Chamber and committees

We will continue to explore with the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) how we might progress this commitment which is, at least in part, linked to the commitment to recruit additional teachers. In doing so, we will need to be cognisant of financial sustainability given the requirement to fund the recent pay deal for teachers.

An update on timescales will be provided to the Scottish Parliament by the end of this session.

Council tax is a local tax, set and collected by each local authority, with every council financially and administratively accountable to their electorate. It is important that local authorities retain the tools to enforce the payment of council tax by those who have the means to pay but choose not to do so, whilst the Council Tax Reduction Scheme ensures nobody has to meet a council tax liability they cannot be expected to afford.

The Scottish Government stands with the international community in deep concern over the spiralling violence in Sudan.

We welcome the initial £5 million in life-saving aid announced by the UK Government but more must be done.

The Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, Europe and External Affairs has written to the Foreign Secretary to raise a number of issues in relation to the situation in Sudan. This included a call for everything possible to be done to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people in need. The content of this letter is available here: Protecting those fleeing violence in Sudan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Council Tax debt was discussed at the last meeting of the Joint Working Group on Sources of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform on 22 March 2023. Additionally, I met Fife Council earlier this year to see first-hand their collaborative approach to Council Tax collection highlighted in the Collaborative Council Tax Collection Guide, published jointly by Stepchange and The Improvement Service. I am scheduled to meet with Falkirk Council later in the summer.

Although it is the responsibility of local authorities to assess the impact of inflationary pressures on their budgets, Scottish Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with COSLA and individual local authorities to discuss all their respective financial pressures. This engagement has increased in recent weeks following the First Minister’s re-commitment to working with COSLA and SOLACE to agree a New Deal for Local Government in Scotland with the aim of providing greater flexibility over local funding, with clear accountability for delivery on shared priorities and outcomes.

As with all public bodies, governance arrangements are reviewed continually to ensure they remain effective. A routine appointment process for vacant SFC board positions is currently underway.

In September 2022, Ministers initiated an Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape focused on the skills functions of Scotland’s national public bodies including Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council.

The Independent Review has been led by James Withers and its findings and recommendations were published on 7 June. The Scottish Government will consider the recommendations, including any implications for the governance of the Scottish Funding Council, in the context of work on lifelong education and skills reform.

As with the development of all new trade arrangements, the Scottish Government has sought to engage with the UK Government at Ministerial and official level throughout the negotiations for accession to the CPTPP to ensure that Scottish interests are identified and taken into account.

As part of this process the Scottish Government has raised the issue of increased palm oil production. In my recent letter to the UK Government Minister of State for International Trade, Nigel Huddleston MP, I reiterated our concerns and specifically asked to see the UK’s assessment of the impact of lowering tariffs through accession to CPTPP. I raised the matter again on 1 June when we last met.

The Scottish Government encourages wide use of the PickUpMyPeriod app to highlight where free period products are available both within and outwith the scope of the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021.

Any organisation that offers publicly accessible free period product pick-up points can request, through the app or myperiod.org.uk website, to be listed as a location. This includes non-public authority facilities, a number of which are already included as locations on the map.

Council tax is a local tax and responsibility for collection and enforcement rests with individual local authorities. Ministers are encouraging local government to adopt the best practice in debt assistance and collection identified in the Collaborative Council Tax Collection Guide, published jointly by Stepchange and The Improvement Service, whilst the Council Tax Reduction Scheme means nobody should have to meet a council tax liability they cannot be expected to afford.

I met with The Educational Institute of Scotland Further Education Lecturers Association (EIS-FELA) on 10 May to discuss, among other things, the £46 million reduction in funding for colleges and universities.