Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government expects all relevant organisations to comply with all laws. It is up to our independent judiciary to decide if laws have been broken.

As a funder of the organisation, the Scottish Government has been informed that Vicky Ling, an independent Chartered Quality Professional, who works in the justice sector, will carry out the independent review.

As the governance, management and operation of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre are matters for their Board to consider and act upon, it is for them to set the remit and decisions around the review.

No funds have been provided by the Scottish Government to cover the costs of the Employment Tribunal.

As a funder of the organisation, the Scottish Government has been informed that Vicky Ling, an independent Chartered Quality Professional, who works in the justice sector, will carry out the independent review.

As the governance, management and operation of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre are matters for their Board to consider and act upon, it is for them to set the remit and decisions around the review.

As I set out in my statement to Parliament on 30 May 2024, the Scottish Government has no locus to intervene in the current dispute; it is for college management and trade unions to negotiate pay and terms and conditions. We continue to urge the employers and EIS-FELA to work collaboratively to find a fair and affordable settlement, in order to bring the current dispute to an end as a matter of priority.

I have made clear to college management that I expect colleges to do everything within their power to ensure students are not adversely impacted by industrial action.

As we set out in our Programme for Government, we will work with COSLA to prepare schools and infrastructure for the expansion of universal free school meal provision to Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils. The next phase of our expansion will be to pupils in Primary 6 & 7 in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment, and will be rolled out from February 2025.

My recent letter to chairs and chief executives of public bodies can be viewed at www.gov.scot/publications/making-the-most-of-resources-letter-to-public-bodies/ .

Contact by Scottish Government officials took the form of routine informal engagement between public body sponsor teams and staff in the organisations they sponsor. There was no formal correspondence from officials to chairs or chief executives.

As I have stated in other PQ replies (including S6W-27509 and S6W-27510 on

 30 May 2024), it is for each public body to ensure that it fulfils all statutory duties to which it is subject, and to answer for its actions.

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 .

Scottish Government officials have reviewed the Chief Executive Framework and the report is being finalised. This report will be provided to Ministers for consideration in the summer. The outcomes of the review will be shared with relevant stakeholders and a new Chief Executive Framework published thereafter.

My recent letter to chairs and chief executives of public bodies can be viewed at www.gov.scot/publications/making-the-most-of-resources-letter-to-public-bodies/ .

In my letter, I reminded chairs and chief executives that it is incumbent on each public body to adhere to the statutory duties to which it is subject, which for many includes reporting requirements in Part 3 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010.

No substantive response from chairs and chief executives has, so far, been received to this letter.

The Scottish Government has received nominations from five areas which wish to be considered for designation as a new National Park.

The delivery costs to date, excluding staffing costs and expenses, are £331,409.05.

These costs are broken down as follows:

£100,000.00 funding to NatureScot for New National Parks

£27,387.77 on consultation activities

£48,269.22 on impact assessments

£147,653.06 on nominations support funding

In 2022 NatureScot was asked to undertake public consultation and stakeholder engagement in order to provide advice to the Scottish Government on the future of National Parks in Scotland. More information is available here: National Parks Advice to Ministers - February 2023 | NatureScot.