- Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 16 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to ask NatureScot to conduct a review of licences for the lethal control of beavers to ascertain whether such licences are required or whether translocation could be implemented instead, in line with its commitment to expand Scotland's beaver population, announced in November 2021.
Answer
NatureScot regularly reviews its approach to licensing to ensure that any licences that are issued are informed by the best information available, including taking into account any policy developments or legislative changes.
NatureScot issues licences that permit the use of lethal control of beavers only where it is necessary as a last resort. In addition, NatureScot have been proactively working with licence holders over the last 4 years to encourage a greater use of trapping and translocation wherever this is feasible. In their Beaver Management Report for 2022 NatureScot reported the proportion of beavers being removed by trapping as opposed to lethal control had increased from 28% in 2021 to 42% in 2022.
NatureScot have included the need for consideration of trapping in the Code of Practice that accompanies lethal control licences. Lethal control licences have a maximum period of two years and as a result of the most recent internal review of beaver licensing (undertaken in Spring 2023), licence holders are being asked to reapply for a new licence when their licence expires to ensure that licences are issued based on an up to date assessment of the three European Protected Species licensing tests.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether its proposed Scottish Veterinary Service
would gather fees from industry, and, if this is the case, what assessment it
has made of (a) the potential cost to industry and (b) any impact on (i) food
prices for domestic consumers and (ii) costs for (A) exporters of salmon and
seafood and (B) industries operating in remote and rural Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to the creation of a Scottish Veterinary Service (SVS) to ensure there are highly trained staff to provide Scotland with good animal health and food safety to meet all our needs across the public and private sector for animal health issues.
A Programme has been established to manage the work required to create an SVS, which includes conducting a financial appraisal of the operational and investment costs of the Service.
All potential functions considered for future delivery by the SVS are already funded by the Scottish Government under a variety of arrangements. Some of those functions already attract fees raised from industry, but it is too early to consider any new future charges.
The financial appraisal will assess how consolidation under a single body provides opportunities to enhance quality, efficiency, resilience and value for money.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are required, under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, to (a) disestablish or dissolve an all-through school and (b) create new partnerships with other schools; whether pupils and parents within the existing catchment area have any involvement in such decisions, and, if so, what their involvement is.
Answer
The Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 does not make any specific provision regarding all-through schools or the establishment of partnerships between schools, for example, regarding school management. It is primarily for local authorities to consider whether any proposed significant change to a school is a “relevant proposal” as set out in Schedule 1 of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 and, if so, to comply with its requirements.
Where a proposal would result in the permanent discontinuance of a school, or stage of education in a school, the local authority must publish a proposal paper, which includes a statement of the educational benefits of the proposal. The consultation must last for at least 30 school days. The local authority must let relevant consultees, including affected parents, Parent Council(s) and pupils, know about the consultation and invite responses. A public meeting must also be held. The local authority must invite Education Scotland to prepare a report on the educational aspects of the proposal. The local authority must publish a consultation report which responds to issues raised through the consultation period.
If the proposal involves the closure of a rural school, or stage of education in a rural school, the local authority must also comply with additional requirements, including considering reasonable alternatives to closure and only proceeding if closing the school is the most appropriate response to the reasons it has identified for making the proposal. For rural schools, a number of these steps must be carried out before the local authority embarks on the formal consultation as set out above.
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 16 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of Circularity Scotland going in to administration, whether it has met with any former (a) suppliers and (b) contractors of the firm.
Answer
Biffa, a former contractor of Circularity Scotland, attended a Deposit Return Scheme Four Nations Interoperability Workshop in Edinburgh on 27 June 2023 following Circularity Scotland going into administration to provide insight into their experience in Scotland. Throughout the period Scottish Government has continued to work closely with staff acting for Circularity Scotland, administrators and partners.
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities have the ability to remove core subjects from a senior phase school without consultation under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.
Answer
The Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 does not require local authorities to consult on the removal of subjects from a school’s curriculum offer.
Under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education sits with local authorities.
While the Curriculum for Excellence provides the overarching framework and sets out the eight curriculum areas, it is a matter for individual schools and authorities to tailor their detailed curriculum offer.
- Asked by: Rachael Hamilton, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 24 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to evaluate whether it would be more costly to set up the proposed Scottish Veterinary Service compared with continuing with the status quo, and, if this would be the case, how much more costly it would be, and what evaluation has been made of the value for money of the different options.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to the creation of a Scottish Veterinary Service (SVS) to ensure there are highly trained staff to provide Scotland with good animal health and food safety to meet all our needs across the public and private sector for animal health issues.
A Programme has been established to manage the work required to create an SVS, which includes conducting a financial appraisal of the operational and investment costs of the Service.
The financial appraisal will assess how consolidation under a single body provides opportunities to enhance quality, efficiency, resilience and value for money
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 21 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what mechanism is in place to remedy any non-compliance by local authorities with the provisions of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.
Answer
It is the responsibility of the relevant local authority to comply with the provisions of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”).
The Scottish Government has a power to call in a proposal to permanently discontinue a school or a stage of education if it appears to Ministers that one of the grounds in section 17(2) of the 2010 Act applies. Where a call-in notice has been issued, Ministers must refer the proposal to the Convener of the School Closure Review Panel.
If Ministers are of the view that a local authority has failed to discharge a statutory duty relating to school education, they may take action under section 70 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 (“the 1980 Act”) in certain circumstances. Ministers would require evidence of such a failure before taking the action permitted by the 1980 Act.
In addition, Judicial Review may be available in respect of a failure of a public authority to comply with its statutory obligations.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-19595 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 July 2023, whether it will provide a breakdown of the types of cyber attack to which Social Security Scotland has been subjected.
Answer
It is not possible to give specific details of the types of cyber-attack Social Security Scotland has been subjected to. Doing so may provide information on the defences which protect the Agency’s systems. This information could then be leveraged in future attacks.
The vast majority of the cyber events monitored consist of attackers scanning Internet-facing benefit systems to discover potential weaknesses in the defences. Should any be identified, this can lead to further activity from the attacker to leverage this weakness. To date, the security defences have prevented all attacks from succeeding.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what action it is taking to reduce sewage spills and ensure that storm overflows only operate during heavy rainfall.
Answer
As highlighted in the answer to S6O-02060 on 23 March 2023, the river basin management plans set out our long-term aims for improving our water environment. The plans are supported by Scottish Water’s Improving urban waters route map, which commits up to £500 million of investment to improve wastewater treatment works, address unsatisfactory discharges and increase monitoring. Scottish Water published its first annual report on progress against the route map in December 2022 at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/help-and-resources/document-hub/key-publications/urban-waters-improvements .
All answers to Oral parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the Offical Report can be found at Meeting of the Parliament: 23/03/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 July 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 15 August 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that the Scottish Primary Care Information Resource is being decommissioned with effect from 31 August 2023, what plans are currently in place to replace this resource and ensure that there continues to be accessible data on Scottish primary care practices.
Answer
As part of wider improvements to General Practice (GP) IT, testing found that Scottish Primary Care Information Resource (SPIRE) could not continue to be fully supported without considerable redevelopment. This means that by the end of August 2023 SPIRE would be unable to provide a representative national data extract from GP systems.
A transition is underway in NHS Scotland from SPIRE to a new data extraction tool. This tool, recently procured by National Services Scotland (NSS), provides similar functionality to SPIRE but has greater national coverage. The tool is trusted and highly valued having successfully been used for vaccination data purposes during the pandemic, and subsequently in obtaining other GP data
Public Health Scotland (PHS) analysts are working closely with NSS to replicate local reports currently used by some practices, using the data provided by the new tool.
