Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-15078

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the compatibility of the forthcoming Deposit Return Scheme and the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020.

The Scottish Government has been following the agreed process for excluding the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) regulations from the Internal Market Act and it has been the subject of discussion with UK Government for many months.

Our original proposal back in 2021 was for an exclusion for both single use plastics and DRS to avoid duplication of effort. This was rejected by UK ministers, resulting in a narrow exclusion for single-use plastics only, and the ongoing process since October 2022 to secure a specific DRS exclusion.

On 28 February 2022 we published correspondence between the Scottish Government and UK Government on this and the First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister to seek the UK Government’s continuing constructive support in finalising the terms of an exclusion where it was needed. You can access the correspondence here: Internal Market Act: correspondence - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Question reference: S6W-15052

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made to develop the Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind for Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas Decarbonisation (INTOG).

The Initial Plan Framework for Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas decarbonisation (INTOG) was published on 22 February 2022 and set the parameters used by Crown Estate Scotland to shape their leasing process.

Following the closure of the INTOG lease application window on 18 November 2022, the Marine Scotland Directorate is undertaking assessments to understand the potential impact from proposed INTOG projects on the marine environment and other marine sectors which will inform the development the draft Sectoral Marine Plan for INTOG. Public consultation on the draft plan is targeted for later in 2023.

Question reference: S6W-15187

Asked by: Michael Marra, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 17 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-01165 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 July 2021, whether it will provide the complete figures for (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23.

Table 1 provides information on average gross revenue expenditure in Scotland per pre-school registration, and primary and secondary pupil along with information on allocations (accounting for teaching and tuition fees funding) per college and university place.

Table 1: Average expenditure per place for each education level in cash terms
Education level	2012-13 1	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16 2	2016-17 3	2017-18 4	2018-19 4,5	2019-20 4,6	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23 8
Pre-School	£3,194	£3,102	£3,411	£3,957	£4,344	£4,561	£5,190	£6,916	£9,366	£10,435	-
Primary School	£4,899	£4,880	£4,819	£4,877	£4,980	£5,169	£5,444	£5,791	£6,130	£6,550	-
Secondary School	£6,629	£6,714	£6,795	£6,920	£7,046	£7,127	£7,454	£7,789	£7,906	£8,174	-
College	£4,012	£4,043	£4,029	£4,024	£4,092	£4,196	£4,539	£4,665	£4,878	£4,952	£5,054
University	£7,139	£7,175	£7,240	£7,237	£7,005	£7,013	£7,182	£7,187	£7,316	£7,433	£7,558

Table 2 provides the same information in 2022-23 prices. Real terms conversions are based on HM Treasury’s GDP Deflator series, January 2023.

Table 2: Average expenditure per place for each education level in real terms (2022-23 prices)
Education level	2012-13 1	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16 2	2016-17 3	2017-18 4	2018-19 4,5	2019-20 4,6	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23 8
Pre-School	£3,983	£3,790	£4,121	£4,743	£5,103	£5,269	£5,891	£7,651	£9,750	£10,942	-
Primary School	£6,108	£5,961	£5,823	£5,846	£5,849	£5,972	£6,179	£6,406	£6,382	£6,869	-
Secondary School	£8,265	£8,201	£8,210	£8,295	£8,276	£8,234	£8,460	£8,617	£8,230	£8,572	-
College	£5,003	£4,939	£4,868	£4,824	£4,806	£4,848	£5,152	£5,161	£5,078	£5,193	£5,054
University	£8,902	£8,765	£8,747	£8,675	£8,228	£8,102	£8,152	£7,951	£7,616	£7,794	£7,558

Methodologies and key policy changes

The methodologies used to determine the average expenditure per place for each education level are provided in more detail below. This section will also explain the methodology and policy changes, and why some of the figures provided in this answer differ from those provided the last time this question (PQ S6W-01165) was answered in July 2021.

Pre-school: average gross revenue expenditure per child in pre-primary education is arrived at by taking the total gross revenue expenditure on pre-primary education, adjusted for inter-authority transfers, as reported by local authorities to the local financial return. These figures are then divided by the number of pupils in funded early learning and childcare as per the statistics reported in the early learning and childcare census.

The per child expenditure for early learning and childcare has risen over the period of these figures. This is due to the expansion in the number of funded hours of early learning and childcare which children are eligible for. The Children and Young People Act (Scotland) 2014 made 600 hours of funded ELC per year available for all 3 and 4 year olds, and extended the entitlement to eligible 2 year olds. This entitlement was expanded to 1140 hours per eligible child from August 2021. This recent expansion, from 600 hours to 1140, has contributed to the increasing expenditure per child from 2018-19 onwards.

Primary and Secondary school: average gross revenue expenditure per pupil in primary and secondary education respectively is arrived at by taking the total gross revenue expenditure adjusted for inter-authority transfers, reported by local authorities on primary and secondary education to the local financial return, divided by the number of pupils in primary and secondary education as per the statistics reported in the pupil census.

Figures for 2019-20 are slightly different from those in the response to PQ S6W-01165 because of subsequent revisions to 2019-20 local government financial return data. The earlier figures provided here for pre-primary, primary and secondary education expenditure have been calculated on a consistent basis and have been updated to take into account any methodological changes and revisions to the calculation of expenditure figures from the Local Government Financial returns.

