Chamber and committees

Information on students and qualifiers is collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

The table below shows the number of students who qualified from Scottish HEIs between 2012-13 and 2021-22 academic years grouped by domicile.

The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 ("the Act") requires Scottish Ministers, local authorities, and health boards to publish Good Food Nation Plans. Local authorities will be encouraged to share their views on the national Plan during the forthcoming consultation. Following the consultation process, the proposed national Plan will be laid before the Scottish Parliament. Local authority and health board Plans will be published after the national Plan, as they must have regard to the content of the national Plan in the preparation of their own Plans. The Scottish Government recognises the importance of engaging with local authorities during the development and delivery of the Good Food Nation Plans. Officials have regular meetings with COSLA to provide progress updates on the national Plan and to discuss the duties on local government arising from the Act. The Scottish Government will continue to engage with local authorities and COSLA throughout the Good Food Nation work.

I recently met with representatives from Community Land Scotland to discuss the Land Reform Bill and I will consider its proposals in the ‘Beyond community benefit – a new deal for thriving communities’ paper.

We are committed to introducing a Land Reform Bill to further improve transparency of land ownership, help ensure large scale land holdings deliver in the public interest, and empower communities by providing more opportunities to own land and have more say in how land in their area is used.

This new Bill will build on our land reform measures to date and will complement existing community right to buy mechanisms. The Scottish Land Fund, which was increased to £11m this year, is available to community groups across Scotland, whether they are acquiring an asset through any of these rights, or entering into a negotiated sale with a willing seller. We have committed to increasing this to £20m by the end of 2026.

Transport Scotland has contracted Hagar Environmental & Atmospheric Technologies (HEAT) to deploy remote sensing equipment on both local and trunk roads in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Remote sensing equipment uses laser spectroscopy to measure the real-world emissions of vehicle exhaust plumes as the vehicles pass underneath.

This equipment has been deployed in the Glasgow City Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Aberdeen City Council and Dundee City Council areas.

HEAT have partnered with the ICCT (International Council for Clean Transportation) and Element Energy to deliver this project.

We are working in collaboration with key stakeholder groups, including representatives of parent carers; local authorities; the third sector; health; social care; education; and employment, to share the Statement of Intent and promote completion of the questionnaire amongst relevant stakeholders with a role or interest in supporting disabled young people’s transition to adulthood. In addition, we are working with a number of organisations to seek feedback on the Statement of Intent from more young people.

The Scottish Government will shorty publish the Delivery Plan and Workforce Development Plan which accompany the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy we published in the summer. Thereafter we will set out further actions in support of students.

The Bee Health Team’s bee heath inspectors have been conducting a programme of apiary visits across Scotland during this year’s beekeeping season, inspecting colonies for signs of notifiable pests and diseases as well as monitoring for incursion of exotic pests. Our diagnostics and science team at SASA continues to provide a free diagnostic service to beekeepers in Scotland to identify and confirm the presence of bee diseases and pests. The Scottish Government also provides funding for a Bee Health Advisor post at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) who provides education and practical advice to beekeepers on honey bee health and good management with the aim of improving bee health in Scotland.

The Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP) has developed a 10 year Honey Bee Health Strategy which aims to achieve a healthy and sustainable population of honey bees in Scotland, supported by an Implementation Plan detailing specific actions to deliver the Strategy’s outcomes. The Plan is updated and published after each quarterly BHIP meeting. Links to both the Strategy and the Implementation Plan are below:

Strategy: The Honey Bee Health Strategy 2022 - 2032 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Implementation Plan: Scotland’s Honey Bee Health Strategy: implementation plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Scottish beekeepers and members of the public can contact the Bee Health Team direct by emailing [email protected] to discuss any issues, seek advice, and request items to be raised at the BHIP meetings.

The Scottish Government is clear in its expectation of producers to drive mortality to the lowest possible levels. Our Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture articulates our expectation of improvements to fish health and welfare, and we will continue to work with regulators, producers, innovation centres and fish vets to better understand the reasons for mortality and to encourage adaptation to challenges. Increases in sea water production mortality should be considered in the context of the trend seen since 2002, which indicates stable average mortality levels with peaks and troughs in different years.

The Scottish Government remains committed to developing plans to deliver free breakfasts to all primary and special school children.

The First Minister announced in this year’s Programme for Government that the Scottish Government remains focused on tackling child poverty in Scotland. We know that food provision is an important part of the mission to tackle child poverty, and that is why there is a range of support already in place for families.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has a number of options in its enforcement toolkit, ranging from informal advice and guidance to the use of formal enforcement measures including final warning letters, statutory notices, monetary penalties, and reports to the Procurator Fiscal recommending prosecution.

SEPA’s licences set out actions operators are required to take and SEPA’s enforcement action is designed to secure compliance using the most appropriate and effective method. Scottish Water has received one fine in the last five years for a sewage spill.