Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government are in regular dialogue with the Scotch Whisky Association. We agree with their assessment that it would not be in the industry's best interest that all bottling of Scotch Whisky should be done in Scotland. This is based on the long-term nature of bulk trade. Any move to "repatriate" bottling for all categories of Scotch is likely to raise unwelcome concerns from important trading partners. Given the challenges the industry faces around maintaining and opening markets following Brexit, such a protectionist move on bottling could result in complaints about distorting competition, leading to possible international trade disputes and the potential for damaging retaliatory measures on the industry, such as higher tariffs.

At this stage, given the lack of detail on future customs, excise and related arrangements, it is not possible to assess the likely increase in administration costs for whisky exports. This remains a concern for the Scottish Government and the industry.

The Scottish Government believe that the systems for Geographical Indications is vital for the Scottish food and drink products that currently enjoy these protections.

Ministers have written on a number of occasions over the past year spelling out the importance to Scottish holders in maintaining our Protected Food Names and other Geographical Indications. We have urged the UK Government to set the record straight and commit to not only guaranteeing continued protection for current holders of GI status, but also to provide the assurance being desperately sought by stakeholders that protection for our iconic products will be integral to future trade deals. We note that the UK Government's recent publication "The Future Relationship Between the United Kingdom and the European Union" does propose the establishment of a UK GI scheme and for continued protection of UK GIs, such as Scotch Whisky, in the UK. However it is silent on the necessary protection for UK GIs in the EU and further afield.

For Scottish Government corporate mobile phones, Scottish Government employees, Special Advisors and Ministers are advised to abide by the Scottish Government IT Code of Conduct and Mobile employee agreement. This includes advice that use of any non-corporate apps must not compromise the security and performance of the corporate apps, Scottish Government network and data and that employees should take steps to prevent any malware or viruses being installed on the device, including only installing apps from official app stores and review any permissions these may require.

Advice pertaining to conduct of official business is found in the Civil Service Code and Scottish Ministerial Code: 2018 Edition.

There is no requirement under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act for public authorities to record the source of data for an FOI request.

Scottish Government encrypted corporate apps access data from the Scottish Government’s IT network. Data held on the Scottish Government corporate IT network - and all our business communications, including any held on mobile devices - are subject to FOI.

In 2017 there were 150 primary, 1,805 secondary, 93 special school and 43 centrally employed physical education teachers.

Statistics on the number of teachers employed in schools, in the last five years, with physical education as their main subject are available on the Scottish Government website:

https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/teachcenssuppdata

New teachers may enter publicly funded school employment in a variety of ways, including first appointment after training, moving from teaching outside Scotland and moving from teaching in the independent sector. The Scottish Government does not hold data on all of these routes.

The Scottish Government sets national direction of policy on mental health and provides funding to agencies, including NHS boards and local authorities, to support implementation of policy.

The management of local actions in implementing national policy, and decisions on local spending priorities are the responsibility of relevant local agencies. It is therefore the responsibility of NHS boards, local authorities and Integration Authorities to work with their partners and regularly review spending decisions to ensure they deliver fit for purpose services which respond to the needs of their local population, including for postnatal depression. Funding for mental health services, including postnatal depression services, will continue to be drawn from the overall funds allocated to NHS Scotland and Local Authorities by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government directly funds the national Perinatal Mental Health Managed Clinical Network at £173,188 per year to improve the provision and standard of high quality clinically effective perinatal mental health services throughout Scotland.

All users of devices that require corporate encrypted apps agree to comply with the Scottish Governments’ IT Code of Conduct and a Mobile Services Employee Agreement when the device is activated.

The IT Code of Conduct sets out guidance on the acceptable use of the Scottish Government network (SCOTS) and the Mobile Services Employee Agreement provides details on use of the devices, support, costs, security and liabilities. Operational guidance is available on the Scottish Government's intranet.

The number of mobile phones on issue as at 27 June 2018 is set out in the table below:

The coverage of any Freedom of Information request concerning officially issued mobile phones will depend on the scope of the information requested and whether any exemptions or exceptions apply.