Chamber and committees

Information on the qualifications of teachers is not collected centrally by the Scottish Government. A report commissioned by the Scottish Government and carried out by the Scottish Sensory Centre in 2016 showed that there were 65 teachers working with visually impaired pupils reported as being qualified, with an additional 15 teachers working towards qualification.

The Scottish Government is committed to increase the capacity and expertise of school staff to support pupils with visual impairments. We fund the Scottish Sensory Centre to provide specialist training to school staff to support pupils with a sensory impairment.

Under the Requirements for Teachers (Scotland) Regulations 2005, education authorities are responsible for ensuring that teachers employed to teach pupils who are visually impaired hold an appropriate qualification. We are also working with partners to update the existing qualifications guidance for teachers of deaf and visually impaired children and young persons to ensure staff have the latest advice on routes to professional qualification.

Asylum and immigration are matters reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes decisions relating to refugee resettlement programmes, UK visa routes and the operation of the UK asylum system. The Scottish Government has no control over these processes.

There is no provision in UK Immigration Rules for someone abroad to be given permission to travel to the UK to seek asylum. There is therefore no resettlement route for people seeking asylum from Hong Kong. The UK Government has established refugee resettlement routes and visa routes, including the Hong Kong BN(O) visa route. Decisions about eligibility criteria for refugee resettlement and visa routes are made by the UK Government.

Scotland’s approach to supporting refugees and people seeking asylum is set out in the New Scots refugee integration strategy. Developed and led in partnership by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council, New Scots provides a clear framework for all those working to support integration and assists the work of partners across local authorities, public services, the private sector, third sector and community organisations. The key principle of New Scots is that refugees and asylum seekers should be supported to integrate into communities from day one of arrival.

Fire prevention and awareness raising are an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. The Service has been assured that manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (EVs) have taken steps to ensure that their products are safe. Provided that the Lithium Battery power source has not been damaged, available statistics show that fires started by EVs remain very rare. SFRS has therefore no specific contact with ferry operators on the transportation of EVs.

It is a matter for vessel operators to ensure any cargo carried is safe. There is currently no difference in the advice provided to ferry customers with EVs over that of customers with internal combustion engines.

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) carried out a consultation in relation to EV’s travelling on ferries that included firefighting best practice. The MCA published the outcome of this consultation in March 2022 and details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-safety-of-electric-vehicles-on-passenger-ro-ro-ferries .

The Open Market Shared Equity thresholds are reviewed annually each December to reflect the overall movement in average house prices across all transactions over the previous financial year in each area, based on house price data from Registers of Scotland on the lower quartile of house prices in urban areas and the median of house prices in rural areas. The price threshold figures used are rounded up to the nearest £5,000.

Every few years we carry out a more comprehensive analysis of house prices by linking house price data with property characteristics data. This provides more detailed figures by property size category for lower quartile and median prices. This was last carried out using data for 2015-16, and has been applied to the thresholds from 2018 onwards, with the price thresholds for each year as noted above being updated to reflect the overall movement in changes in house prices in each area over time.

CrossCountry is a cross-border rail operator responsible to the DfT. Whilst the Scottish Government has not had recent direct correspondence with them we are aware that six Fife station calls were removed as part of a Covid timetable ‘derogation’ process by the DfT.

Transport Scotland officials are in discussion with the DfT and have been advised that no decisions have been made about permanent changes to the timetable.

The Local Rail Development Fund projects are currently undergoing various stages of the appraisal process and will be considered on a case-by-case basis as per STAG guidelines. Projects will be considered subject to the Scottish Government’s investment priorities for the strategic transport network, a robust business case, affordability and other competing proposals.

The answers to the questions on ethnic background, gender, religion and sexual orientation (alongside answers to other questions) are used to understand if the response received to the survey is representative of the population of the study area and Scotland as a whole. In addition, this information will assist the A96 Corridor Review in working towards reducing or removing barriers to equality and enhancing opportunities for certain communities and protected groups.

The information obtained from the survey, alongside other forms of engagement undertaken, is being used to inform the analysis of problems and opportunities and the identification of potential transport interventions. This is being progressed using the methodology set out in Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG). STAG [ https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/industry-guidance/scottish-transport-analysis-guide-scot-tag ] is the Scottish Government’s formal option appraisal toolkit and is the methodology used to guide the development and assessment of transport projects in Scotland. It provides an evidence based and objective led framework for identifying transport problems in a study area and/or opportunities, allows objectives to be set to reflect the transport problems/opportunities and then options to be identified and appraised in a consistent manner with the potential to meet those objectives.

In terms of the assessment of options, STAG involves a multi-criteria appraisal approach. One specific workstream which will feed into this appraisal is a Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA). All responses to the survey will be used to inform the study, including the EQIA process.

We have already committed in Housing to 2040 to review and consider potential reforms to the current eviction grounds under the Private Residential Tenancy (PRT) after 5 years of operation, which will be at the end of this year.

We have already started to seek views on the effectiveness and operation of the existing eviction grounds for the Private Rented Sector as part of the New Deal For Tenants consultation to help inform the review when it begins and we will continue to work with stakeholders during it.

As highlighted in Generation Rent’s research, measures are in place under the PRT where a tenancy has been ended due to misleading information, the First-tier Tribunal have the power to make a wrongful termination order against the landlord and award compensation to the tenant. The use and effectiveness of wrongful termination orders will form part of the review.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08883 on‎ 20 June 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

The Scottish Government is seeking to commission independent research in relation to protests and vigils that take place outside of abortion clinics to collect evidence of both the scale and impact of protest and vigils. The research will provide meaningful insight into the effects of protests and vigils on those who choose to protest, and those who are affected. Whilst the research will not be completed in time for the launch of Gillian Mackay MSP’s Member’s Bill, it will help provide a robust evidence base going forward.