Chamber and committees

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (RoS). She advises me that, following the impact of the pandemic, RoS has stabilised and started to improve the position this year, in line with the strategy set out in their Corporate Plan .

RoS has committed to clearing the stock of older casework within the duration of the current Corporate Plan. RoS is in fact slightly ahead of target on their strategic objectives and the series of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used to measure progress. KPI statistics are published quarterly on the RoS website .

The information requested is not held centrally.

Following the successful completion of a two-year Scotland-wide pilot in 2022, the new fast-track Prescribed Blue Badge model for people with motor neurone disease (MND) was launched on 9 May 2022 via the provision of updated guidance for local authorities.

MND specialist nurses in Scotland now have the power to prescribe a Blue Badge for people with an MND diagnosis should their MND specialist nurse deem them as meeting the eligibility criteria. This means that such applicants can bypass the Local Authority assessment process and experience significantly shorter waiting times.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14269 on 7 February 2023. 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 refer the member to the Scottish Government’s second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan. Further to the commitment set out in the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social care, we committed to a new target of creating 500 apprenticeship opportunities across NHS Scotland in 2022-2023, to support those wishing to join the health and social care workforce. We closely monitor NHS Boards progress towards promoting the range of opportunities available and their progress towards this target, including through taking period management information, and in our planning, assurance and scrutiny engagements with health board representatives.

The Scottish Government continues to work with key partners within health and social care to promote NHS careers with a focus on widening access and providing progressive career development pathways including exploration of “earn as you learn” models such as apprenticeships for new and existing staff.

The control of invasive non-native species is already a priority in the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy which states that a key aim for the Strategy is that by 2045:

“Harmful invasive non-native species (INNS) will be managed so that established INNS no longer degrade native habitats and species or impede their restoration and regeneration and new introductions are managed quickly and effectively”

The Strategy will be supported by a delivery plan which will set our approach to tackling INNS in Scotland, including the grey squirrel.

NatureScot, the key statutory agency for delivering the Biodiversity Strategy states in its business plan for 2022-23 that it will:

“Deliver invasive non-native species controls and reduce the biodiversity impacts of established invasive non-native species”

Work on the ground at present includes Scottish Government to support the work of Local Action Groups including the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI), an ambitious 5-year partnership project led by NatureScot that is tackling invasive non-native species alongside rivers and water courses in an area of 29,500km2 within northern Scotland.

The ban of combustible cladding that came into force on 1 June 2022 through the Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 applies to new buildings, conversions and to existing buildings where the external wall cladding system is being replaced. The regulations do not apply retrospectively to existing buildings.

The Scottish Government communicated the changes to the building regulations to all local authorities as well as a range of stakeholders groups including the NHS, by written means and/or through participation in expert panels. Consultation exercises, social media releases, blogs and dissemination events were also used to reach key groups.

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) are focused on drug treatment as the primary means of reducing offending behaviour, by reducing or eliminating drug dependency. DTTOs allow drug testing and regular court reviews as features of a community disposal, and their effective delivery involves ongoing medical and other support services.

Where DTTOs are available, their supervision is a matter for local authorities, working in collaboration with relevant health services to ensure that support and treatment is provided, and arrangements vary by local area. The Scottish Government therefore does not hold the information requested.

However, in response to the Drug Deaths Taskforce Report and as noted in the cross government action plan published on 12 January, the Scottish Government will carry out a review of DTTOs, community payback orders and other community sentencing options to assess how they have been used, their outcomes and whether they are the most effective mechanism to support an individual’s recovery and reduce recidivism rates. The aim is to report in spring 2023.

Since August 2021 the Scottish Government has funded 1140 hours of high-quality early learning and childcare (ELC) for all eligible children. Scotland is the only part of the UK to offer 1140 hours a year of funded ELC to all three- and four-year-olds - and eligible two-year-olds regardless of whether their parents are in work or not, putting children first. If families paid for this offer themselves, it would cost them around £5,000 per eligible child per year.

The Scottish Government has committed to introduce a Register of Buildings by the end of this Parliament. The Register of Buildings will hold information on buildings that have been assessed though the Cladding Remediation Programme. Single Building Assessment reports and remediation activity will define the information that needs to be held in the Register. As this work progresses we are developing the information base for the Register.