Chamber and committees

Scottish SPCA inspectors currently undertake training to enable them to carry out their duties as part of their current responsibilities provided through the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. This includes internal training courses, on the job training, and externally audited training during and after their probation period.

We expect that any additional training would be incorporated into current training. The details of the training and the associated costs will be developed after the public consultation on the proposals this summer.

The Scottish Government is not providing specific ring-fenced funding for breakfasts in schools in this financial year. However, a number of local authorities have used Scottish Government funding flexibly to support breakfast provision in their local area in partnership with public, private and third sector providers.

The current Northern Isles Ferry Service contract is scheduled to expire 30 June 2028.

Development of options for the future ferry services contract on the Northern Isles routes is scheduled to start in 2024.

The total cost of the independent taskforce charged with conducting a review of Scottish SPCA powers was £2834.20.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes information on Scottish Child Payment applications, payments and an estimate of the number of children actively in receipt of the payment.

While Social Security Scotland has not published the number of parents or carers in receipt of Scottish Child Payment to date, development is currently underway to do so in the next edition of the Scottish Child Payment Official Statistics publication. This will also include the number of parents or carers actively in receipt of Scottish Child Payment by age group. This next edition will cover the period to the end of June 2023 and is due to be published on 29 August 2023.

As of March 2023, around 12% (37,560) of applications for Scottish Child Payment were made by parents or carers aged under 25. It is important to note that these statistics relate to applications, not receipts of Scottish Child Payment. This information can be found in the latest Scottish Child Payment Official Statistics publication:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19380 on 11 July 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

EU nationals who were living in the UK prior to the end of the Brexit Transition Period (31 December 2020) are eligible for the home tuition fee rate and tuition fee support to study at a Scottish institution. EU nationals who satisfy this criteria and were also living in the UK and Islands for 3 years can access living cost support, provided they are ordinarily resident in Scotland.

The disproportionate cost threshold is £600.

The introduction of mandatory Bovine EID is a substantial project and all applicable legislation is being reviewed. The Scottish Government have undertaken scoping work to determine the main changes to legislation that will be necessary. Once the necessary work is complete a response will be issued to the Bovine EID stakeholder group with an indicative timetable.

Any changes to future Regulations concerning cattle identification, will be subject to a full public consultation. This will also include the future use of paper passports.

The Scottish Government places great importance on the range of services Arms Length External Organisations (ALEOs) provide and believes everyone should have access to these services. While there are no limits set by the Scottish or UK Government on the amount a Scottish local authority, and by extension ALEOs can borrow, local authorities are under a statutory duty to determine and keep under review the maximum amount which it can afford to allocate to capital expenditure, including associated borrowing levels.

The Scottish Government for our part have provided local authorities with nearly £13.5 billion 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.