Colleges: the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) have supplied detail of the cost of a College place (expenditure per full-time equivalent (FTE)). This is calculated by taking funding provided to Colleges for core teaching and assumed tuition fee income and dividing this by the number of student places.

Universities: the cost of a University place, also provided by the SFC, is estimated by taking the total teaching grant awarded to Universities (excluding teaching grant associated with rUK students studying expensive strategically important subjects, who are not eligible for funding) and assumed tuition fee income associated with those places and dividing this by the total number of SFC funded places for Scottish and EU domiciled FTEs. Expenditure figures exclude funding for student support, and SFC’s research and strategic funds. Total FTE figures are SFC/SG funded places and do not include fees only and international places.

In answering an earlier similar PQ S6W-01165 on 28 July 2021, the methodology for Universities and Colleges excluded any external fees element, and for Universities only it included expensive strategically important subjects. However, SFC, who hold the data and provided estimates to Scottish Government, have advised the methodology should include a fees element for Universities and Colleges as fees are considered inherent to teaching provision, and expensive strategically important subjects should be removed for Universities as the additional funding for these courses are only for rest of the UK students who are not associated to funded places. Therefore, estimates will be different compared to those provided in the last version of this question.

Supplementary notes

1. Rest of the UK university places were removed from 2012-13 on a phased basis (new students in 2012-13 and each new cohort thereafter over a 5 year period).

2. In AY 2015-16 SFC moved college funding to a credits based system, rather than WSUMS. It is assumed that 15 credits = 1 FTE.

3. In AY 2016-17 there was a 2.9% reduction in University gross teaching prices.

4. In 2018-19, additional places at St Andrew’s University for rUK Calman students clinical training were funded separately by the SFC however are not included for continuance.

5. For 2020-21 the university allocation includes funded places and funding for childcare that were announced after the publication of the final funding announcement, to ensure consistency with other years.

6. The funded places/weighted SUMS/credits figures used are taken from the final published main grant letters or outcome agreements, and do not take account of any subsequent adjustments.

7. Assumed fees include income from SAAS, SDS, employers and students paying their own tuition fees for SFC funded programmes.

8. A “-“ symbol indicates no available data for this year.

Question reference: S6W-15115

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many (a) houses and (b) flats in Scotland have been demolished in each year since 1999.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information at this level of detail. Latest published Scottish Government annual estimates on demolitions from 1999-00 up to the year 2020-21 are available on the Housing statistics: Conversions and demolitions webpage. This information is provided by local authorities but does not include a breakdown by houses or flats.

Note that these estimates are not considered comprehensive. Estimates of demolitions of local authority housing are thought to be generally accurate, however local authorities differ in their ability to provide comprehensive estimates of demolitions of private sector and housing association homes. As such, these estimates should be considered as the minimum level of demolition activity in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-14988

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 13 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether Marine Scotland will have sufficient capacity to process applications for offshore windfarms through the ScotWind process.

Over the last 12 months Marine Scotland Directorate has recruited a significant number of new staff across Marine Scotland Licensing Operations Team, Marine Scotland Planning and Policy Division and the science function within Marine Scotland to address increased demands expected from processing ScotWind applications. Resources will be kept under review in light of the number of lease options awarded for ScotWind and applicants’ proposed timelines. In addition, the Marine Scotland Directorate has established a streamlining team to identify and implement efficiencies in consenting processes.

Question reference: S6W-14834

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review whether the Scottish Futures Trust is ideally placed and qualified to manage the Learning Estate Investment Programme.

The Learning Estate Investment Programme’s (LEIP) outcomes Governance Board, which is co-chaired by Scottish Government and COSLA, scrutinises all aspects of the LEIP on an ongoing basis.

The LEIP has undergone a Gateway Review Strategic Assessment, the recommendations of which have been implemented across the LEIP. A further Gateway Review will commence this month.

Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) provides expertise, for example, in programme and data management, schools design, as well as commercial and financial modelling, and the Scottish Government engages regularly with SFT on ongoing management of the LEIP. SFT also managed the previous Scotland’s Schools for the Future Programme which saw the construction of 117 new or refurbished schools and benefited over 60,000 pupils across the country.

Question reference: S6W-14680

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) meets the needs of people with heart disease, and how it is ensuring the delivery of access to computerised CBT across all cardiac rehabilitation and specialist cardiac nursing services nationally.

We have significantly increased access to digital mental health treatments, products and services since the first cCBT treatment was rolled out in 2017. We now have 27 different computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) treatments available across all NHS Boards. This includes the tool ‘Space in Coronary Heart Disease’.

Through delivery of the Heart Disease Action Plan, we have worked with five health boards to encourage their utilisation of this tool within cardiac rehab services. We are in the process of evaluating this to support further adoption within cardiac services.

Question reference: S6W-14691

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking with Public Health Scotland to deliver a cardiac audit programme with a governance structure to support the audit and improvement of services for people with heart disease, and, as part of this programme, whether it is supporting the development of a wider range of heart disease and risk factor quality indicators to gain a better understanding of the provision of care across the full pathway.

Question reference: S6W-14756

Asked by: Ariane Burgess, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of released non-native gamebirds are from captive bird operations that are registered with the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

Question reference: S6W-14641

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to protect people who might be vulnerable to the force-fitting of prepayment meters by energy companies.

Chamber and committees