Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold or maintain any data on the number of registered gas engineers in Scotland who are also certified as installers under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS).

The Gas Safe register is the official registration body for gas businesses and installers in the United Kingdom and is operated independently on behalf of the UK Government and the UK Health and Safety Executive. We do not hold or maintain information on the number of Scottish based operatives registered with Gas Safe.

Unlike Gas Safe, MCS operates at a corporate level, rather than individual operatives. We do not routinely maintain data on the number of companies registered with MCS, however, in 2020 there were 134 companies based in Scotland accredited to carry out heat pump installations under the Scheme.

We know that the number of heating engineers trained in zero emissions heating systems will need to grow in line with the ambitions set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy and we are working with Scottish Renewables and Skills Development Scotland in a project to quantify the likely demand for new skills.

The evidence from this project will help inform our Heat in Buildings Supply Chains Delivery Plan which we will publish later in 2022.

The information requested is not held centrally, but instead concerns day-to-day operational matters best answered directly by Historic Environment Scotland. Please be advised I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to write to the member with the answer to his question.

Further to this enquiry, I understand that Historic Environment Scotland have offered Donald Cameron MSP a site visit to Dun Carloway Broch with Historic Environment Scotland experts, to learn first-hand about the type of issues that the property is facing, and I look forward to learning the results of this visit.

Information on the routes of referral for metastatic breast cancer patients is not held centrally.

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended) requires education authorities to identify, provide for and to review the additional support needs of their pupils. We support local authorities through the provision of statutory guidance to inform policy and practice, including guidance to the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.

Education Scotland works in partnership with the Scottish Government, ELC, schools and local authorities to improve the outcomes and educational experiences for all learners, including those who require additional support through a range of activities. These include:

• Support and challenge from Education Scotland Inclusion Wellbeing and Equality Officers through the national and regional focus.
• Information, guidance, professional learning and reflective opportunities which include a focus on additional support needs and inclusion.
• The HM Inspection model of education which provides support and challenge to promote improvement for all learners through the fulfilment of statutory duties, inclusion and equality.

In addition, we published our joint response to the independently chaired review of implementation of additional support for learning in October 2020. Angela Morgan’s report sets a clear direction in how we can continue to build on progress in this area. The joint action plan sets out the measures we will take to implement her recommendations.

We published an updated action and progress report on 1 November 202. The action plan and governance arrangements for this work are available from: Additional support for learning action plan: progress report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

An updated action plan will be published in Spring 2022.

Town centres are a key part of any local economy. Zero Waste Scotland provides a range of support and advice for community enterprises and businesses that are relevant to building circular economies within town centres. This includes partnering with Social Investment Scotland to deliver the £5m Social Enterprise Net Zero Transition Fund and delivery of the Circular Cities and Regions Programme and a business support programme for organisations exploring circular business models and services.

In addition, the Scottish Government will introduce a Community Wealth Building (CWB) Bill during the term of this parliament. The internationally recognised CWB model is a strategic approach to economic development that seeks to generate, direct and retain wealth in local communities by localising and shortening supply chains, helping local businesses to expand, creating new fair work opportunities, and placing more assets in the hands of local people and communities. CWB is about a systemic rewiring of how a local economy works and who it serves. Working in partnership with local authorities to develop local CWB action plans, we will encourage fostering of local, entrepreneurial businesses committed to reviving assets in our town centres by providing high quality goods, services and employment opportunities.

This information is published in tables 6.10, 7.5 and 8.6 of the Pupil Census Supplementary Statistics. The 2021 statistics will be published on 15th March 2022. Statistics for previous years are available at the following link: Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Scottish Transport statistical publications utilise transport data from sources including the UK Government Department for Transport who provide this in kilometres.

Non-domestic properties are charged for water and sewerage services by reference to a meter unless it is inappropriate or impractical to install one. Where a meter cannot be installed, a non-domestic property’s charges will be assessed using its rateable value. Applicable charges to Licensed Providers are detailed in Scottish Water’s wholesale scheme of charges. Licensed providers are then required to charge non-domestic properties for the services which are available. As retail competition exists, Licensed Providers will seek to offer variable tariffs to attract customers; non-domestic customers will therefore have the option to switch provider if a cheaper service can be found elsewhere. Customers can also request that their licensed provider assesses whether a meter can be installed at the property if it is not already available.

As the retail market is working as intended, there are no plans to offer compensation to businesses for payment of water and sewerage charges.

The New Supply Shared Equity Scheme is only available for the purchase of new build homes being sold by a local authority or registered social Landlord . This is an affordable housing scheme and counts towards the target of delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032.