Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answers to the following questions:

• S4W-05728 on 2 July 2012
• S4W-17608 on 3 October 2013
• S4W-25214 on 2 April 2015
• S4W-26746 on 17 July 2015
• S5W-00837 on 20 June 2016
• S5W-12960 on 24 November 2017
• S5W-17596 on 5 July 2018
• S5W-26805 on 19 December 2019
• S5W-36009 on 24 March 2021
• S6W-17817 on 5 May 2023
• S6W-16899 on 5 May 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 committed to aligning with EU law where that is possible and will have a meaningful impact on the outcomes we share with the EU. This is delivered through routine monitoring by policy experts. Therefore the Scottish Government does not maintain an authoritative record of all EU directives, regulations and legislation which cover topics of devolved competence since 2021.

The Scottish Government’s policy statement on the approach to EU alignment, approved by parliament on 8 June 2022, sets out detail of this process, acknowledging that much of EU legislation is now not applicable in Scotland since the UK Government removed it from the EU.

The Scottish Government recognises that local bank branches provide an important service across Scotland – particularly for rural communities. The regulation of financial services is reserved to the UK Government and, therefore, Scottish Ministers cannot intervene in commercial decisions made by banks to close branches, even where it leaves some rural communities without convenient access to a local branch.

We note the cash access provisions within the Financial Services and Markets Bill progressing through the UK Parliament and the additional powers the Bill will grant to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to monitor access to cash across the UK. Scottish Government officials are in regular dialogue with the FCA to ensure Scotland’s unique interests are articulated and advanced, and the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy will meet with Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the FCA, shortly where he will set out the need to ensure that the banking needs of rural areas are fully considered by the FCA’s new regulatory regime. The Scottish Government regularly engages with the banking sector in Scotland through bi-lateral meetings and the Financial Services Growth and Development Board. We will continue to urge all banks to address their customers banking needs and to support rural communities without branches with industry initiatives such as shared Bank Hubs, improved Post Office banking services and Community Bankers.

Recognising that many services, including banking, are becoming increasingly digitised, the Scottish Government is also providing significant investment in Scotland’s digital infrastructure. The £600 million Reaching 100% (R100) broadband programme and the £28.75 million in the Scottish 4G Infill (S4GI) mobile programme will enable communities to better access online banking services. Around 70% of premises that will be connected through the £600 million Reaching 100% (R100) contracts are in rural areas and all of the 55 mast sites to be delivered through S4GI are located on islands or in rural Scotland.

The judicial review decision about the City of Edinburgh Council's short-term lets licensing policy does not affect the timeframes for the implementation of short-term lets licensing as set out in legislation.

Since 1 October 2022, new short-term let hosts must obtain a licence, from the licensing authority where their accommodation is located, before they accept bookings and receive guests.

Transitional arrangements are in place for existing hosts, those operating their accommodation as short-term lets prior to 1 October 2022, enabling them to continue operating provided that they apply for a licence by 1 October 2023. Existing hosts will then be able to continue operating while their licence application is being processed and until it is determined.

Under the legislation, licensing authorities have up to 12 months to process applications from existing hosts and this can be extended by the courts for individual cases where there are good reasons to do so. If a licensing authority does not determine a licensing application within 12 months or apply to a court for an extension to continue its consideration, the application will be deemed to be granted for the period of one year. These provisions should provide assurance to the sector that they can continue to accept bookings and receive guests during this transitional period for existing hosts.

The Scottish Government is proud that there are now an unprecedented 46,260 professionals supporting children and families across Scotland and that those professionals can pursue opportunities to progress and develop fulfilling careers in the sector. The Scottish Government does not have a role in determining the movement of staff between different types of provider.

I am, however, keen that there is a sustainable, diverse, highly skilled workforce to serve the whole childcare sector. That is why we are developing a Strategic Framework for the childcare profession which will set out actions to enhance the attractiveness of childcare roles and support retention of staff.

The Scottish Government understands the importance of ferry connections to our island economies, communities.

We work closely with our local authority partners, transport providers and island communities and businesses to understand the impacts of service disruption through a variety of fora such as Ferry Committees, the Islands Strategic Group and Transport Forums.

We also fully understand the importance of ferry services to the transportation of goods and services. Our ferry operators prioritise food supplies and essential services during disruption. They are part of local resilience partnerships, and remain in contact with local communities and hauliers.

Scottish Ministers’ primary focus is to improve resilience in the ferry network to minimise the risk of service disruption. We continue to task CMAL and operators to identify and present suitable second hand tonnage options for charter or purchase to support the existing fleets. This has helped to provide additional resilience and capacity in the short-term through, for example, our purchase and deployment of the MV Loch Frisa, chartering the MV Arrow, and currently chartering the MV Alfred.

We continue to invest in our ferry network, including commissioning the two new vessels for Islay and two more for the Little Minch routes. These four ships are being built now and are currently expected to be in service over the period between early 2025 and 2026. These four new vessels are in addition to the vessels being completed at Ferguson’s.

While we continue to invest in the network to minimise the risk of cancellations, weather conditions will always result in some unavoidable disruption. For example, statistics show that in 2022 of the 171,403 scheduled sailings across the CHFS network 11,301 (6.6%) were cancelled, with only 1,830 (1.1%) of these being cancelled due to technical issues.

Probationary teachers are allocated places on the Teacher Induction Scheme based on their subject and their ranked preference of five local authority areas. An insufficient number of probationary teachers chose Aberdeenshire Council for their probationary year and, therefore, Aberdeenshire Council did not receive the number of probationary secondary teachers that they requested.

Through the Teacher Induction Scheme probationary teachers can receive a Preference Waiver Payment of up to £8,000, if they are willing to complete their probation anywhere in Scotland, including in Aberdeenshire.

Whist we recognise there is a challenge around the recruitment of teachers in certain geographical areas and in certain subjects, we cannot direct teachers where to undertake their probation or where to work.

The Scottish Government is working with partners and practitioners from across the childcare sector to develop a Strategic Framework for Scotland’s Early Learning and Childcare, School Age Childcare and Childminding Profession. The Framework will set out the priorities for the profession now, and in the coming years, as well as actions we will take with partners to support a sustainable, diverse and thriving profession. We expect to publish the Framework this summer.

The study to map the net zero skills on Scottish Islands is progressing and we hope to be able to report on progress by the end of the summer.

Our Diabetes Improvement Plan, published in 2021, contains a key commitment to further increase access to existing and emerging diabetes technologies.

Our national policy is to increase access to these life changing diabetes therapies to everyone who would benefit, and we expect NHS Boards to provide technology to all clinically suitable children and adults.

Between 2016 and 2022, we invested £29.6 million of additional funding specifically to support the increased provision of diabetes technologies. A further £350,000 is being invested through the new Accelerated National Innovation Adoption pathway workstream to accelerate the distribution of Closed Loop Systems.

The technology is considered the most significant development in diabetes treatment in recent years and can transform lives, particularly for children and young people. This investment will see a dedicated team created to support NHS health boards to rollout the technology faster and more efficiently across Scotland.

We are continuing to work with key partners to identify any future funding requirements for the continuing roll-out of diabetes technologies across Scotland.