Chamber and committees

The inspection of independent schools as outlined in the question were carried out for the following reasons:

• "special inspections" which are generally in response to concerns being raised over the quality of provision for children and young people or safeguarding concerns being identified. HM Inspectors carried out inspections in independent schools in response to requests from Scottish Ministers.

• "post registration inspections" which, in line with Scottish Government guidance, should be carried out by HM Inspectors within nine months of opening. Post registration inspections continued to be carried out as soon as was practicable taking account of the impact of the pandemic. HM Inspectors carried out inspections in independent schools for post-registration purposes.

Since March 2020 HM Inspectors have focused on engaging with schools, colleges, and services throughout Scotland to provide support and contribute to the overall recovery of the education system. In academic year 2021-22, HM Inspectors engaged with over 400 schools and settings. This included visits to 112 schools, settings and services that were identified, pre-pandemic, as requiring a further inspection. It also included recovery visits to 148 schools and settings to learn about their own current priorities as they responded to the impact of the current pandemic, what was working well, and the challenges education practitioners faced. HM Inspectors carried out four national thematic inspections involving engagement with 148 schools, settings and services.

NatureScot has provided the information below on the number of Deer Authorisations issued between 1 January 2021 to 31 October 2022:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11774 on 8 December 2022. 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

We are progressing the recommendations made in the independent Deer Working Group (DWG) report , published in December 2020. The Scottish Government response to the DWG report is at the following link: https://www.gov.scot/news/deer-working-group-response/

The recommendations that require legislative changes are being taken forward via the legislative workstream of the Deer Management Strategic Board which has been established under the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Programme. The legislative recommendations will be implemented in this parliamentary session, as we set out in our 2021-22 Programme for Government. We will provide more detail on the timing of changes to legislation in due course. We expect to consult on any proposed changes to primary legislation in the normal way.

Regular updates on all of the work from the Deer Management Strategic Board can be found at the following website: https://www.gov.scot/groups/strategic-deer-management-board/

We continue to take forward a range of actions in schools, including the Mentors in Violence Prevention Programme, which tackles gender stereotyping and attitudes that condone violence against women and girls; and piloting a whole school approach to tackling gender-based violence with Rape Crisis Scotland and Zero Tolerance.

The Gender-Based Violence in Schools Working Group is developing a national framework document for schools to help tackle sexual harassment and gender-based violence. This will set out the practical prevention and intervention measures that can be used to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of children and young people. This work is expected to be completed in 2023.

I have engaged with all Cabinet Secretaries collectively throughout the EBR process.

There has been promising progress in reducing the backlog of cases in the criminal courts, and the total number of scheduled trials outstanding has fallen by over 10,000 since January this year. In the High Court, the number of trials called where evidence is led has equalled or exceeded pre-pandemic monthly averages throughout 2022. However, progress has been greatest in the summary courts. The Criminal Justice Board, composed of leaders across the sector, is now considering proposals to ensure the allocation of resources is directed towards delivering similar progress in solemn courts.

We are supporting measures that allow victims and witnesses to give their evidence before trial, helping to mitigate the impact of trial delays. For example, we have invested over £2 million across the High Court estate to facilitate the pre-recording of evidence, and there is now capacity to conduct 1,250 of these ‘evidence by commissioner’ hearings every year.

The Lived Experience Experts Panel doesn’t reflect traditional policy panels, which meet together on a regular basis. It is most similar to the Experience Panel in place for Social Security. It functions as a pool of people with lived experience who can be called upon to take part in co-design and research to support service development.

This means that the panel don’t have meetings together, although members will often attend group sessions with a small number of other people in the panel.

Panel members are currently being invited to introductory sessions to support their participation in co-design sessions. The first introductory session is scheduled for15 November, with up to 20 of the panel attending. We expect the co-design sessions to begin shortly after that.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11675 on 8 November 2022. 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

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-11493 on 26 October 2022 and S6T00915 on 25 October 2022.

The answer to Topical Question S6T-00915 can be found here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-25-10-2022?meeting=13939&iob=126317#16180

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