Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has provided the following funding to the Net Zero Technology Centre from its foundation to the end of the second quarter of financial year 2024-25:

• £148,696,581 through the Aberdeen City Region Deal and paid through Aberdeenshire Council as the Deal's Accountable Body (including funding provided on behalf of the UK Government whereby both governments have committed up to £90 million each over 10 years to financial year 2026-27)
• £4,521,000 through the Decommissioning Challenge Fund, payments concluding in financial year 2018-19
• £15,151,601 through the Energy Transition Fund
• £709,126 through the Just Transition Fund.

The Scottish Government has fully committed to ensuring that treatment services are available for all forms of substance use. The MAT standards are an essential part of the National Mission on Drugs, to save and improve lives.

The National Mission focuses on actions and initiatives to address the harms associated with drugs, but these can and do support people affected by all substances including alcohol. For example, through an increase in residential rehabilitation places; initiatives to tackle the stigma directed by people affected by substance use; and an increased understanding of the co-occurring nature of problem substance use and mental health issues.

A National Specification for treatment and recovery services is also currently in development, which aims to provide clarity on the range of substance use support services that should be available in local areas. The Specification will help local services set out future strategic plans to deliver on their commitment to reduce alcohol and drug harms and deaths, improving the lives of those impacted by alcohol and drugs.

In addition, the Scottish Government is supporting the UK Government on reviewing and updating the UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment: consultation document - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) to introduce new approaches to treatment that will apply to a broad range of settings including primary care, hospital and justice settings.

Religious observance (RO), plays an important role in pupil’s education. However, there is also a longstanding parental right to withdraw a pupil from both RO and religious instruction or religious and moral education (RME).

As with any decision which affects children and young people, it is only right that their views should also be taken into account when this right to withdraw is being exercised. Doing so is in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and is especially relevant as pupils mature and take more responsibility for their own learning. However, while consideration of pupils’ views has long been a feature of our guidance on RO, this is not reflected in legislation.

The UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 builds upon a strong record on children’s rights in Scotland, but the commencement of the Act is merely a step on our journey to uphold and promote children’s rights. It is with this in mind that I am announcing that the Scottish Government will shortly be bringing forward a narrowly focussed Bill, with the purpose of amending the current legislation to require that pupils’ views are considered when parents or carers are exercising their right to withdraw their child from RO and RME. This will bring legislation into line with existing guidance as well as strengthening our commitment to upholding children’s rights in all aspects of their lives, including education.

These changes in no way diminish the significance of RO and RME in the work of schools, helping pupils to grow and develop their own sense of themselves, to be confident in expressing their own beliefs and values, and to develop an understanding of and empathy towards others. This approach will strengthen the rights of Scottish children and young people, which are a key priority of this government, but I am also conscious of the wide range of views on this issue and will discuss these issues with members across the chamber and with other interested parties.

As part of this, although the proposed changes on RO and RME merely bring legislation into line with existing guidance, a public consultation will launch tomorrow to seek views on any implications of these changes, as well as insights into how the right to withdraw currently works in practice to help inform implementation. The consultation can be found here: https://consult.gov.scot/education-reform/religious-observance-education-legislation-schools.

I can advise that South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) are working closely with Bhagat Holdings in regard to the former Pinneys Site in Annan.

With apologies, SOSE need a little more time to report fully on the latest position and I shall be in touch as soon as I have this information.

The number of employers and the amount they deduct is not a statistic (figure) that the Scottish Government collects or has access to. The amount deducted is a contractual agreement between employer and employee and would only be investigated during a wages complaint or routine inspection if the amount deducted was more than the maximum allowed under the Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order (AWO). The AWO does not differentiate between agricultural workers on the Seasonal Worker Visa scheme and other seasonal workers or permanent employees.

The Scottish Government has given the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) the statutory powers under the Wildlife and Countryside (Registration and Ringing of Certain Captive Birds) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 to collect registration fees for schedule 4 birds in Scotland.

The statutory mechanism that enables this is the Scotland Act (Agency Agreements) (Specification) Order 2000 (S.I. 2000/745) which specifically allows the Scottish Ministers to enter into agency arrangements such as the function in section 7(2A) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Act for determining a charge, and charging, for registration.

The Teacher Induction Scheme guarantees every eligible student a one-year probationary placement, however it does not provide a guarantee of future employment with a particular local authority.

While local authorities are the direct employers of teachers, the Scottish Government continues to make available £145.5m to local authorities to protect teaching jobs.

In addition, I have also asked the Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is made up of a range of key education stakeholders, to consider issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland. This includes geographical issues as well as how we can increase diversity within the profession, and improve support for early career teachers.

Despite substantial investment, and the progress we have made in recruiting thousands of additional teachers since 2018, we recognise that more work is needed to ensure that our teachers have access to long term, sustainable, employment opportunities, regardless of which stage of their career they are at, and we will continue to work with COSLA to ensure this can happen.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have asked their Chief Executive, Adrian Gillespie, to contact you directly with a response.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have asked their Chief Executive, Adrian Gillespie, to contact you directly with a response.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have asked their Chief Executive, Adrian Gillespie, to contact you directly with a response.