Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the valuable support provided to young people through high quality youth work. This work contributes to the Scottish Government’s priority to eradicate child poverty and tackle inequality.

Each education authority is responsible for securing Community Learning and Development (CLD) in their area under the Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013, including in rural and island education authorities.

The 2013 Regulations require local authorities to plan and arrange the provision of CLD. In line with the Verity House Agreement, local authorities have the autonomy to deliver services to meet the needs of young people in their areas.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35328 on 13 March 2025. 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 question S6W-35311 on 13 March 2025. 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 recognise the very challenging conditions for Scottish retail businesses. NIC decisions are reserved to the UK Government and it is regrettable that the Chancellor’s changes places additional pressures on Scottish retailers. We have called on the UK Government to reverse this decision, as debated in Parliament on 18 February. SG continues supporting businesses and workers through the Fair Work Framework, skills programmes and business support. The latest Scottish Budget maintains a competitive non-domestic rates regime, ensuring over 95% of properties in Scotland are liable for a lower property tax rate than elsewhere in the UK. A £3 million fund has also been introduced to tackle retail crime, reinforcing our commitment to supporting businesses, protecting jobs and strengthening Scotland’s retail industry.

The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 Section 3 states that it is local authorities who issue building preservation notices. The Scottish Government does not routinely gather information about how many building preservation notices each local authority issues.

The Scottish Government publishes statistics on planning applications determined by planning authorities on a 6 monthly basis on our website at: https://www.gov.scot/collections/planning-statistics/

Historic Environment Scotland considers applications for sites/properties to be designated, and publishes annual statistics on their website through their Planning Performance Framework Reports.

In my statement to Parliament on 8 January 2025, I reaffirmed the government’s commitment to continuing to fund the placement of sentenced and remanded children in 2025-26, subject to Parliamentary approval of the Budget Bill.

Approval is now being sought through the Scottish Government’s financial accountability and assurance processes. I will update Parliament when this is complete.

The national contract, which is the responsibility of NHS National Services Scotland, requires suppliers to treat high temperature incineration (HTI) waste, but it did not require a specific solution to create the capability in Scotland. HTI waste constitutes around 15% of NHSScotland clinical waste, and at this time, there remains no investment plan for creating HTI clinical waste treatment capacity in Scotland, as that would involve diverting capital investment away from frontline health and social care services.

The Scottish Government recognises that the use of lead in ammunition continues to pose risks to both human health and the environment. We prioritised work under assimilated law in 2021 to propose a restriction for lead in ammunition, in agreement with the Welsh and UK Governments, to address these ongoing risks.

We have been working with UK and Welsh Governments to reach a decision following the publication of the Health and Safety Executive’s Opinion on this restriction proposal in December 2024. Once a decision has been agreed between the UK Government, Scottish, and Welsh Ministers, the UK Government will publish a decision report on its website. The Secretary of State must then seek the consent of Scottish and Welsh Ministers to a UK statutory instrument to make this decision law. At this point I will write to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee to seek the agreement of the Scottish Parliament to Scottish Ministers consenting to this instrument, the details of which will be notified to the Parliament.

It is the responsibility of NHS National Services Scotland to assess the need for an environmental impact assessment.

The NP805/19 Healthcare Waste Services framework, implemented in 2019, requires NHSScotland clinical waste suppliers to follow SEPA regulations and permit requirements for healthcare waste handling and disposal and thereby meeting environmental impact standards. Additionally, environmental and sustainability impacts of the procurement of products and services to NHSScotland are an essential element of awards.

For the 2019 clinical waste award, as part of the specification, suppliers were asked to demonstrate how to minimise environmental impact by reducing waste, improving material recovery, and exploring new disposal methods.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-34961 on 13 March 2025. 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.