Chamber and committees

We recognise that pulmonary rehabilitation is an important element in managing respiratory disease and it is already a key recommendation for all appropriate patients in NICE clinical guidelines which we expect all NHS Boards to follow.

The funding announced in the UK Autumn Statement is welcome, however, the Scottish Government continues to face the most challenging financial situation since devolution. The new Scottish Budget will be presented to Parliament on Wednesday 4 December 2024. This will detail Scottish Ministers spend proposals for the year ahead.

Statistics on the percentage of primary school teachers moved directly from their Teacher Induction Scheme probation period to a permanent teaching contract are shown in the post-probationer teacher employment dashboard, available from the Scottish Government website here:

Post-probationer teacher employment dashboard - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

The statistics are not available by parliamentary constituency as the Scottish Government does not hold information on the address of teachers. The statistics are available split by local authority as the employers of teachers.

The following provisions of the Act have come into force

• Section 76 dealing with the effect of divorce, dissolution or annulment on special destination;
• Section 77 involving the rights of succession to intestate estate respectively;
• Section 7, under which an unfit trustee may be removed by the court for the purposes of section 8; and,
• Parts of section 9 concerning removal from office by a majority of co-trustees of a trustee who is no longer a member of a regulated profession or entitled to practice, and who was appointed or assumed to provide professional services in managing the trust, together with sections 13 and 14 by which decisions on the removal of a professional trustee by co-trustees are to be governed for these purposes.

The remaining provisions of the Act will come into force in due course although no decision has been taken about a date for that. The decision on when to commence the rest of the provisions generally is closely related to ongoing work with UK Government regarding the provisions covering the reserved matter of pension trusts.

Caravans and static homes provided by employers through a Service Occupancy Agreement are not subject to housing standards. Where agricultural land is used for the accommodation of people involved in farming operations on a seasonal basis, a site licence for a caravan is not required.

Employees’ rights will depend on what is written in their employment contract and will depend on the individual circumstances of the case. However, if an employee has a Private Residential Tenancy, then they will have the same rights as a private tenant.

The Scottish Government expects all women receiving maternity care to be treated with dignity and respect and is developing a Delivery Framework for Miscarriage Care, which includes the provision of separate private spaces in hospitals with maternity wards for women experiencing miscarriage or baby loss. Officials are currently working with stakeholders to finalise the content and we expect to publish the Framework by the end of 2024 or early in 2025.

The Scottish Government funded National Bereavement Care Pathways for pregnancy and baby loss and accompanying bereavement care standards are clear that women and families experiencing pregnancy or baby loss should be treated sensitively and compassionately and difficult news should be delivered in a quiet private space. All 14 NHS Boards are signed up to the pathways and at different stages of implementation.

Shared ownership has an important role to play in delivering a just transition, by giving communities the chance to make an investment in a commercially owned renewable energy project.

Whilst mandating shared ownership is a matter reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government encourages developers to offer shared ownership opportunities to communities as standard on all new renewable energy projects, including repowering and extensions to existing projects.

Additionally, the Onshore Wind Sector Deal includes a commitment to publish a framework of practical approaches to support and encourage community shared ownership models, to assist communities, and developers and funders to engage in shared ownership opportunities.

The Scottish Government takes into account a broad range of data and evidence when considering priorities to improve and support literacy including reading.

For example, Scotland’s performance in the PISA (Reading) international survey in 2022 was above the OECD average and higher than 24 other countries. 9.6% of students in Scotland performed at “PISA Level 5” or better in reading, which is defined by the OECD as top performers, and above the OECD average of 7.2%.

The most recent Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) data for literacy showed that 73% of primary school pupils achieved the expected Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Level for literacy, the highest figure on record. The poverty related attainment gap in primary literacy was the narrowest on record.

The focus remains on improving further, and the answer to S6W-30944 on 12 November 2024 provides a summary of the action being taken to support reading and literacy in schools. 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.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to implementing the recommendations of the Pathways Review: Pathways: A new approach for women in entrepreneurship - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). Record levels of funding have been allocated to support women’s enterprise, including the £1.3m Pathways Fund in 2023 and a further £2.6m of funding in 2024-25 for the Pathways Fund and Pre-Start regional pilot.

The successful applicants of the Pathways Fund have been notified and will be announced shortly. The funded projects addressing the challenges faced by women and other under-represented groups while promoting the key Pathways themes of access to support, education, finance and investment.

These interventions are foundational to the full implementation of the Pathways Review and the Scottish Government remains determined to unlock the full potential of Scotland’s female business leaders.

Falling birth rates are a demographic trend replicated across many high-income countries, with significant future implications for our economies, communities and public services.

The Family Friendly Nation strand of our Population Strategy sets out our ambition to ensure Scotland is the ideal place to raise a family. In delivering this, in November 2022, the Ministerial Population Taskforce published ‘Attitudes to Family Formation in Scotland’ to update our evidence base about family planning and ideal family size.

Next steps are being considered by the Taskforce, including scoping potential policy lessons from international comparators to support people to have the number of children they wish to have.

In his latest letter to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee (NZET) on 11 October, Ferguson Marine’s interim Chief Executive reported that recent acceptance sea trials were successfully completed and assured the Committee that a definitive handover date will be provided as soon as it is confirmed. I will then write to the NZET Committee to give the Scottish Government’s response to the latest progress update on the delivery of MV Glen Sannox. The vessel is now in the final stages of delivery, with all parties collaborating to complete the remaining technical details.