- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many Green Jobs have been supported since the introduction of the Green Jobs Fund.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that (a) CalMac Ferries, (b) passengers and (b) the recognised trade unions will be consulted on the design of (i) accommodation berths, (ii) catering facilities, (iii) engine and (iv) other operational aspects of the Ro-Pax vessels that Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd has commissioned through the contract issued on 3 May 2022.
Answer
The engagement processes for the project are already well established, ensuring all interested parties and stakeholders are able to contribute throughout the project’s development. They will follow the recent example of the successful engagement carried out as part of the New Islay Vessel Project which this project follows.
CMAL, liaising with Mallaig Harbour Authority and Transport Scotland, organised a webinar (16 March 2022) to engage with stakeholders on the project and its progression which included a question and answer session.
CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL) is one of the partners in the tripartite working group responsible for this project and actively contribute to the decision making process on a range of matters. They are also responsible for ensuring there is input from the trade unions.
More information on this procurement is available at: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=MAY447363
More information on the project is available at: https://www.cmassets.co.uk/project/mallaig-lochboisdale/
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many of the workers who were made redundant at the Dawnfresh Seafoods plant in Uddingston have secured alternative employment.
Answer
Administrators FRP have advised it is their understanding that the vast majority of employees previously employed by Dawnfresh Seafoods have secured alternative employment. PACE support is continuing to be provided as required to the remaining employees.
We continue to monitor the influence of PACE support through a PACE Client Experience Survey which we undertake every two years. The latest report published in December 2020, indicated that 81% of individuals surveyed who had received PACE support, secured alternative employment within six months. The 2022 survey will be published later this year.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland.
Answer
We are carefully considering the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy. We will set out our initial response to the recommendations in June 2022.
- Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its consultation on statutory guidance on the affordability of school uniforms.
Answer
The Scottish Government's consultation on school uniforms in Scotland was launched on 19 May 2022 and it will run until 14 October. This consultation is now available on our Citizen Space website on the following link: School uniforms in Scotland - Scottish Government - Citizen Space (consult.gov.scot) .
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent reports based on General Teaching Council for Scotland data, which state that, over the last four years, 24 teachers have been removed from the register for sexual offences and 72 have been reported for sexual misconduct.
Answer
The wellbeing and safety of children and young people in Scotland are key priorities for the Scottish Government. All children have the right to be cared for and protected from harm. GTC Scotland is the independent registration and regulation body for the teaching profession in Scotland. Their role is to help maintain trust in the teaching profession. They do this by keeping the Register of Teachers and setting and regulating the standards for entry to, and continued inclusion on, the Register. In the year April 2020 - March 2021, GTC Scotland received fitness to teach referrals in respect of 0.2% of the total number of registrants. For referrals for sexual misconduct specifically, this drops to 0.02%. These figures are consistent with previous years.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 13 May 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it last reviewed the requirement for affordable housing supply programme "buy-backs" to take place on the open market only.
Answer
Following a recent review, we will be publishing updated guidance on the operation of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme over the coming weeks so that Councils and Registered Social Landlords can apply for grant funding to enable them to purchase existing homes which are not for sale on the open market under the following circumstances.
Councils and Registered Social Landlords will be able to apply for grant funding to purchase homes with vacant possession where it can be demonstrated that the purchase meets a clear strategic purpose, and can clearly be seen to support the achievement of the priorities and objectives set out in a local authority’s Local Housing Strategy. Securing stock where there is a limited supply and limited development opportunities is an example of the type of situation where this might be deemed appropriate.
Councils and Registered Social Landlords will also be able to apply for grant funding to enable them to acquire properties from owner occupiers (particularly those in mixed tenure blocks) who cannot afford the required maintenance or refurbishment of their home, and would therefore wish to sell their home to a Council or Registered Social Landlord and become a tenant in the social rented sector. This will be permitted where is can be clearly demonstrated that:
- the purchase facilitates the consolidation of stock ownership for managing specific planned stock improvement/ refurbishment works, and supports the achievement of the priorities and objectives set out in a local authority’s Local Housing Strategy
- the local authority is unable to facilitate the planned works from local resources under discretionary power to assist
- the homeowner has received (a) advice about their financial situation from an FCA authorised independent financial adviser and (b) independent legal advice on the terms of the proposed sale and subsequent tenancy agreement
- the homeowner will employ a solicitor to act on their behalf with respect to the sale of their home, and
- the homeowner is not eligible for support under the Home Owners’ Support Fund.
The value of any property to be purchased in this situation must be in line with the terms of the Mortgage to Rent scheme. And the amount of money that a household can retain post sale will also mirror the terms of the Mortgage to Rent scheme.
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Clare Haughey on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-36131 by Maree Todd on 23 March 2021, what percentage of the 435 equity and excellence leads are in post; how many of the posts are vacant, and on what date all posts were filled, including where the post-holder has since moved on.
Answer
The Scottish Government provides funding to local authorities to recruit Equity and Excellence lead posts across all 32 local authorities, but does not monitor the movement of specific staff.
Scottish Government publishes snapshot figures of graduate level posts in ELC annually in ‘Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland’. The latest figures were collected in the week commencing 13 September 2021 and published on 14 December 2021, in the ‘Additional early learning and childcare tables’: Supporting documents - Summary Statistics For Schools In Scotland 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
This showed that 356 Equity and Excellence Leads were in post at that point in time, 327 Full Time Equivalent (FTE). This was an increase from 2020 when there were 350 (316 FTE).
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to strengthen existing requirements for waste pre-treatment to extract as much recyclable material as possible.
Answer
The Pollution, Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012) (the “PPC regulations”) require that permits for the incineration or co-incineration of municipal waste contain such conditions as SEPA considers necessary to ensure, where practicable, that no waste including non-ferrous metals or hard plastics is incinerated or co-incinerated.
The recently published report on the Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy makes a provisional recommendation on strengthening requirements for pre-treatment for residual waste. We are carefully considering all recommendations made in the report and will set out our initial response in June.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 May 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 25 May 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to increasing the discount under the Air Discount Scheme in light of the cost of living crisis.
Answer
We are pleased to have funded the significant 50% discount through the scheme since 2016, helping residents of our remote and island communities that rely on these connections. We anticipate over £10 million of discounts being provided in 2022-23 and believe that this substantial expenditure is an important investment in islands connectivity. We currently have no plans to increase the discount rate for the Air Discount Scheme.
