Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not have the legal power to direct charitable activity. That is a decision for the charity’s trustees, taking advice as appropriate, including from OSCR, and accordingly the Scottish Government is unable to intervene in this matter.

This government is clear that we must never ignore or seek to hide the difficult aspects of our country’s history and we acknowledge Scotland's complex past, including our involvement in the slave trade.

The working group, “Empire, Slavery and Scotland’s Museums: Addressing our Colonial Legacy” has made recommendations about how best to manage, present and protect elements of our contested or hidden heritage. We are carefully considering our response to these recommendations and will be meeting with its members and Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) to discuss the best ways to take this work forward. As an initial step the Scottish Government has provided £68,000 to MGS, as the museums development body in Scotland, so they can begin to support the sector to address these recommendations.

The Race Equality and Anti-Racism in Education Programme is considering how to embed anti-racism in education, including curriculum reform to ensure our historic past is accurately reflected.

There will be an Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) census in September 2023 which, as in previous years, will collect information on the number of deferrals but not on the age of the children. The new individual level child census, due to take place for the first time in May 2024, will collect data on children registered for funded ELC, including the date of birth of the child. At that point it will be possible to identify how many children registered for funded ELC were eligible under the change in legislation on deferrals. Some local authorities already provide funded ELC for deferred children regardless of the child’s birthday, so we will not be able to identify if these children would have been registered for funded ELC if the legislation was not changed.

All impact assessments related to the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) were carried out before the advent of the Carbon Neutral Islands Project. Nevertheless, Scotland’s DRS will have significant environmental benefits, such as cutting almost 4m tonnes of CO2eq emissions over the first twenty-five years of the scheme.

We recently completed our second consultation on the New Build Heat Standard , which sets out our proposals for regulating direct emissions heating systems within new buildings, applying for a building warrant, from 1 April 2024.

An independent analysis of the responses received to the consultation is now underway, and this will inform the development of regulations prior to their laying in Parliament in Spring 2023.

The 433 additional properties to be connected in Dumfries and Galloway as a result of the £6.6 million extension to the R100 South contract are spread across the whole region. This extended build is also fully reflected on our online address checker where individuals can enter their address details to see what the R100 programme will deliver for their property.

Zero Waste Scotland has calculated that 29 Scottish Local Authorities, including all Island Local Authorities, will incur a net financial benefit from the implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

Further to the answer to question S6W-11628, answered on 7 November 2022, I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-11493 on 26 October 2022, and S6T-00915 on 25 October 2022. The administration process is still ongoing, but I would like to assure the member that the Scottish Government is continuing to engage with key partners in relation to this matter, including Creative Scotland.

The answer to Topical Question S6T-00915 can be found here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-25-10-2022?meeting=13939&iob=126317#16180

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

Local authorities are responsible for school enrolments in their area, including providing information for parents and carers who may wish to defer their child’s primary school start. We have written to local authorities to encourage them to update the communications they share with parents to reflect the change in legislation. The Scottish Government provides information about deferrals on the Parent Club website .

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people who have had a stroke receive the best possible care as quickly as possible to enable them to live longer, healthier and independent lives. This commitment extends to the emotional and psychological impact of stroke and the Scottish Government wants to ensure that the detection and management of the psychological consequences of stroke are seen as a priority by health boards. We will continue to work with organisations such as the Stroke Association to make real improvements to the quality of life of people in Scotland affected by stroke.

The Supreme Court has today handed down its judgment on the reference by the Lord Advocate. The Scottish Government will take time to reflect carefully on the Supreme Court’s judgment and our response to its contents.

The Supreme Court judgment can be accessed at: REFERENCE by the Lord Advocate of devolution issues under paragraph 34 of Schedule 6 to the Scotland Act 1998 (supremecourt.uk)