Chamber and committees

The Curriculum for Excellence enables teachers to tailor the content of lessons to best suit learners in their particular circumstances. Within the broad general education there is the opportunity to teach the Holocaust, not only within social studies, but across the wider curriculum. There is also an opportunity to teach the Holocaust within the History qualifications in the senior phase.

Scottish Government does not hold information on the percentage of secondary school pupils who have received education on the Holocaust during the 2021-22 school year, however a wide range of resources are available for schools to promote learning and teaching about, and remembrance of, the Holocaust. These resources focus on the Holocaust but also promote awareness of Jewish people, culture and their contribution to society and address the issue of antisemitism in the world today. Professional learning to support teachers to embed Holocaust education across secondary schools in Scotland is also available, including a subsidised standalone Masters module on Citizenship and Holocaust Education.

The Scottish Government does not intend to publish a list of the unsuccessful proposals that were submitted to the Just Transition Fund. The arrangements for applying to the fund next year have not been finalised yet.

I can confirm that the total spent to date on the A96 Corridor Review is £2,121,858.42.

Section 34 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 is now in force, providing wider powers for local transport authorities to run their own buses. Additionally, secondary legislation to commence Section 35 (Bus Service Improvement Partnerships) is scheduled to be introduced before the end of 2023, alongside franchising powers. These powers will complement and continue to build on the service improvements supported through the Bus Partnership Fund.

As with many aspects of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, the provisions in Part 3 empower local transport authorities with the flexible tools they need to respond to their own transport challenges. We will continue to work with local authorities as they explore the full range of options set out in the 2019 Act, including local authority-run bus services and Bus Service Improvement Partnerships.

A further £6.6 million of Project Gigabit funding is being invested in the R100 South contract to reach an additional 1,149 properties. This includes 433 properties in the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area. The online checker at www.scotlandsuperfast.com has been updated to reflect the remodelled build plan.

Following a meeting with the Isle of Rum Community Trust on Wednesday 2 nd November, the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity has agreed that more time is necessary to work with the community to try and secure a positive future for the Castle, that can be supported by the community on the Isle of Rum.

Analysis for the survey is ongoing and we intend to publish a report alongside the publishing of the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11825 on 9 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 .

Since May 2022, the Sustainable and Active Travel Team has held 104 strategic conversations with local authorities on the promotion of active travel. These were primarily in relation to their Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes active travel infrastructure grant funding, and engagement with the Transformation Programme, and were mostly scheduled in advance.

The team has also had a further 12 discussions on infrastructure, behaviour change and free bikes with CoSLA and the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS). Other Transport Scotland teams including Rail, Bus Partnership Fund, and Canals have held additional project specific discussions, although we have been unable to quantify these.

Unfortunately, the Scottish Government is unable to produce these specific statistics as the Greenhouse Gas Inventory that we use does not allow us to extract data separately for textiles. However, a one-off project published in November 2020 ( available here ) shows estimates for textiles manufacturing. We have also included the estimates for wearing apparel from 2014-2018. Please see the following table.

These statistics are on a ‘residence basis’ which differs slightly from the territorial basis we usually use. Nonetheless, we expect the difference between residential and territorial emissions for textiles to be minor.