Chamber and committees

Local authorities are responsible for the development and delivery of flood protection schemes.

Five flood protection schemes were due to complete in 2024 and the relevant local authorities have advised that Millport Coastal, Upper Garnock and Stranraer are complete. Campbeltown and Hawick FPS are at an advanced stage and nearing completion.

Good cyber resilience is essential for delivering secure digital public services. Staying ahead of cyber criminals is an ongoing battle; as technologies evolve, so do their tactics. Public sector organisations are responsible for their own cyber resilience and security arrangements, and must continually adapt to these emerging threats. However, the Scottish Government does provide assistance to the public sector to strengthen their cyber resilience posture and address areas for improvement.

Through the implementation of The Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland and the Public Sector Cyber Resilience Framework, supported by the new central function of the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre, the Scottish Government works with the public sector to help them to put in place robust security standards, controls and governance, maintain and regularly test incident response plans, train staff and learn lessons from past incidents.

Specifically, the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre plays a key role in coordinating effective multi-agency response to incidents which impact on the public sector. In September 2024, the Scottish Government published the SC3 Strategic Plan which sets out the strategic objectives for the next three years. SC3 is working with the sector to progress towards these objectives:

1. Create a data-driven operation that can track and evaluate actionable security metrics for every public sector organisation in Scotland.

2. Ensure that public sector organisations remain informed regarding current and emerging risks and threats so that they are equipped and prepared to manage them.

3. Reduce the prevalence and remediation timescales of exposed and exploitable vulnerabilities across the public sector.

4. Increase the level of preparedness for cyber incidents across the public sector, such that all organisations have current and well tested response plans and that major national cyber incident response processes are robust and effective.

5. Ensure that appropriate standards and good practices for cyber and information security are defined, reviewed, adopted, and adhered to across the public sector.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has issued two statements via its media centre, on 15 and 22 November, updating the public on its actions regarding recent chemical spill incidents in Coatbridge.

For more information, you can contact SEPA directly at [email protected]

Special care dentists provide services through the Public Dental Service (PDS). As these are NHS services run by Health Boards, matters of management of the PDS will be Board responsibility.

As part of a multi-agency response, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) continues to investigate the reported chemical spill incident in the Cameron Street area of Coatbridge. SEPA is at an early stage of this and is unable to provide further details until the conclusion of this investigation.

For more information, you can contact SEPA directly at [email protected]

The Scottish Government does not hold information on dentists working in NHS dentistry in Scotland who are also registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) as a specialist in special care dentistry.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all students with a disability, long term medical condition or additional support needs are able to access further and higher education and are fully supported throughout their studies.

Further Education

The Additional Support Needs for Learning Allowance is a non-income assessed allowance administered by individual colleges. It is intended to support students with disabilities or additional learning needs who are studying a course of Further Education and may have extra costs because of their disability.

Colleges, as part of their integral core funding via Scottish Funding Council, also receive the Access and Inclusion Fund. This supports the teaching and learning of students with additional support needs.

It is the responsibility of individual colleges to manage their student support budgets in a prudent and effective manner. The Scottish Funding Council has clear guidelines and processes in place to monitor colleges’ management of their student support funds, including the requirement for colleges to be audited, by external auditors, on their annual student support expenditure.

Higher Education

The Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) is a non-income assessed fund that is administered by Student Awards Agency Scotland. It is intended to support disabled students and those with additional learning needs who are studying a course of Higher Education and may have extra costs because of their disability.

As a bespoke fund, the amount a student is eligible to receive is based on their individual needs. Those awards are made based on comprehensive guidance prepared by Student Award Agency Scotland and shared with institutions on an annual basis, ensuring that there is a consistency of approach across the sector.

The Scottish Government recognises the essential role that heritage has in shaping Scotland's identity, and the importance of protecting and caring for it in a sustainable way so current and future generations can enjoy and benefit from it.

Tartan is inextricably connected with Scotland, its history and its culture. With Tartan Day being a chance for people around the world to mark their connections to Scotland.

The Scottish Government is grateful for the work of Prickly Thistle in maintaining and innovating the craft of tartan weaving in the Highlands.

Integration Authorities have delegated responsibility in Scotland for providing local alcohol and drug services. This activity is coordinated by Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) and funded by the Scottish Government. In line with the Verity House Agreement, the Integration Authorities and ADPs have a significant amount of autonomy over local decision making.

The Scottish Government highly values youth work and continues to fund youth work across Scotland in a variety of ways. Local Authorities are required to provide adequate and efficient Community Learning and Development (CLD), which includes youth work, as set out in the Requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013. In line with the Verity House Agreement, Local Authorities have the autonomy to allocate resources to meet the specific needs of young people in their areas.

In addition to the block grant given to Local Authorities, the Scottish Government directly funds a range of youth work initiatives, projects and programmes. These initiatives aim to support diverse youth work models, promote partnership working and enhance the quality of youth work.