Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how many nitrogen dioxide (NO2) or fine particulate air monitors are installed at schools in each local authority area.

The Scottish Government has allocated significant funding of £13.8 million to local authorities in relation to improving ventilation in schools.

In January, it was confirmed by local authorities that all circa 50,000 learning, teaching and play spaces across Scotland have been equipped with a CO2 monitor.

The Circular Economy & Waste Route Map sets out how we intend to deliver our system-wide, comprehensive vision for Scotland's Circular Economy by outlining tangible actions the Scottish Government and others must take to accelerate progress.

The responses to the Route Map consultation have been published, and we are considering this feedback carefully as part of the development of the Route Map, alongside ongoing assessment of impacts. Analysis of the consultation findings will be published in due course.

We intend to consult on a draft Route Map, before bringing forward a final Waste Route Map later this year.

Enforcement of the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 is the responsibility of local authorities, who have autonomy to allocate the resources available to them based on local needs and priorities. The Scottish Government is providing an additional £793 million of funding to local authorities in 2023-24.

In addition to guidance published on the Scottish Government website in advance of the Regulations, Zero Waste Scotland delivered an awareness raising campaign in the six months prior to the Regulations coming into force to increase business and public awareness of the Regulations. We will continue to support businesses to comply with requirements.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills considered this saving from the SFC budget as part of discussions that took place during April 2023.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how much the Barra and Vatersay Community Campus project has cost to date - this information is held by Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar.

Initial design and development costs have been incurred on the school and community element of the project, which is being delivered through the Learning Estate Investment Programme.

These upfront project costs have been paid by the local authority and will form part of the total project costs, up to 50% of which will be funded by the Scottish Government through the Learning Estate Investment Programme’s outcome based funding model mechanism.

In 2022-23, £200,000 was awarded to the Green Action Trust to support nature restoration and ecological connectivity across the Central Scotland Green Network.

In addition, our Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) helps to support ecological connectivity including through nature networks. Through the Edinburgh Process strand of the NRF in 2022-23, local authorities shared a direct allocation of £5 million to support nature restoration. During 2022-23 we awarded funding to 78 projects, totalling £12.9m worth of investments in nature. Details of projects funded to date from the competitive strand are available on NatureScot’s website at: https://www.nature.scot/funding-and-projects/scottish-government-nature-restoration-fund-nrf .

The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of protecting the welfare of fish at the time of slaughter and takes this very seriously.

We will carefully consider any recommendations made by the Animal Welfare Committee concerning the welfare of fish at the time of slaughter. However, due to a lack of clear communication from the UK Government, we do not yet have a timescale for when the report will be published.

The A&E departments across NHS Scotland currently include:

• 30 large consultant-led Emergency Departments; and
• 60 minor injuries units and community units.

At the end of the Action 15 commitment of the Scottish Government’s Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027, an additional 179.2 whole-time equivalent mental health professionals were recruited to A&E settings.

The Scottish Government does not currently collect the requested data on the total number of mental health professionals based in A&E departments. While data regarding the number of staff in post is available for specific mental health professional groups in NHS Scotland, this cannot be broken down by settings such as A&E.

The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme – offering vouchers worth up to £5,000 for eligible properties - currently has 50 suppliers registered to deliver services.

The list of registered suppliers is regularly reviewed to ensure that it is only listing suppliers who are actively participating in the scheme and is kept up to date here: Find a supplier | Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband .

Through our Fair Work First policy, we are applying Fair Work criteria to as many public contracts as we can. Employers are being asked to commit to adopting a range of fair work practices including: no inappropriate use of zero hours contracts; and fair pay including payment of the real Living Wage.

The Scottish Government considers fair pay as a clear way that an employer can demonstrate a commitment to their workforce alongside wider Fair Work First criteria. We routinely apply Fair Work criteria including the real Living Wage in our contracts. And while public bodies are responsible for their own procurement decisions, we are engaging with relevant sectors to encourage this approach across the whole of the public sector in Scotland.

• In May 2021 we published updated statutory guidance issued under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 to reflect development of the Scottish Government’s policy on Fair Work First, including payment of the real Living Wage and its application within Scottish public procurement.
• We are updating our best practice guidance to support the practical application of Fair Work First through public procurement.
• We have developed tools and guidance to help public bodies identify and address how they can optimise the economic, social and environmental outcomes of their procurement activity. These include a focus on Fair Work First including the real Living Wage.