Chamber and committees

Ferry fares policy, including Road Equivalent Tariff (RET), is currently being reviewed through the Fair Fares Review and Islands Connectivity Plan.

The draft Islands Connectivity Plan Strategic Approach, published for consultation on 1 February 2024, made a number of proposals around ferry fares policy, including RET.

The online consultation concluded on 6 May 2024 and responses will now be collated and analysed. Further detail on next steps and timescales will be confirmed in due course.

Any introduction of RET fares on the Gourock to Dunoon services would require careful consideration and an appropriate mechanism to reflect the commercial operator and ensure this meets with Subsidy Control requirements. Further work would be required to develop these proposals.

HM Inspectors evaluate the quality of education in Scottish schools using quality indicators. 'How good is our school? (4th edition)’ has been in use since September 2016.

HM Inspectors use a six-point scale to grade individual quality indicators. There are two models of inspection, one in which two quality indicators are graded, and one where four quality indicators are graded. The information provided includes grades assigned for both models of inspection.

The information provided relates to grades assigned during inspections carried out using the current framework, 'How good is our school? (4th edition). The information does not include details of inspections carried out in academic year 2023-24 where fieldwork has been carried out, but the reports not yet published.

The level of performance deductions incurred by CalMac Ferries Ltd since October 2022 has been answered recently in a Freedom of Information request.

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. Details of the above Freedom of Information request can be found using the link: CalMac Ferries Limited performance deductions 2022/23 - 2023/24: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The level of penalties, as result of late submission of reporting, in respect of Contract Year 7 (October 2022 to September 2023) is £1,040,794

Information on the number of schools currently offering Code Clubs as an extra-curricular activity is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government recognises the benefits of extra-curricular activities which are rightly determined and delivered locally to best meet the needs of learners.

Between 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 a total of £170,000 was provided by Scottish Government to Digital Xtra, which provides grants to organisations delivering extra-curricula computing and digital technology activities for young people.

The Scottish Government is taking action to prevent and support the removal of plastic pollution in seas and waterways through measures detailed in the Marine Litter Strategy.

The refreshed Marine Litter Strategy aims to address the amount of litter entering the marine environment, as well as to help tackle existing litter, in order to achieve ecological, economic and social benefits. The Strategy’s action plan focuses on the most problematic types of marine litter including fishing and aquaculture gear, sewage-related debris, and plastic pellets, and will drive forward our work up to 2027 co-ordinating the efforts of our stakeholders and partners, working at a national and international level to help tackle this global problem.

The Scottish Government supports the removal of existing litter through funding the work of organisations that support and co-ordinate beach cleans and local community engagement, such as Local Coastal Partnerships. We have also funded litter removal offshore through KIMO’s Fishing for Litter scheme, and at our rivers with Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Upstream Battle project, preventing litter entering waterways, travelling downstream, and ultimately reaching the sea.

None of the public bodies under the direct jurisdiction of the Scottish Ministers currently use physical record keeping as their only means of information storage.

The new publication format from Public Health Scotland is experimental and will continue to develop as the new Payments Model beds in.

The new publications draw from the revised Statement of Dental Remuneration (SDR) which sets out 45 comprehensive care and treatment activities from 1 November, as opposed to the previous SDR which was input-focused and included over 700 individual item codes. In reforming the SDR to focus on comprehensive care and treatment activities, we have also ensured that the overall model of care is predicated on being patient-centric and responsive to individual need and risk.

While we are therefore still able to draw broad comparisons on activity reported for clinical treatments pre- and post-pandemic, given the significant change to the basis on which raw data is collected, it is not appropriate for the two data-sets to be presented as equivalent in statistical reporting and comparisons drawn must be treated with appropriate caution. While broad comparisons are useful for providing indicative metrics on sector capacity pre- and post-pandemic, our focus is to ensure that all activity is of clinical value and appropriate to the patient's need.

Forestry and Land Scotland do not create policy but follow Scottish Government Policy created by other Scottish Government agencies.

Forestry and Land Scotland a) encourage raptor and owl conservation and monitoring by following the principles within Scotland’s Biodiversity Strategy, Scotland’s Forestry Strategy and by complying with all relevant wildlife legislation.

Forestry and Land Scotland b) are engaged with a range of local community conservation programmes, including those supported by Scottish Raptor Study Group. In 2023, FLS launched its Communities Strategy which is an invitation for community groups to come forward with ideas for projects and activities including conservation work on Scotland's National Forests and Land managed by FLS.

The Scottish Government is working on a contribution to the UK's report to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee- detailing the actions being taken to ensure to ensure compliance with the convention. It will be published this summer.

Work is ongoing to progress the national guidance framework on local planning and commissioning of independent hospice care, and to align the framework with our overarching palliative care strategy.

We will continue to work with Chief Officers and independent hospices to support longer term sustainable planning and commissioning for the hospice sector.