSPs on Tuesday 8 November 2022. This is available to view on the Scottish Parliament website: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/votes-and-motions/S6M-06687

In advance of this, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care met with the convenors of the Cross Party Group on Chronic Pain (CPGCP) on 7 November 2022 to inform them that the debate was imminent and wrote to them on the 11 November 2022 once the date had been confirmed. We will continue to seek to work in a collaborative and constructive manner with the CPGCP and other stakeholders as we implement the Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery.

I understand the importance of school age childcare and the benefits it brings for the whole family. That is why the Scottish Government is committed to design an all-year-round system of school age childcare, which will be funded for those families on the lowest incomes by the end of the Parliamentary Term.

We will soon publish a School Age Childcare Delivery Framework which will set out the approach and principles we will apply to designing and building a school age childcare system.

We have supported and listened to private providers and other key stakeholders throughout our policy development. We will continue to do this, using a place based and people centred approach to design, recognising that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to providing school age childcare within communities.

Across 2020-22 we invested £3 million in 15 Access to Childcare Fund projects, some delivered by private providers. The projects explored new models of school age childcare including holiday provision, flexible delivery and specialist services for children with additional support needs. This year, we also provided £10 million to the Summer 2022 programme. This helped Local Authorities and a range of delivery partners, including private providers, to offer free summer holiday and food provision to families from the six priority groups outlined in the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-26 .

Building on our learning from these projects, in this year’s Programme for Government we will continue to invest and involve a range of providers and communities to help us design an all-year round school age childcare system.

We are also progressing the actions set out in the Financial Sustainability Health Check , published in August 2021, including funding pilot programmes for targeted Business Gateway support for childcare services. In early spring we will conduct a second Financial Sustainability Health Check to gather further evidence on the sustainability of the sector, helping us to tailor future policy.

I would also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13101 on 9 January 2023. 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 Scottish Government accepts that this statistic needs revising and we have already committed to undertake further work to quantify Scotland’s offshore wind potential. In response to the issues raised in the UK Statistics Authority’s letter, dated 7 December 2022, the Scottish Government has engaged directly with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) setting out the steps that have been taken to ensure the statistic is not used further, and provided an update on the analytical work that is underway to produce a replacement statistic.

Within the South Region of Forestry and Land Scotland, since 2007, the following estimated number of trees (based on normal planting densities per hectare), have been planted by Forestry and Land Scotland in each Local Authority Area:

Information on the number of dentists is provided by NHS Education for Scotland and can be found at: Data tables | Turas Data Intelligence (nhs.scot)

We do not hold information on country of origin of dentists, nor information on Dental Care Professionals as this group is in the main employed by independent dental practices.

CMAL ask for information regarding Fair Working Practices and Community Benefits as part of all their high value tender exercises, in accordance with the Scottish Government’s Statutory Guidance.

The Scottish Government’s ambition, shared with COSLA, is for a trauma-informed and trauma-responsive workforce and services across Scotland. We want anyone who has been affected by trauma in Scotland to be supported by trauma-informed services that are built on safe and trusted relationships, which support recovery and do not cause any further harm or re-traumatisation.

We continue to support the development of a trauma-informed health and social care workforce in Scotland. Since 2018, we have invested over £6 million in a National Trauma Training Programme, including £3.2 million which has been distributed to all local areas to further develop and embed trauma informed approaches. Support for training and implementation, across all sectors of the workforce, is provided by a team of Transforming Psychological Trauma Implementation Co-Ordinators (TPTICs). In 2021, a network of ‘Trauma Champions’ was also established, this includes senior leaders from across local authorities, health boards and key community planning partners who work collaboratively to influence change across local areas. The Trauma Champions network is supported by the Improvement Service.

A Quality-Improvement Framework for Trauma Informed Organisations, Systems and Workforces in Scotland is currently under development and due for publication in Spring 2023. This will support organisations to implement trauma-informed change and to identify their own progress, successes and areas for improvement.

The Scottish Government contract Corporate Travel Management (CTM) who contract and manage all of the Scottish Government’s hotel bookings. This includes invoicing. We are aware of one hotel recently that indicated a delay in payment of an invoice. CTM colleagues have worked with the hotel manager to resolve this issue.

Any hotel who has concern around a delayed invoice should liaise with CTM. Hotel managers have regular contact with CTM, and contact details are provided where they can raise any concerns. The Scottish Government also chair a weekly call - which all hotel managers are invited to - along with CTM colleagues and our Scottish Government temporary accommodation team. This call provides a further regular opportunity to raise any concerns hotel managers may have with both CTM and the Scottish Government.