Chamber and committees

We fully support the ambition of Scotland’s airports to increase the number of services to international and domestic destinations in order to support economic growth by improving connectivity for business and facilitating increased inbound tourism.

The expansion of services and Scotland’s airports needs to strike a balance between the benefits that an airport and new services bring in terms of economic growth and employment, whilst mitigating the impact on local communities and more widely. We have made our view clear on numerous occasions that we expect local communities to be fully consulted on any plans to expand activity at airports.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review what is included within Home Reports. The Home Report includes a single survey and energy report, which are completed by a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and a property questionnaire, which is completed by the seller.

When completing the single survey, the chartered surveyor is not acting as a licensed asbestos inspector and is not considered an expert in that field. The single survey is a non-invasive survey and the surveyor will assume that no harmful or hazardous materials or techniques have been used in the construction. A chartered surveyor may however highlight the possibility of asbestos in their report in the interests of best practice but there is no legal obligation for them to do so.

There is also specific provision within the property questionnaire for the seller to provide information if he or she is aware of the presence of asbestos in the house.

The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places the statutory responsibility for local roads improvement, maintenance and repair with local roads authorities. It is the responsibility of each local authority to allocate the total financial resources available to it on the basis of local needs and priorities having first fulfilled its statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities, including the Scottish Government's key strategic objectives.

With regards to the closure of A71, although under no statutory obligation to do so, Networ Rail carried out de-vegetation works on the diversionary routes and plan to carry out road safety improvement works at a total cost of £48,500. West Lothian Council officials have requested that these improvements are delayed until after the road closure is removed.

Network Rail and West Lothian Council will also re-survey the diversionary routes covered by the pre-commencement survey and any required reinstatement will be jointly agreed between the Council and Network Rail.

The Scottish Government has no plans to carry out a review of what is in Home Reports.

The Scottish Government carried out a full policy review of Home Reports after

five years. We intend to work with stakeholders later this year to consider the recommendation of the review within the wider context of the development of Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme.

The property questionnaire which a seller completes as part of the home report asks for information if the seller is aware of the presence of asbestos in the house. However, a seller may be unaware of the presence of asbestos. UK Health and Safety Executive’s advice is that asbestos is not usually a danger to householders if it is sealed and undisturbed, but any work done on parts containing asbestos should be done by a properly qualified professional. We advise home owners to contact their local authority, where the Environmental Health Team will be able to provide information about professional services for work involving asbestos.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.

It is not expected that the closure of Edinburgh’s undergraduate primary teacher education course will have an impact on recruitment in the central belt or Eastern Scotland as the university will still be offering primary teacher education at postgraduate level. In addition other universities will be offering additional places for primary teaching students and once qualified they will be available to take up teaching posts throughout Scotland.

The Scottish Government has engaged with ADPs and a range of partners to support and to review the effectiveness of service delivery, reflecting on this and balancing against the overall pressures on the Health budget, in setting the 2017-18 budget.

In 2016-17, NHS boards are expected to maintain spending on drug and alcohol treatment and recovery support services at 2015-16 levels, supplementing the Scottish Governments’ direct allocation from increased board baseline funding as required.

In 2017-18 specific funding of £53.8 million to support Alcohol and Drug Partnership work, will be added to board’s baseline funding and delegated to Integrated Authorities. As in previous years, the position remains that funds provided directly from the Scottish Government budget, sit alongside funds provided from other NHS sources (including NHS baseline funding), statutory partners and the third sector, which collectively makes up the resource package for this important work.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07925 on 20 March 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx