Chamber and committees

The definition of race underpinning the Education Scotland resource Promoting and Developing Race Equality and Anti-Racist Education: An Overview is the definition present in the Equality Act 2010. This definition encompasses white ethnic groups, including white Irish. The experience of Irish people is also referenced in the Changing the Race Equality Paradigm in Education Scotland’s Understanding race and racism wakelet for practitioners. An Education Scotland website to support the publication of their resource, to go live by the end of September, will be regularly updated to include resources for practitioners relating to different minority ethnic groups who experience discrimination.

The removal of public call boxes (PCBs) is subject to the rules in the telephony universal service obligations. In order to remove PCBs BT has to go through a consultation process with local authorities. There is no direct role for Scottish Government. As telecoms regulator, Ofcom is in the process of reviewing these obligations and intend to publish a consultation in the coming weeks.

The Scottish Government has committed to extend the Connecting Scotland programme over the course of this Parliament to reach a total of 300,000 people. Work is underway to scope the future service, including how best to reach priority groups who we know are most likely to be digitally excluded, including refugees and asylum seekers.

Connecting Scotland was planned to run till the end of 2021. However, the depth of the challenges of digital exclusion that the pandemic has revealed mean we are extending the programme till the end of this Parliament in 2026, as set out in the Programme for Government.

The current phase is open for applications from organisations working to remove barriers related to digital exclusion for unemployed young people and adults until‎ 27 September 2021. From 28 September the programme will be accepting fast track applications from organisations that can identify users who are digitally excluded, on a low income, and at risk of social isolation and loneliness (particularly older people, people with disabilities, and single parents).

The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is an autonomous Higher Education Institution (HEI), and as such has responsibility for its own strategic and operational decision making, including those related to the rebuilding of the Mackintosh building. The GSA has made clear its intention to rebuild the Mackintosh as a fully functioning art school, engaging fully with the local community in taking this forward.

All category A listed buildings, including the Mackintosh, are of significant cultural and historic importance to Scotland and are defined in Historic Environment Scotland (HES) guidance as buildings of “outstanding special architectural or historic interest”. HES, as the lead public body for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment, will continue to work with the GSA, Glasgow City Council and other interested parties on the complex issues surrounding the rebuild of the Mackintosh building.

All Scottish HEIs in receipt of public funding must comply with the terms of their Financial Memorandum with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), and the principles of good governance set out in the Scottish Code of Good HE Governance.

The SFC continues to engage regularly with the GSA at senior management and board level on a range of issues, such as institutional governance, its plans for the delivery of high quality education, and the use of its estates for this purpose. This includes the Mackintosh and the approach the GSA is taking to inform decisions around its rebuilding.

The GSA will shortly publish the first stage of this process, the Strategic Outline Business Case (OBC), which was developed in accordance with UK and Scottish Government guidance and includes input from a range of internal and external stakeholders.

The Scottish Government is committed to strengthening compulsory purchase powers for local authorities and introducing new compulsory sale orders. We are developing these proposals in the context of policies set out in the Housing to 2040 route map (see Housing to 2040 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ) to tackle empty homes and vacant and derelict land.

No. The Scottish Government do not routinely publish contracts and their accompanying correspondence.

A court case regarding the HCC International Insurance Company bond is ongoing in the English Courts. I am unable to publish or say anything further at this stage.

Scottish Ministers became the managing agent for Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited on 16 August 2019.

Due to the pandemic, the work to address the recommendations published by the Parliamentary Working Group was postponed. In January this year a revised timetable was published on the Scottish Government website and the revised timetable can be accessed via this link Tenement Maintenance Timetable .