Chamber and committees

This is a ScotRail led procurement, undertaken in line with Public Procurement Guidelines and as such appropriate for ScotRail to confirm details in due course.

Network Rail advise that the cost of work done (to 29 th April 2023) on the project is £6.7m. The amount spent reflects the efficiency in which the early development stages are being carried out.

We are continuing to work with the Learning Together Steering group, Education Scotland and other key stakeholders to develop a refreshed policy framework for parental engagement. This work is being taken forward as part of the broader Education Recovery Strategy to further improve parental involvement and engagement in schools. The refreshed action plan will take account of the recently published findings of the National Discussion on Education, which demonstrated a significant appetite from parents and carers for involvement in their children’s education. The Learning Together Action Plan will be published later this year.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18462 on 15 June 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 .

Scotland’s national forests and land is sub-divided into five geographical management areas, each has a local incident response plan in place.

Each Regional incident response plan covers all potential incidents that may occur on Scotland’s national forests and land, inlcuding wild fires. The incident response plan is produced in collaboration with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and other agencies / public bodies and is reviewed annually.

In addition, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has guidance in place for staff regarding how to manage wildfires on Scotland’s national forests and land. The guidace covers roles and responsibilities and how to work in collaboration with SFRS. FLS staff are trained to respond to incidents when required, including wild fires.

FLS produces guidance for staff on the use of helicopters for firefighting, covering how and when to use a helicopter and the roles and responsibilites of FLS / SFRS staff.

The total cost for the helicopters utilised at the Cannich fire is not known at this stage, as the incident is still ‘live’ with damping down activity ongoing, and the two suppliers (PDG Aviation Ltd and Skyhook Helicopters) have not yet submitted their respective invoices.

The final cost of the helicopter support will run to hundreds of thousands of pounds, with the majority of the cost being met by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS).

FLS deployed the helicopters to the incident at the request and in liaison with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Cost allocation has not yet been discussed with neighbouring land owners/managers.

The delivery of the actions in the Report of the City Centre Recovery Task Force 2021-22 is being carried out under the auspices of the Scottish Cities Alliance, in agreement with our local authority partners. As a member of the Alliance, the Scottish Government will work with the cities to progress the strategic objectives in the report as part of the Alliance’s Operational Programme 2022-2026.

In addition, the Scottish Government has also adopted the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) in February 2023, which references the ambitions of the Report and directly influences all planning decisions. NPF4 recognises that our cities and towns are a national asset and their centres bring together a wide range of functions and land uses. Its policies help centres adapt and be vibrant, healthier, creative, accessible and resilient places for people to live, learn, work and enjoy. In March 2023 we also introduced new permitted development rights that provide greater flexibility to change the use of buildings and place furniture outside specified hospitality premises.

During periods of dry weather when the fire risk is moderate to high, Forestry and Land Scotland posts alerts on their web site and social media to warn members of the public about the risks. This includes advice on campfires, stoves, and portable barbeques.

At popular visitor destinations, warning signs are erected on approaches to the site, including electronic signs on the route to Glenmore in the Cairngorms National Park.

Throughout the summer, FLS staff patrol the popular visitor destinations and monitor them for irresponsible and antisocial behaviour. When campfires are found, the people involved are advised to extinguish them as soon as possible and if necessary, the emergency services get involved.

Throughout the summer period, extra Seasonal Rangers are employed across the country to assist with the patrols around popular sites, particularly at weekends.

The Rangers work in partnership with other Public Bodies, neighbours, and partners in their area.

FLS has a Duty Officer on call 24/7 in each region throughout Scotland. The Duty Officers have support in place to be able to react at short notice to any incident, including wildfires.

FLS works closely in collaboration with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and has run training events for staff regarding how to deal with campfires safely and avoid them becoming a wildfire.

Health and Safety legislation is not devolved to the Scottish Government. The HSE are carrying out research currently across the UK focused on buildings which contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Building safety is a matter for the owner of the building, in this case local authorities are the relevant duty holder. For this reason the Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of schools which contain RAAC. We remain in close contact with local authorities, and expect them to provide a safe environment for all users.

There were 34 Fixed Penalty Notices issued for infringements detected at sea by Marine Scotland officers from our Marine Protection Vessels in the last 12 months. Of these 3 were not paid within the required time and were reported to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Office (COPFS). No other prosecutions were reported directly to the COPFS.