Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings Strategy, published in October 2021, uses an estimate from the Electronic Property Information Mapping Service (e-PIMS) of 23,000 public sector buildings in Scotland.

Since 2015-16, around 180 public bodies have been under a legal requirement to report annually on compliance with their climate change duties. Individual reports are published on the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) website.

The Public Bodies Climate Change Reporting 2021-22 Analysis Report , prepared by SSN with grant support from the Scottish Government, shows total scope 1 and scope 2 emissions were 30.2% lower in 2021-22 compared to 2015-16. In 2021-22, scope 1 emissions were 1,197,089 tCO2e (tonnes of CO2 equivalent) and scope 2 emissions were 567,734 tCO2e. Scope 1 are direct emissions typically from heating of buildings and the use of fleet vehicles, with refrigerants with some other emissions associated with sector specific processes also included. Scope 2 are indirect emissions from grid electricity consumption.

The annual Analysis Report provides some sectoral breakdown of reported information. The Scottish Government does not routinely hold information from individual reporting bodies as the reports are publicly available.

It is for each individual college, and not the Scottish Government, to determine how best to secure its financial sustainability and therefore operational decisions reside within colleges themselves.

New College Lanarkshire has engaged with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) over its decision to close its nurseries, which will remain open until 31 December 2023. The SFC approved the College’s voluntary severance scheme in May 2023 for some of the affected staff, with the College planning redeployment for the other affected staff members.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20878 on
‎ 26 September 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

I refer to recent answers regarding the Clydebridge site in Cambuslang, in particular my answers to written questions S6W-17169 on 4 May 2023 and S6W-17708 on 16 May 2023.

The Clydebridge site is not currently operational and no staff are currently employed at the site. The future of the site, including any plans for development, is an operational matter for Liberty Steel.

Scottish Government maintain an open dialogue with Liberty Steel and have a number of regular meetings with them. We are not aware of any plans to install an electric arc furnace at the Clydebridge site at this time.

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

The Scottish Government has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Danish Government to promote collaboration on zero emissions heat, heat networks and energy efficiency, plus onshore and offshore wind energy and hydrogen economy.

In September 2023, I led a trade delegation of Scottish companies to Denmark to promote the Scottish renewables sector, exchange best practice, and develop key stakeholder relationships.

During meetings with the Danish Energy Agency and the Danish Parliament’s Climate, Energy and Supply Committee the onus on developers to provide meaningful community support, engagement, and benefit was discussed. In meetings with industry, this was further raised, with me impressing the importance of developers needing to develop proposals that deliver lasting tangible benefit to local communities when proposing new projects.

I was interested to hear about the work taking place in Denmark on cooperative and community ownership. Scottish Government officials are working with Danish Government officials to share lessons and better understand the Danish model, to inform Scottish Government thinking.

Scottish Child Payment is delivered using Section 79 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, which enables Scottish Ministers to top-up a qualifying reserved benefit, such as Universal Credit.

The groups mentioned may qualify for Scottish Child Payment if they are eligible for one of the qualifying benefits. However the eligibility criteria for students when applying for Universal Credit is stricter than that for individuals who are not undertaking studies and is set by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Eligible student nurses and midwives in Scotland continue to receive the highest level of support across the United Kingdom, including our non-means tested, non-repayable annual bursary of £10,000, plus associated allowances.

The Scottish Government thanks Audit Scotland for a thorough, clear and wide-ranging report on Adult Mental Health Services in Scotland. Ministers recognise how closely some of the content of the report mirrors our vision, outcomes and priorities that we set out in our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. We will now take the time to carefully consider both the specific recommendations and the wider substance of the report. We will publish the Delivery Plan for our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, together with our Workforce Plan, this Autumn, which will set out the actions we will take to address many of the issues set out by Audit Scotland.

We are working to improve neurodevelopmental support for children and young people, including children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to ensure that children and young people can receive the support they need quickly. Our National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People aims to ensure that children and families receive the support that meets their needs at the earliest opportunity, based on the Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach.

In terms of the referral process, a diagnosis is not required for children and young people to receive support. The Neurodevelopmental Specification makes clear that support should be in place to meet the child or young person’s requirements when they need it, rather than being dependent on a formal diagnosis. For many children and young people, such support is likely to be community based, and should be quickly and easily accessible. In Lothian for example, Edinburgh’s Citywide Neurodevelopmental Diversity Support is a partnership between Barnardo’s, Tailor Ed Foundation and Autism Initiatives aimed at children and young people who have neurodevelopmental diversity. This service provides one-to-one support for children and young people, and also offers support to parents and siblings.

To support national implementation of the Specification, we have funded five Tests of Change to implement various aspects of the specification. These are taking place in Grampian, East Lothian, Highland, Fife and Forth Valley. We are working to collate and share learnings from these Tests of Change to inform next steps around implementation of the ND specification and support wider roll out across other areas in Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20938 on 26 September 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

I am pleased to confirm the Scottish Government has no plans to close any ScotRail ticket offices, unlike proposals from UK Government train operators to close ticket offices elsewhere and this includes the Avanti ticket office at Glasgow Central station.

I have written to the UK (Rail) Minister setting out the Scottish Government’s objection to these proposed ticket office closures and raising strong concerns around potential impacts on disabled and other passengers who rely on support from station staff to access rail services. My letter was copied to Andy Mellors, Managing Director, Avanti West Coast and Antony Smith, Chief Executive, Transport Focus.