Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has committed to introduce a Register of Buildings by the end of this Parliament. The Register of Buildings will hold information on buildings that have been assessed though the Cladding Remediation Programme. Single Building Assessment reports and remediation activity will define the information that needs to be held in the Register. As this work progresses we are developing the information base for the Register.

The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) was an annual sample survey which monitored national performance of school children at P4, P7 and S2 in literacy and numeracy in alternate years. Operating costs are set out in the following table and are broken down by element of spend. As Support Assessors were funded to facilitate group discussions between pupils as part of the Listening and Talking assessment, these costs are only associated with the years that the literacy survey took place.

Buildings within the scope of the Cladding Remediation Programme will be subject to a process of increasing assessment scrutiny.

A baseline assessment will identify those buildings which require a full assessment based on an evaluation of fire risk.

The proportion of buildings identified as requiring a full assessment is likely to be low when considering the total number of eligible buildings. This assessment is in line with a House of Commons analysis of the scale of the problems in England.

Single Building Assessments are demand-led and are free for all buildings with residential flatted properties regardless of tenure.

NatureScot has worked with partners on red squirrel conservation, including work to control grey squirrels, for many years. In particular, the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrel (SSRS) partnership project has been working in strategic areas to protect, maintain and promote existing red squirrel populations since 2007. With support from project staff, professional Grey Squirrel Officers (GSOs) have been working with volunteers and landowners to deliver strategic grey squirrel control.

NatureScot, Scottish Forestry and Forestry and Land Scotland are currently providing core funding for these roles. It remains a priority for the Scottish Government to ensure the important work undertaken by Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels continues.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14269 on 7 February 2023. 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 data used was the last full year of data prior to modelling, wherever possible. This was not always available and, in those circumstances, Zero Waste Scotland agreed with the Local Authority the most appropriate data to be used. The model was then handed over to the Local Authority, allowing updates to be made if more appropriate or recent data became available.

The Scottish Government commissioned independent research into the steel sector in Scotland: this included consideration of the scope for Electric Arc Furnaces in Scotland. This report is available to read online and can be found here .

There will be opportunities through the ScotWind programme, which promises to be transformational in delivering wider economic supply chain benefits to help power Scotland’s green recovery in communities across Scotland.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise have also discussed the potential for an Electric Arc Furnace with Liberty Steel Dalzell. The Group continue to have Green Steel practices at the heart of their strategy to help ensure an economically and environmentally sustainable future for the business and industry.

Electric Arc Furnaces are large-scale ambitions that need large-scale solutions and will require significant private sector investment. We are encouraging any company interested in developing an Electric Arc Furnace to seek advice and support from their local Enterprise Agency.

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) are focused on drug treatment as the primary means of reducing offending behaviour, by reducing or eliminating drug dependency. DTTOs allow drug testing and regular court reviews as features of a community disposal, and their effective delivery involves ongoing medical and other support services.

Where DTTOs are available, their supervision is a matter for local authorities, working in collaboration with relevant health services to ensure that support and treatment is provided, and arrangements vary by local area. The Scottish Government therefore does not hold the information requested.

However, in response to the Drug Deaths Taskforce Report and as noted in the cross government action plan published on 12 January, the Scottish Government will carry out a review of DTTOs, community payback orders and other community sentencing options to assess how they have been used, their outcomes and whether they are the most effective mechanism to support an individual’s recovery and reduce recidivism rates. The aim is to report in spring 2023.

Published in December 2021, the NHS gender identity services: strategic action framework 2022-2024 outlined actions to improve access, and delivery of, NHS gender identity services.

A description of the range of work referred to in the answer to question S6W-13576 is included in the 21 November 2022 letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to the Convener of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14269 on 7 February 2023. 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 .