- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the funding set out in the NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 has been allocated to improving audiology services in the (a) NHS Lothian and (b) West Lothian Council area.
Answer
We published the NHS Recovery Plan in August 2021, which sets out our plans for health and social care over the next 5 years, backed by over £1 billion of funding. The second annual progress update was published on 6 December 2023: NHS recovery plan: progress report 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
Whilst Scottish Ministers are responsible for determining the strategic policy of the NHS in Scotland, it is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for service delivery and patient treatment. The Scottish Government welcomes the recently published Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland report and we fully recognise that there is work to be done to improve audiology care across the country.
We are continuing to work closely with NHS Boards, Independent Providers and the Third Sector to develop fully integrated and sustainable audiology care and treatment located closer to the local communities being served. This includes the roll out of a Third sector-NHS partnership after-care service RNID Near You.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider long-term funding for support work in relation to violence against women and girls (VAWG).
Answer
We remain steadfast in our commitment to preventing and eradicating all violence against women and girls and it is vital, now more than ever, that we make the best use of resources available to tackle this issue.
The Independent Strategic Review of Funding and Commissioning of Violence Against Women and Girls Services was commissioned to provide recommendations on the funding and procurement of services, which would enable the development of a consistent, coherent, collective, and stable funding model.
A Project Board comprising public sector and specialist stakeholders is being formed to oversee the consideration of the funding and procurement recommendations made. We will set out our next steps in the Equally Safe Delivery Plan, which will be published in April 2024.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the premises contracted for delivery of superfast broadband under the R100 scheme have still to be connected.
Answer
All homes and businesses across Scotland can currently access a superfast broadband service. The R100 contracts are going beyond that by extending access to gigabit-capable broadband – over 30 times faster than our original commitment.
The contracts remain on track to complete build in 2028. So far, over 36,100 of the 114,869 premises currently expected to receive R100 contract build have been connected. This means that approximately 68% of the total premises remain scheduled for build between now and 2028.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23870 by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024, what analysis it is undertaking of any reasons for probationer teachers reportedly being less likely to opt in to the preference waiver scheme since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answer
As set out in the answer to question S6W-23870, the Strategic Board for Teacher Education is looking at issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail, including how the Teacher Induction Scheme operates.
All applications for the Teacher Induction Scheme are based on personal choice and the Scottish Government cannot direct probationary teachers to opt for the Preference Waiver Payment.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what the anticipated methane slip is on the (a) Glen Sannox and (b) Glen Rosa.
Answer
CalMac are continuing to develop the LNG workstream for Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa, including through discussions with Wartsila the engine manufacturer. The methane slip in service would be influenced by the route the ship is to operate on and the amount of venting produced by the number of times changing over fuel source or when slowing down suddenly for navigational purposes. For these reasons the rate of methane slip will not be fully known until the ships are deployed and fully operational.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when it anticipates that it will update local authorities on its expectations regarding the use of the £900,000 allocated for training for staff to tackle post-COVID-19 pandemic challenges in schools.
Answer
We are currently in discussions with COSLA regarding the distribution of this funding. We will write out to local authorities in due course to set out our expectations regarding the use of the funding.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23874 by Jenny Gilruth on 8 January 2024, whether it plans to uprate, by inflation in future years, the ringfenced funding that it provides to local authorities annually for the provision of additional support assistants.
Answer
As outlined in my previous answer, the Scottish Government has continued to invest an additional £15m per year since 2019-20 to help local authorities respond to the individual needs of children and young people. This investment is monitored via information collected through the annual school staff census. The latest figures show that this funding has helped contribute to the highest recorded number of support staff in schools, 16,606 in 2022.
We are also providing local authorities with £145.5m in this year's budget to protect teacher numbers and support staff.
Any financial decisions regarding these investments are subject to future budgetary processes.
- Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19193 by Siobhian Brown on 27 June 2023, regarding the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, when it plans to introduce the relevant commencement regulations.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to work closely with justice partners for the effective implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 (‘the Act') and to ensure a 1 April 2024 commencement date. This is to provide enough time to allow justice partners to complete a number of key IT change programmes and for the delivery of a robust package of training and guidance for police officers prior to commencement.
In November 2023, we published the Hate Crime Strategy Delivery Plan which sets out our immediate actions to implement Scotland’s Hate Crime Strategy. Activity includes improved support for victims, improving data and evidence on hate crime and developing effective approaches to preventing hate crime and promoting community cohesion. It will also support the implementation of the Act.
- Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many closed containment fish farms currently operate in Scotland, broken down by (a) the managing company and (b) location, and what action it is taking to encourage a move towards closed containment fish farms in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to exploring increasing the Scottish aquaculture sector’s adoption of new and innovative technologies which achieve both positive environmental and health and welfare outcomes, including the potential use of semi and closed containment systems, as stated in our Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture , published in July 2023.
In 2021 the Scottish Government, via the Marine Fund Scotland, awarded £2 million to a four-year project led by Bakkafrost Scotland (the then Scottish Salmon Company) to apply research and development as well as innovative husbandry to the rearing of larger salmon smolts in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS). This underlines our commitment to supporting innovation and also promoting advances in areas which will contribute to the sector’s sustainable growth. These and similar developments will create new rural jobs and benefit local and wider economies.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) encourages new innovative techniques to reduce overall fish farm emissions through its application charging scheme. For example, where an operator shows the new site will reduce emissions by 80%+ then the application charges will be reduced by 50%.
- Asked by: Alex Rowley, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 22 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether the system of reporting by the salmon farming industry of issues relating to fish health, including (a) sea lice numbers, (b) gill health, (c) fish mortality and (d) fish wellbeing, is compulsory or voluntary.
Answer
The Fish Farming Businesses (Reporting) (Scotland) Order 2020 places a legal requirement for aquaculture production businesses to report average sea lice numbers per fish per week to Scottish Ministers.
The Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009 place a legal obligation for increased mortality to be reported to Scottish Ministers or a veterinarian. This applies to unexplained mortality, and there is a voluntary agreement in place with aquaculture production businesses for any instances of mortality above specified thresholds to be reported to Scottish Ministers as part of wider aquatic animal health surveillance. This agreement is a requirement of the Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture.
Gill health is a term used to describe a category of conditions which have a detrimental impact on fish gills and is not a single disease. The Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009 place an obligation for the presence or suspected presence of listed diseases, some of which affect gill health, to notify to Scottish Ministers.
There is no obligation to report fish wellbeing which has no specific definition. The Fish Health Inspectorate will raise any concerns regarding fish welfare with the Animal and Plant Health Agency which is responsible for investigating potential breaches in welfare law.