Chamber and committees

As per answer to S6W-09155 on 23 June 2022, gill netting is a legitimate form of fishing activity permitted within Scottish waters providing the relevant rules, regulations and technical standards are complied with.

We know that a number of gillnet vessels operate in Scottish waters and we understand that additional spatial pressure can occur when vessels using different types of gear are operating in close proximity to one another. The Future Catching Policy consultation, which closed for responses on 7 June, sought views on possible solutions to this and we welcome the input from all stakeholders to help shape next steps.

The Future Catching Policy is also intended to consider additional technical and spatial measures for all types of fishing vessels in order to reduce unwanted catches of fish and bycatch of sensitive marine species such as cetaceans. We are currently analysing the results from the consultation and considering policy options.

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 .

We are committed to meeting the standard that 90% of patients start treatment for CAMHS and Psychological Therapies within 18 weeks of referral by March 2023.

A breakdown of Pupil Equity Funding allocations to each local authority is publicly available on the Scottish Government website - Pupil attainment: closing the gap - Schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Delivery under No One Left Behind commenced in April 2019. The annual allocations from this point are set out in the following table.

On 17 June 2022, Crown Estate Scotland published a summary of responses to its INTOG leasing engagement process and has outlined its response, including Crown Estate Scotland’s scoring and weighting criteria. Crown Estate Scotland will now finalise the leasing process ready for launch in summer.

The Scottish Government has not set interim targets towards meeting the standard that 90% of patients start treatment for CAMHS and Psychological Therapies within 18 weeks of referral by March 2023.

The Institute of Economic Affairs report is one independent report and should not be used to draw conclusions on the effect of the policy.

Public Health Scotland are leading a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of Minimum Unit Pricing, details of which can be found on their website. The evaluation is over a five year period and a final report will be produced in 2023. The evaluation will consider a wide range of evidence and reports regarding Minimum Unit Price (MUP).

We will review the final evaluation report from Public Health Scotland before drawing overall conclusions, this will include the impact MUP has had on health and social benefits.

I have not instructed ScotRail to undertake an environmental impact assessment on what is a temporary change. There is positive progress being made on pay negotiations with ASLEF in Scotland, and I am hopeful that additional services will be added in the near future.

I would note that any environmental modelling undertaken but UK government in relation to the UK-wide RMT strikes, has not to this point been shared with the Scottish Government, although I would welcome sight of any such reports.

This information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Data from the 2014 Healthy Living Survey was one of the components used to determine 2022-23 Pupil Equity Fund allocations for Primary 1 to 3 pupils.

In 2015 the Scottish Government introduced free school meals for all Primary 1 to 3 pupils. The 2014 Healthy Living Survey therefore represents the last dataset fully capturing how many pupils were registered for FSM on income-based criteria before universal entitlement.

We have listened to headteachers and provided certainty to support long term planning to build on the excellent work we know headteachers are doing by setting PEF allocations for the next four years. In response to fluctuating demand brought on by the pandemic, we have increased allocations to £1225 from £1200.

Officials continue to review possible alternatives to Free School Meal data, and a decision on which datasets will be used will be made at the end of that four-year cycle.