Chamber and committees

The valuation of all non-domestic property, including the sites of ATMs, is a matter for the Scottish Assessors who are independent of local and Scottish Government.

We are aware that Assessors were considering the valuation of ATM sites and they concluded that in most retail premises it is likely that such sites will be deleted from the Valuation Roll. Assessors are in the process of carrying out this exercise.

Where a property is removed from the Valuation Roll, the ratepayer will be entitled to a refund of any overpaid rates back to the effective date of deletion.

The Scottish Government has decided that these functions are best located in the new qualifications body.

In reaching this conclusion we considered a range of options, including the establishment of a new small non-departmental public body solely responsible for these functions and Professor Muir’s recommendation to locate the functions within the new national agency for Scottish education.

We have sought the views of a range of organisations including nine standard setting organisations, twenty-five Awarding Bodies and a number of other public bodies including the Scottish Funding Council and the SCQF Partnership. Officials also met with other UK regulation and accreditation bodies including Ofqual and Qualifications Wales and discussed options with colleagues across the Learning, Education Reform and Advanced Learning and Science Directorates. We have also drawn on the expertise of the staff who provide those services through discussions with the SQA’s Chief Executive, staff in the Accreditation Team and members of the SQA Accreditation Committee.

On balance, it is clear that there are significant benefits to locating the functions in the new Qualifications Body, as an NDPB, providing a greater degree of independence than within the new national agency. The creation of the new Qualifications Body itself presents an opportunity to make significant changes to the relationship between the awarding and accreditation functions which will further strengthen their independence from one another. We will develop these as part of the Education Reform Bill to be introduced to Parliament next year and as part of the Target Operating Model for the new body.

This decision will ensure the continued provision of a service which is of vital importance across a wide range of sectors of the Scottish economy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12387 on 29 November 2022. 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 have no current plans to do so but I wrote to Councillor Archie Dryburgh of Dumfries and Galloway Council on 20 October 2022. In that letter I confirmed that the Scottish Government would honour the commitment I made during my visit on 3 November 2021 to provide financial support to the Council. I set out that the Scottish Government will provide £33,000 of revenue funding and £25,000 of capital support, which represents half of the Council’s additional expenditure, in relation to the recovery and replacement of the two footbridges.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the use of technology in healthcare environments to improve health outcomes and to create jobs. Support includes the funding of the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre and the Medical Devices Manufacturing Centre at Heriot Watt University.

The Scottish Government has also provided City Region Deals funding to develop innovation development capacity across Scotland, including the Inverness Campus which will generate new commercial opportunities in the sector including for companies developing products and services to help with assisted living.

The enterprise agencies also support with a suite of financial support and guidance including through R&D grant funding.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Our response to the pandemic has always been aligned with public health advice whether locally or nationally. We gradually and cautiously lifted regime restrictions that were necessary and proportionate to protect the health and wellbeing of those who live and work in our prisons. We continue to work through a Transition Plan and focus on restoration of regimes as we move out of the pandemic phase.

There were no prosecutions under regulation 44(1) of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (where main crime) since 1 January 2011.

Please note: The latest available data is for 2020-21. Information for 2021-22 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published in 2023.

There were no prosecutions under section 40(1) of the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (where main crime) since 1 January 2014.

Please note: The latest available data is for 2020-21. Information for 2021-22 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published in 2023.

From data provided by Police Scotland, the Scottish Government can confirm that as a proportion of the workforce in 2021-22 the rate of voluntary resignation among officers in Scotland was less than half that in England and Wales.

The following tables show that, as a proportion of the workforce, rates of voluntary resignations among police officers have been consistently lower in Scotland over the last five years compared to England and Wales

I met with the Chair and Vice Chairs of SPT on 23 November 2022, during a visit to see progress on the Subway Modernisation programme. We discussed that programme, in addition to our mutual interest and shared desire to support the continued recovery of public transport patronage in the West of Scotland. We have agreed to meet again to continue the dialogue and collaboratively working.