Chamber and committees

The allocation of places on the Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) is based on students selecting a preference of five local authorities in which they wish to undertake their probationary year. The system is set to ensure that all newly qualified teachers are, in the first instance, offered a place in one of their preferred choices.

As an alternative to selecting a preference of five local authorities, a student can opt for the Preference Waiver Payment whereby they waive their right to express a preferred local authority and will be prioritised to remote and rural local authorities in return for an additional payment.

TIS does not provide a guarantee of future employment within that council. The future employment of teachers is solely a matter for local authorities. While it is for councils to recruit and employ sufficient teaching staff to meet the needs and interests of children and young people living in their areas, we would expect them to fill posts in an open and fair manner.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19812 on‎ 1 August 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

The Scottish Government is clear that one life lost on our roads is one too many and along with partners is committed to eradicating fatal and serious collisions on our roads.

Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030 sets out a vision for Scotland to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030 and an ambitious long term goal where no one is seriously injured or killed on our roads by 2050. For the first time, a full range of mode and user specific targets for key priority groups such as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and over-represented age groups have been created to focus our partners on key priority areas.

The framework is supported by annual delivery plans that includes a wide range of road safety initiatives from road safety partners. These initiatives are continuously monitored through our three tier governance structure, with progress and outcomes published within our annual reports on the Transport Scotland website.

In addition, our Road Safety Framework Fund gives road safety partners the opportunity to co-design and co-deliver road safety initiatives that support the delivery of the framework. A condition of the grant funding is that each project is independently evaluated to determine the impact it is having on road safety performance.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20615 on‎ 14 August 2023 which confirmed that the Scottish Government had launched a consultation seeking views on proposals to extend the tracking and monitoring requirement to under 12 metre commercial fishing vessels.

I urge all stakeholders to engage with this consultation, which closes on 7 November 2023. The consultation documents can be found here: https://consult.gov.scot/marine-scotland/improving-inshore-fisheries-data/

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

In October 2021 we published our response to the Salmon Interactions Working Group (SIWG) report, and we are continuing to progress delivery of those commitments, which include action to minimise the escape of farmed fish to help protect Scotland’s wild salmonid populations.

Alongside our response to the report of the SIWG, the Marine Directorate published its first assessment of genetic introgression in wild salmon in 2021: A national assessment of the influence of farmed salmon escapes on the genetic integrity of wild Scottish Atlantic salmon populations | Marine Scotland Data Publications.

This was the first report as part of the National Introgression Programme for Scotland (NIPS) and based on sampling undertaken in 2018/2019. NIPS is an ongoing nationwide project that is researching the link between fish farm escapes and introgression in wild salmon populations.

In 2021 a second NIPS survey was conducted across the country with samples and data from this is currently being analysed. A further NIPS survey was also initiated in 2023 and sample collection is now underway. Analysis of the NIPS surveys from multiple sampling years will provide a picture of temporal changes in levels of introgression.

Since 2019-20, local authorities have been allocated an annual share of £8 million from the Ending Homelessness Together Budget to support the implementation of their rapid rehousing transition plans. This is in addition to £2 million allocated in 2018-19 from the same budget for each local authority to develop a rapid rehousing transition plan, and £5 million in 2020-21 from the Winter Plan for Social Protection to help mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic.

The additional £2 million allocated in 2023-24 for rapid rehousing transition plans is new money. No additional rapid rehousing transition plan funding was made available in 2022-23.

We remain committed to working with the sector to reduce the risk of escapes from fish farms, including through the revision and publication of the Technical Standard for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture, and the introduction of penalties where escapes occur with the ultimate aim of redistributing this money to support wild salmonid conservation and research.

The Joint Working Group on Sources of Local Government Funding and Council Tax Reform is exploring proposals for meaningful changes to be introduced to Council Tax, this includes the consideration of approaches to longer term reform of the Council Tax system.

The Scottish Government have provided local authorities with nearly £13.5 billion of funding in 2023-24, a cash increase in local government day to day spending of over £793 million which represents a real terms increase of £376 million or 3 per cent.

Since 2019-20, local authorities have been allocated an annual share of £8 million from the Ending Homelessness Together Budget to support the implementation of their rapid rehousing transition plans. The additional £2 million in 2023-24 for rapid rehousing transition plans has also been allocated from the Ending Homelessness Together Budget.

As set out in the Bute House Agreement, and our response to the Salmon Interactions Working Group report, we are committed to improving the regulatory framework which applies to fish farm containment and escapes. We note calls in the Salmon Interactions Working Group report for escapes to be regulated by licence. We will consider this in forming our policy options, including how the Technical Standard for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture would fit within or alongside any enforcement regime. The publication and introduction of a new technical standard is our immediate priority.