Chamber and committees

The safety and security of people’s data, and the running of NHS services is of the upmost importance. I have provided detail on the action being taken to protect NHS patient data in the answers to questions S6W-26702 on 23 April 2024, S6T-01869 on 19 March 2024, S6W-26442 on 17 May 2024 and S6W-26223 on 27 March 2024.

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 .

All answers to Topical 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/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament .

Since 2019 the number of teachers in Scottish schools has increased from 52,247 to 54,033 and the pupil teacher ratio has improved from 13.6 to 13.2.

Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of teaching staff, and the Scottish Government continues to provide local authorities with £145.5 million in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers more widely.

Our Teaching Bursary Scheme is offering 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 Strategic Board for Teacher Education is also 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 Hospitality sector was represented on the Cameron House Hotel Short Life Working Group and is also represented on the ongoing Building and Fire Safety Expert Working Group. The economic and social impacts of fires affecting hotels are being considered as part of the review.

The work of the Building and Fire Safety Expert Working Group is programmed to consult in autumn 2024 and will cover all objectives and terms of reference which can be found on the Building and Fire Safety Ministerial Working Group website.

The Business Support Partnership (BSP) is a commitment from Scottish Government, Scotland’s Enterprise and Skills Agencies, Business Gateway, and Local Government to develop a streamlined, efficient, and effective business support system that drives collaboration at a local, regional, and national level. Partners are committed to including the voice of businesses and communities and delivering inclusive and fair support that is underpinned by shared research, aligned customer surveying and data.

In its Strategic Delivery Plan 2023-2026, the BSP sets out its goal to ensure that the business support system in Scotland is inclusive, accessible and responsive, and that it recognises underrepresented groups, targets priority areas and supports socio-economic growth in response to data and the views of customers.

This is a long term undertaking, but one that is central to closing the gap in entrepreneurial participation. Better collection and reporting of data will provide us with essential information, which will allow us to prioritise and target support to under-represented and under-supported groups and to measure our progress.

Alongside this work we continue to develop our response to the broader recommendations of the Pathways report with emphasis on the establishment of Pre-Start support, with the Pathways Pre-Start Fund awarding £1.3m in partner led programmes aimed at widening entrepreneurial participation in 2023-24.

Salmon production contributes to our food security, producing healthy, nutritious food for people in Scotland and around the world with a greenhouse gas emissions profile that is lower than many other farmed sources of animal protein. The sector is heavily regulated and subject to robust legislation and policies relating to animal health, environment protection and local authority planning. The Scottish Government’s Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture is clear on our ambitions for an aquaculture sector which operates within environmental limits and which recognises social and economic benefits, and includes specific outcomes on fish health, cleaner fish welfare, best use of by-products and responsibly sourced fish feed.

The Scottish Government remains focused on strengthening our screen sector and creating the conditions for continued growth across production, development, talent, and skills, including in unscripted production.

We have funded, and continue to fund, Screen Scotland, who over the last 3 financial years have supported a total of 138 unscripted productions, including many through the Broadcast Content Fund (BCF), which is supported by Scottish Government Grant-in-Aid funding.

Screen Scotland’s Unscripted team continue to support the development and production of unscripted projects, and support talent development, skills and training opportunities for people working in the unscripted sector.

As well as supporting the annual unscripted film talent development programme, ‘Docscene’, delivered by the Scottish Documentary Institute, Screen Scotland also work closely with partners such as the BBC and Channel 4, on a range of projects and initiatives to support the production of unscripted factual and entertainment content.

They have also worked closely with production companies and local training providers to help incorporate freelancers from unscripted production into scripted training programmes and productions, for those seeking to transition their careers or broaden their portfolios.

In March 2024, Screen Scotland published their Strategy to 2030-31 which outlines their plan of work across skills and training, audience development, support for Scottish creatives and international collaboration to ensure that all those working in the screen sector, including in unscripted production, have a wide range of opportunities for employment and professional development.

The taskforce has established four subgroups to focus on attraction, education and development, leadership and culture, and wellbeing. All subgroups are considering retention as part of their remit. Each subgroup will formulate and provide recommended actions to the main taskforce. The Taskforce is making good progress with the development of its recommended actions and will continue to work until members have agreed a comprehensive action plan. We anticipate the publication of a report later in 2024.

Hotels are not listed as ‘relevant buildings’ within the meaning of the Building Scotland (Amendment) Regulations 2022. All new and converted hotels having a storey, or creating a storey at a height of 11 metres or more above the ground, must comply with the relevant mandatory functional standards, including mandatory standard 2.7 that requires the fire spread on external walls to be inhibited.

BS 8414 testing and the assessment criteria in BR 135 may be used for hotels as an alternative route to compliance with the mandatory standards. The continued use of this alternative solution for hotels over 11 metres in height is currently being considered by the Building and Fire Safety Expert Working Group.

As set out in the most recent Public Health Scotland (PHS) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting times quarterly publication, CAMHS is classified as multi-disciplinary teams that provide treatment and interventions for children and young people experiencing mental health problems.

Where they are awaiting an assessment for a neurodevelopmental condition such as ASD or ADHD, they may not be considered for CAMHS because they do not meet the National Referral Criteria described in the CAMHS national service specification standards. Broadly these state that if a child is presenting with mental health problems that are causing significant impact on their day-to-day lives and other approaches are not appropriate. However in some individual cases, it may be the case that patients with neurodevelopmental conditions are still reported under CAMHS as long as they fit the specification criteria.