Chamber and committees

Information on the 10 most common offences for which (a) men and (b) women in the Highlands and Islands parliamentary region have been sent to prison in each year since 2016-17, broken down by (i) age group and (ii) number of offences; is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre - Bib number 63924.

Please note:

Criminal proceedings data are presented by the main charge which is the one conferring the most severe penalty.

Data for 2020-21 are affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures and may not be indicative of long term trends.

The latest available data is for 2020-21. Information for 2021-22 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published in 2023.

The Scottish Government responded to the legal services regulation reform consultation analysis report on 22 December 2022. The response may be viewed at the following link: Legal services regulation reform - consultation analysis: Scottish Government response - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The response underpins the Scottish Government’s commitment to reforming legal services and to retaining the sector’s independence within a system that provides greater flexibility in how complaints are handled, to benefit both consumers and legal professionals. The response also sets out how the existing regulatory framework for legal services should be modernised to provide users with increased confidence, support growth in the sector and strengthen consumer protections.

I understand that the Law Society of Scotland has written to you directly on this matter however, I can confirm that it is the Law Society’s policy and practice to remove any suspended solicitor from their online searchable database. This is done as soon as they have been suspended, regardless of any outstanding disciplinary processes.

The Scottish Government has committed to developing a Bill on the regulation of legal services within this parliamentary session, and will continue to engage with stakeholders representing the consumer and legal perspective taking that forward.

No assessment of the potential of semi-closed containment aquaculture to support jobs in rural Scotland has been made by the Scottish Government. Employment opportunities and benefits are considered as part of the statutory fish farm planning process.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13304 on
‎ 5 January 2023. 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

New innovative technologies, including semi-closed containment systems, have the potential to make a significant contribution to Scotland’s aquaculture industry. Systems must be designed to operate in the conditions in the surrounding environment, meaning that there is no one size fits all approach.

Waste capture technologies can result in a significantly longer return on economic investment, however, they have the potential to reduce interactions with the environment and reduce some of the operational costs of fish farming, for example, by lowering the cost and number of fish health treatments required in a production cycle.

Marine Scotland Science, as a statutory consultee in the fish farm planning application process and part of Scottish Government Marine Scotland Directorate, provided advice to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Planning Authority and is available to view on the planning portal; 2021/0357/DET | Installation of a Marine Fish Farm and associated development including shore base, slipway and pontoon and road upgrades | Beinn Reithe Loch Long (lochlomond-trossachs.org).

Advice from Scottish Government aquaculture policy unit was provided to the park authority on the national significance of the project, as the first application for a semi-enclosed marine loch fish farm in Scotland. Advice is available to view on the planning portal; 2021/0357/DET | Installation of a Marine Fish Farm and associated development including shore base, slipway and pontoon and road upgrades | Beinn Reithe Loch Long (lochlomond-trossachs.org).

Scottish Ministers approved new Scottish Environment Protection Agency fish farm Controlled Activity Regulation charges in September 2022. Where an operator achieves a reduction in 80% of expected emissions, SEPA will halve the application fee.

In terms of support for emerging technologies, the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre, part funded by the Scottish Funding Council, was established in 2014 to fund and support collaborative research, applied science and innovation to reduce the environmental footprint and increase the economic impact of aquaculture.

Assistance may be available through the Marine Fund Scotland, where projects require public funding to proceed, and deliver outcomes in Scotland’s Blue Economy Vision.

The Scottish Government will consider how innovation can be further supported through the regulatory review of fish farm consenting, the Vision for sustainable aquaculture and National Marine Plan 2.

The Scottish Government is aware of the paper that Dr Foxley and Professor Robertson have produced on Gaelic medium teachers and officials met with them on 1 December to discuss this.

The Scottish Government continues to work with university partners and other stakeholders to address recruitment issues for Gaelic education and other priority areas. The Strategic Board for Teacher Education oversees issues relating to teacher education including recruitment to the teaching profession.

We are considering the responses to our recent consultation on the Future of Gaelic and Scots. These will help strengthen our aims for the Gaelic language and support for those interested in teaching in Gaelic Medium Education.

Organisations which develop and install wind projects should always allow for a sinking fund for repair and maintenance costs, or take out insurance for repairs, maintenance, breakdown and loss of earnings.

Our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) does not provide funding for continued maintenance of wind turbines. However, it has provided ad hoc support to communities looking to repair small scale wind turbines.

Local Energy Scotland has delivered CARES on our behalf since 2013. Since then, CARES has offered approximately £128,000 in funding support towards the repair of community-owned wind turbines, including associated viability studies. This is as follows;

2014: £12,362;

2016: £16,189;

2018: £20,000;

2019: £41,472;

2020: £14,375;

2021: £24,000.