Chamber and committees

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.

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Scottish Opera, including information relating to any repair and maintenance works, are best answered directly by Scottish Opera.

I have asked Scottish Opera to respond directly to the member with a full reply to his question in writing.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra does not manage any buildings fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

The National Theatre of Scotland does not manage any buildings fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

Given the importance of sandeel to the wider ecosystem and the subsequent benefit in aiding long-term sustainability and resilience, it remains an overarching Scottish Government position, which is reflected in Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy, not to support fishing for sandeel in our waters.

There are several measures in place for the protection of sandeel stocks through the network of Marine Protected Areas. Furthermore, the Northeast UK closed area in sandeel management area 4 has been in place since 2000 and, the UK has not allocated sandeel quota to UK vessels since 2021.

However, recognising a commitment to consider what additional measures could be put in place to manage the sandeel fishery, in May 2023 I announced that the Scottish Government will be undertaking a public consultation this summer on potential measures to manage fishing for sandeel in Scottish waters. I refer the member to the answer to S6W-18244 on 19 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 .

I met with the Chair of the Scottish Sentencing Council on 17 May. At that meeting, we discussed a range of matters relevant to the work of the Council. This included the approach that the Council plans to take to the review of guidelines that it produces. It was outlined that when reviewing offence or offender-specific guidelines, the Council will carry out an interim review when a guideline has been in effect for a year, considering data on relevant cases and engaging with sentencers to assess whether the guideline has had the intended effect and identify any unintended consequences. This will be followed by a full review after three years which the Council will publish, setting out the impact of the guideline in the medium term. The review of sentencing guidelines is a role that the Council undertakes independently.

The 2023-24 budgets for employability programmes, including No One Left Behind and Fair Start Scotland were confirmed by the Deputy First Minister on 25 May, with Grant Offer Letters issued to local authorities on 30 May for No One Left Behind. The budget for Individual Training Accounts has now been confirmed and the scheme will re-open during the week commencing 19 June 2023.

We are currently considering the budget for the Flexible Workforce Development Fund in 2023-24 through colleges and the Open University in Scotland and will provide a further update once budget discussions have concluded.

All planning applications must be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), adopted in February this year, forms part of the statutory development plan alongside the relevant Local Development Plan (LDP).

NPF4 places climate and nature at the centre of our planning system and makes clear our support for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies, including onshore wind.

NPF4 policy 11 makes clear that potential impacts on communities, nature and other receptors remain important considerations in the decision-making process. Additionally, the policy requires that project design and mitigation will demonstrate how impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including residential amenity, visual impact, noise and shadow flicker will be addressed. All applications are subject to site-specific assessments, including Environmental Impact Assessment where applicable.