Chamber and committees

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. Pay for directly employed staff would depend on a number of variables like the Banding of the nurse, the length of the shift and whether the shift takes place at night or over the weekend when an unsocial hours premium would apply.

The Scottish Government has committed to invest at least £1.8 billion in heat and energy efficiency over the course of this parliament. This funding is delivered via a range of support options, which are available to households and businesses across Scotland, including those in rural areas.

Business Energy Scotland (BES) provides support to Scottish SMEs for implementing energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation measures. The service is delivered by Energy Saving Trust (EST) on behalf of the Scottish Government and has at least one dedicated Business advisor in each of its regional call centres. BES provides a gateway for SMEs to access funding for energy efficiency and zero emissions heating through the SME loan scheme and access to the Green Network for Business.

For household support, we continue to invest in our Home Energy Scotland Loans with Cashback scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland and Area-Based Schemes and we recognise the need to tailor support to specific challenges in remote rural areas, where we know installation and labour costs are higher. Our flagship domestic energy advice service, Home Energy Scotland (HES), administered by EST on behalf of the Scottish Government, provides a single point of access for free, bespoke, impartial advice on energy efficiency, renewable heating, funding for energy efficiency and zero emissions heating systems and fuel poverty support in Scotland. HES advisors in five regional advice centres provide tailored energy advice that is location specific and takes account of the different energy use requirements of properties in different parts of Scotland, taking rurality into account.

It is vital that the supply chain is equipped with the necessary skills and qualifications to provide a high quality service to consumers and we are supporting workforce growth through a combination of reskilling, upskilling and youth employment. Skills support and training provision must be aligned at a local level with business needs and future local demands. This year, we will publish a new Heat in Buildings Supply Chain Delivery Plan, which will outline specific actions and support focussed on strengthening the broad supply chains needed to deliver at the pace and scale of our transition.

The Scottish Government has no plans at this time to amend the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to limit peat extraction for those with valid planning permission, and no assessment of costs has been undertaken.

Our draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) made clear the critical role that peat and carbon rich soils have to play in helping to achieve net zero target by 2045, through sequestering and storing carbon and proposed new national planning policies such that development proposals for new commercial peat extraction, including extensions to existing sites, should not be supported except in very limited circumstances. We are pleased with the wide interest in NPF4 from across society and are carefully considering the broad range of views shared with us before finalising NPF4 for Scottish Parliament approval.

At the same time, we are taking forward work to develop and consult on a ban on the sale of peat-related garden products, as part of our commitment to phase out the use of peat in horticulture.

We continue to work with local authorities on plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a device and connectivity by the end of this parliamentary term. This will include consideration of processes and costs to update devices when necessary.

We will continue to work with the Regional Land Use Partnership (RLUP) pilots as they progress towards the delivery of Regional Land Use Frameworks by the end of 2023. Success will be measured in terms of how the pilots meet expectations as set out in the Bute House Agreement. Specifically, the pilots should demonstrate that they have taken a democratic, local and inclusive approach to governance and decision making, maximised engagement with stakeholders and helped to meet national outcomes on the environment and climate change. Although it is too early to gauge success against these criteria, we will use findings from the pilots going forwards to inform decision-making.

A year one evaluation of the pilots was completed for 2021-22. The aim was to provide insights and lessons learned as RLUPs worked towards establishment of their governance structures. The report will be published in due course.

The Scottish Government has committed to introducing a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill to ensure that the rights of autistic people, people with learning disabilities, and neurodivergent people are respected and protected.

Across our work, we involve organisations led by disabled people and charities representing the views of a wide range of people who come under the learning disabilities, autism and neurodiversity umbrella.

Our intention is that the Bill will be fully co-designed with people with lived experience, and we ran 30 events with 18 different organisations during the scoping work which took place between May and July 2022.

We are also establishing a lived experience advisory panel to support the development of the Bill. Details about the recruitment process for the panel will be available shortly.

The Scottish Government does not hold the details of ScotRail expenditure broken down by the categories you have requested.

The Scottish Government budget for Rail Passenger Services, which covers both ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper, has been published as :

2016  £266m

2017  £311m

2018  £183m

2019  £150m

2020  £239m

2021  £370m

2022  £407m

We are greatly concerned by reports of children and under-age young people obtaining vaping products.

There is an increase in reports from schools, stakeholders and the media of young people vaping. Initial findings from the Growing Up in Scotland study for 2019-20 when participants were 14 years old suggest that 21.5% had vaped, which is of concern.

The Scottish Government has a precautionary approach to vapes. Vapes and other nicotine products are part of a range of cessation tools available to existing smokers to help stop tobacco use. They should not be used by non-smokers, in particular by children and young people. They should not been used or promoted as a lifestyle accessory.

Our recent Vaping consultation, which closed at the end of April, sought views on tightening rules on advertising and promoting vaping products. The results of this consultation will be published soon and will inform our Tobacco Action Plan refresh.

We are working with a range of stakeholders to ensure that our Tobacco Action Plan discourages and reduces the use and visibility of vaping products by all non-smokers, including children and young people.

Officials from all four UK administrations are engaging on the issue of sustainable long-term alternatives to the control of bracken. At this time, plans for stakeholder engagement have not been finalised. Initial talks with the Bracken Control Group have taken place and their advice on other interested parties will be considered. Those involved will include representatives from farming, environment and wildlife.

The feedback gathered through our engagement on the Islands Bond since October 2021, (including meeting over 100 island residents across 12 island communities in spring 2022), is now being used to shape a range of Practical Policy Tests (PPTs). These in turn will help to inform the development of a new action plan to address depopulation as set out in our 2019 National Islands Plan.

We are carefully considering all options presented to us through the online consultation, meetings with communities and stakeholders, and through the in-person workshops we held in spring 2022. More information will be made available in due course as the PPTs develop.