Chamber and committees

For the purpose of this question, we have defined ‘appeals’ as data disputes in which either members of the public or suppliers registered to the Reaching 100% Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) have contacted us to raise a data dispute – when they believe that the data we hold on a property’s current connection speed and/or potential voucher eligibility is incorrect.

The broadband connectivity status of the 2.8 million properties in Scotland is reported on our online address checker at www.scotlandsuperfast.com . This uses data submitted by broadband infrastructure providers through regular updates known as a rolling Open Market Review. The accuracy of this data is wholly dependent on broadband providers submitting accurate data returns.

In 2021, officials received a total of 459 data disputes. In 2022, as of 24 August, officials have received 282 data disputes. These numbers represent a total for the whole of Scotland and, unfortunately, we are unable to break this down by Scottish Parliamentary region.

We have no plans to introduce a regulatory body to provide guidelines to the operators and/or owners of retirement villages. Existing regulatory frameworks for property factors, planning, building standards already exist. Providers of housing and housing services in the private sector, including operators of retirement villages, are expected to comply with these regulations.

The Scottish Government is extremely thankful for the generosity of all those who have expressed an interest in hosting people displaced by the current conflict.

Scotland is now providing a place of safety to more displaced people per head of population than any other part of the UK. The Scottish Government is providing accommodation that is safe and sustainable whilst people are waiting to be matched suitable longer term accommodation. Significant action is underway to increase the temporary accommodation capacity as well as boost the matching system to maximise the number of people who can be placed with volunteer hosts who have completed the necessary safeguarding checks.

We want Scotland to be a safe, secure home for as long as people need and thank the people of Scotland for their continued offers of support to help us in that aim. Those homes offered are still very much needed. We are keen to see more people in Scotland volunteer as hosts if they think that they can provide a welcoming home for a displaced person or family.

ScotWind leasing is administered by Crown Estate Scotland who have confirmed that all companies that have a ScotWind seabed agreement with Crown Estate Scotland are required to comply with all applicable laws including meeting their obligations under employment legislation. Therefore, if those companies have a statutorily recognised trade union, they would be required to comply with their legal requirements in respect of collective bargaining arrangements.

The Scottish Government does not hold any statistical data regarding the proportion of wool produced in Scotland used in Scottish and other UK textile manufacturing.

Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) is an independent not-for-profit company, which is able to locate, apply for and accept funding from a range of sources. As an evidence-led organisation, any expertise and/or advice ZWS provide to Scottish Government would be based on balanced outputs from research by sector specific policy experts.

ZWS is a key delivery partner for the Scottish Government in relation to circular economy policy and it would be for Scottish Government to decide on whether to use the organisations advice in development of policies.

Scottish textiles businesses can access a wide range of support through our enterprise agencies, including grants (e.g. Business Innovation and Growth Grants), other funding, advice, help and events.

The Find Business Support webpage, available at https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/ , directs businesses to Scotland's public sector support in a single location.

In addition, the £2m Circular Textiles Fund (CTF), administered by Zero Waste Scotland and backed by the Scottish Government was launched on 24 June 2022. This support is designed to help reduce the environmental impact of textiles and throwaway culture, and to support the development of circular supply chains in Scotland. The CTF provides opportunities for public, private and third-sector organisations of all sizes to develop and deliver solutions to reduce the waste and carbon impacts of all textiles.

We are committed to engaging with the profession on a reform programme for NHS dental services. As part of that commitment we have recently issued a profession-wide survey asking for comments on a list of possible treatment items for inclusion in a future NHS model.

We have also asked for nominees for a NHS dental reform advisory group to the Chief Dental Officer. NHS Boards are currently reviewing the nominations and will put forward the nominees for each Board area in due course.

The Scottish Government does not require local authorities to record information regarding national identity of nursery pupils when an application for a nursery place is made.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy has been developed and is led in partnership by the Scottish Government, COSLA and Scottish Refugee Council. The current strategy was published in 2018. We have committed to refreshing the strategy with our partners in 2023 and to ensuring that it is shaped by refugees and people seeking asylum, as well as those with expertise supporting them.