Chamber and committees

The provision of education and training of audiologists is being considered as part of the National Audiology Improvement Programme. In addition, there is a review underway of Healthcare Science Education in Scotland to look at education and training provision in healthcare science more widely.

Under planning legislation set out in The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (the 1997 Act) it is a breach of planning control to carry out any development, including the installation of replacement windows, without the required planning consent.

When a planning authority consider that a breach of planning control has occurred in their area, the planning authority has a range of powers available to them to ensure that the breach is rectified. These powers extend to requiring that any changes to the appearance of a building or land be reversed and the property in question restored to its original state prior to the unauthorised development taking place. Should any person responsible for the unauthorised development fail to comply with enforcement measures, the planning authority has the power to enter the land and carry out the required remedial work themselves, with the costs of such work being recovered form that person. Additionally the planning authority can seek to prosecute that person through the Scottish Courts with the maximum fine on summary conviction currently set at £50,000.

In the case of unauthorised works to a listed building, in addition to any action taken under the 1997 Act, the owner may also be subject to enforcement action under the Town and Country Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997. Again, they can be required to carry out any remedial work and can be liable to conviction with a fine of up to £50,000 on summary conviction.

Our Teaching Bursary Scheme offers a £20,000 payment to career changers who are looking to undertake teacher training in hard-to-fill STEM subjects – physics, maths, technical education, computing science, chemistry and home economics. The scheme was also extended to include Gaelic as a secondary subject, and Gaelic medium across all secondary subjects and in primary.

In addition, the Strategic Board for Teacher Education (SBTE) is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail, together with work to improving the promotion of teaching as a valued career.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council have also offered to work with universities to develop alternative routes into subjects which have traditionally been difficult to recruit to.

This is an operational matter for Abellio ScotRail for the year 2021-22 and for ScotRail Trains for the years 2022-23 and 2023-24. The member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.

The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering these two new services. Although the current financial pressures mean that we are unable to provide a delivery timescale, we will continue to undertake preparatory work where possible.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on whether dogs involved in incidents were wearing a harness or lead at the time of the incident.

The Scottish Government does not collate data on dog attacks broken down by local authority area.

However, Public Health Scotland collects data provided by NHS Health Boards on the number of inpatient and day case admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of dog attack (bite or strike) was recorded.

I would refer you to the answer given to question S6W-24486 on 24 January 2024 for the available data from 2004 to 2022.

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 .

There are various research papers that that can be found online that are relevant in this area. This includes : Dog Pulling on the Leash: Effects of Restraint by a Neck Collar vs. a Chest Harness - PMC (nih.gov) .

In addition, there are papers on the behavioural and biomechanical effects of using harnesses from a welfare perspective, for instance: Effect of harness design on the biomechanics of domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) — SRUC, Scotland's Rural College

Information on pupils that are subject to reduced or part-time timetable is not reported centrally by the Scottish Government. Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, education authorities have duties to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils. Education authorities are responsible for determining the most appropriate educational provision for children and young people in their area, taking account of their legislative responsibilities and the individual circumstances of children, young people and their families.

SEPA's River Basin Management Plan for Scotland 2021-2027 (RBMP) sets out a range of actions aiming to improve the overall condition of Scotland’s water environment from 66% currently classified at good condition to 81% by 2027.

The Scottish Government supports SEPA to deliver the RMBP and invested almost £5m last year in the Water Environment Fund, a key element of the plan. Work continues this year providing access to rivers for migratory fish and restoring urban rivers providing benefits for biodiversity, climate change adaptation and flood management.

The most detailed and up to date classification information for all parameters is available in the water classification hub .