Chamber and committees

Telecommunications policy is Reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government does not collect or hold data on access to 5G services across Scotland.

However Ofcom’s mobile coverage checker ( https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/en-gb/mobile-coverage ) provides a spatial view of this data. Raw coverage data, at local authority and various Parliamentary constituency levels, is available at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/infrastructure-research/spring-202

For young children, learning to read is foundational to their success across the school curriculum and, importantly, is also linked to a wide range of positive outcomes including those of emotional, social and mental wellbeing.

Through different forms of support and guidance, Education Scotland advises on the most effective research-informed approaches to reading, what they are and how to use them. Education Scotland will publish new guidelines and professional learning resources for teachers (PLRs), focussed on early reading, in early Spring 2024.

These resources are designed to promote teachers’ professional knowledge and understanding of early reading as a complex interplay of skills and background factors. In line with other items of guidance relating to Scotland’s curriculum, the resources are being developed within a broader context which seeks to empower schools to adapt their approach to meet the needs of individual learners. In creating the guidance, Education Scotland officials are working alongside teachers and a range of stakeholders with an interest in early reading in order to use their feedback to inform the development process.

The Chief Constable has responsibility for the recruitment, deployment and HR issues of all police officers and staff under their control.

Around 1480 new police officers have taken the Oath of Office in the past 18 months with the latest intake of 200 recruits commencing training on 18 September. Recruitment to fill police staff vacancies took place up until 9 August 2023, when a recruitment freeze for some roles was put in place by Police Scotland.

The following table presents the number of fatal and serious accidents for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 on the A83 between Arrochar and Campbeltown. Please note that the information on the total number of fatal and serious accidents for 2023 are only available up to the date stated in the table.

We are unaware of any fines issued by the Scottish Government to Scottish Water in the last five years; there are no privately-owned water companies in Scotland.

Following referral by relevant agencies to the Procurator Fiscal, fines issued in the period are set out below:

Referral by Scottish Environment Protection Agency:

2019 - £600

2020 - £19 000

2021 - £6 700

Referral by Health & Safety Executive:

2020 - £140 000

Additionally, there has been one enforcement undertaking of £53 800 accepted by SEPA in 2021 and a direct penalty of £10,000 to Scottish Road Works Commissioner in 2023.

As part of the Scottish Government’s efforts to drive global climate ambition and action ahead of New York Climate Week and COP28, the First Minister and I met with the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, on 24 August. We discussed renewable energy, securing a Just Transition to a net zero and climate resilient future and our shared ambitions for COP28. The US Special Envoy asked about the constitutional position of Scotland, including independence, in the context of Scotland’s climate and net zero objectives. The First Minister set out the Scottish Government’s position on independence and the Scottish Government’s view of how this can be taken forward.

The regulation of the energy sector is reserved to the UK Government.

Planning enforcement powers are held by local authorities. Planning authorities can take action to issue a fixed penalty notice or seek prosecution through the Scottish courts. Local authorities are required to keep a publicly available register of enforcement notices.

We are unaware of any fines issued by the Scottish Government to power companies in the last five years; and the Scottish Government does not hold any relevant data relating to our agencies.

The Scottish Government welcomes the hard work of the National Tartan Day New York Committee in organising Tartan Week each year. They come together to honour their heritage and celebrate the impact of Scots in the US. Our office in Washington DC works closely with members of the Brand Scotland partnership, including Scottish Development International and Visit Scotland, to create a programme of engagement that harnesses the increased focus on Scotland during this time.

I am pleased to see Tartan Day also celebrated in Canada (where it originated) and the celebration of Scotland in other parts of the world throughout the year, including various Highland Games, Burns Suppers, Tartan Balls and Festivals. Our Scottish Connections Framework outlines our approach to supporting diaspora engagement with Scotland and people in other countries.

The Scottish Government places great importance on sports and leisure facilities and believes everyone should have access to these services locally.

We recognise the challenging financial circumstances faced by operators in the maintenance and operating of facilities, including the increase in insurance premiums.

It is vital that partners at a local level work together to explore all avenues and approaches to support local sport and leisure facilities.

Reflecting that commercial deployment of 5G is ongoing and that telecoms remains reserved to the UK Parliament, the Scottish Government has no current plans to establish a 5G infill programme.

As set out in our 5G Strategy for Scotland, our policy approach on 5G is currently focused on maximising public and private sector use of the technology to ultimately realise social and economic benefits. This work is being advanced through the work of the Scotland 5G Centre's 5G Innovation Hubs network.