- Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it will make available for community-led initiatives in the Coatbridge and Chryston constituency that promote environmental quality and protection.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2023
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recent Accounts Commission report, Local government in Scotland: Overview 2023.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 14 June 2023
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its engagement with the UK Government on the delivery of the Project Gigabit programme in Scotland, including what progress has been made in designing the programme, and when the first procurements will be announced.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the UK Government on Project Gigabit activity in Scotland.
In March 2023, the Scottish Government and Building Digital UK (BDUK) carried out Procurement Area Market Engagement, engaging with broadband infrastructure suppliers to gauge the level of market interest in bidding for new gigabit-capable broadband contracts in Scotland.
On 23 March 2023, the Scottish Government launched a Scotland-wide Public Review (PR). The PR collected information about suppliers’ delivered and planned gigabit-capable networks across Scotland and will confirm eligible premises for public investment via Project Gigabit.
The PR closed on 24 April 2023 and the responses are being analysed.
The first Project Gigabit procurements in Scotland are expected to launch later in 2023.
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what communication it has had with NHS Lothian regarding the proposed closure of the youth navigator service at (a) St John's Hospital in Livingston and (b) the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh.
Answer
Scottish Government has contacted NHS Lothian, which has confirmed the Youth Hospital Navigator pilot at both hospitals was funded only for a fixed term of two years which ends this month. The pilot was included in an external evaluation of all youth work provision commissioned by NHS Lothian.
NHS Lothian is considering this evaluation and its next steps over the next 6 months which includes designing a youth work model, based on learning and key findings from the evaluation and developing a business case to support this. Health Inequalities and Children’s Rights Impact Assessments will be commissioned as part of this process.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported findings that the attainment gap for P1 children in South Lanarkshire doubled during 2020-21.
Answer
Pre-pandemic, the poverty related attainment gap in primary schools was closing across Scotland, including in South Lanarkshire. We nonetheless recognise the negative impact of the pandemic. We are now seeing strong evidence of recovery: the latest published data, the 2021-22 Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (ACEL) data, shows the biggest single year decrease in the gap in primary numeracy and literacy levels since records began (in 2016-17).
Before the pandemic, the attainment gap in South Lanarkshire was below the national average. During the pandemic, in 2020-21, we saw a widening in the attainment gap across the country, with the gap in South Lanarkshire widening by more than the average change nationally. Data from 2021-22 shows that South Lanarkshire has started to recover from the impact of the pandemic in both literacy and numeracy.
South Lanarkshire Council received £10.9 million of Scottish Attainment Challenge funding in 22-23, empowering headteachers and Local Government to achieve their ambitions to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty. This includes:
- South Lanarkshire schools receiving almost £8.95 million Pupil Equity Funding for headteachers enabling them to invest in the best approaches to raise attainment of the pupils in their schools.
- South Lanarkshire Council receiving over £1.4 million Strategic Equity Funding to develop strategic plans for closing the poverty related attainment gap; and
- Care Experience Children and Children Young People Funding of £628,425.
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), how many cases have occurred in which SSSIs have been compromised by management activities, and whether NatureScot has entered into any agreements to provide compensation for any such cases; how many (a) charges and (b) convictions resulted from individuals intentionally or recklessly damaging the protected natural features of an SSSI, in each year for which data is available, and whether it will provide a list of any SSSIs that have been intentionally or recklessly damaged since 2013.
Answer
There are records of 212 instances of damaging or unconsented activities on SSSIs that have not been attributed to third parties. No compensatory agreements have been entered into as a result of these cases.
NatureScot is only obliged to offer compensation to a land manager if the SSSI consenting process restricts the established management of their land and where this leads to a loss of income. NatureScot has 89 active compensatory Management Agreements with land managers to prevent damaging activity. The majority date back to before 2013. The majority of active Management Agreements entered in to by NatureScot contain provisions for proactive management to restore or maintain biodiversity.
The following table sets out the charging and convictions data requested:
Year | Charged | Charged & Convicted |
2004 | 1 | |
2007 | 1 | |
2008 | | 3 |
2015 | | 1 |
2021 | | 1 |
2022 | | 1 |
Issues of motivation are judged on a case by case basis and so are not recorded in a way that can be aggregated.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm the initial amount of funding that was set aside for a provisional teacher pay settlement in December 2022, when the Scottish Budget 2023-24 was first published, and how much additional funding is required from the 2023-24 Budget to pay for the final pay settlement, agreed in March 2023, which cost £188 million.
Answer
The Scottish Budget 2023-24 published in December 2022 did not include any budget provision for teachers’ pay. At that time, the Scottish Government was participating in discussions on a 2023 pay offer through the tripartite SNCT and, as always, it was for COSLA – as the employer – to make any pay offer. Publishing a budget at that stage would have risked undermining COSLA’s position and the negotiations themselves. We continued to work with COSLA to assess what specific support was needed. At the point of the Scottish Budget 2023-24 being published, we had confirmed a contribution of over £50 million to the pay offer made to teachers.
The Scottish Government will provide a total of £205m in 2023-24 to help meet the costs of the final March 2023 pay deal, £50 million of which is included in the local government finance settlement.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the cost of fixing any public buildings that it owns that are fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answer
The Scottish Government (SG) has not identified any reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in its owned core SG Estate, as such no estimate for fixing have been made. The SG Core Estate is defined as those sites/buildings where SG Directorates operate from.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its plans to introduce legislation relating to pet-friendly residential tenancy agreements.
Answer
Our ‘New Deal for Tenants’ consultation sought views on proposals to strengthen the rights of tenants including greater rights to have a pet. We are currently developing proposals for future reform. The timing and content of a Housing Bill is currently being considered as we continue to deliver our emergency response to support tenants through the ongoing cost of living crisis.
- Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Natalie Don on 7 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether any of its partner agencies use handcuffs when transporting children between care placements or other settings.
Answer
Duties relating to secure transport lie principally with the local authority responsible for the child’s placement. Information is not held centrally on these arrangements or the use of handcuffs.
A sub-group of the National Secure Care Group is developing a service specification that can be used consistently by local authorities and sets out the principles and standards wherever secure transport requires to be commissioned. It covers areas such as data gathering and staff training and prohibits the use of mechanical restraints or handcuffs.
The Scottish Government has a contract with GEOAmey to provide secure transport for children convicted on indictment and given a custodial sentence. GEOAmey must ensure that the child being transported, staff and the general public are protected by robust arrangements throughout each journey, including the prevention of escape. Multi-purpose vehicles are used to escort children, rather than the prison vans used to transport adult prisoners. Because of this, handcuffs are used for each journey.
