Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government, Health Boards and National Services Scotland (NSS) maintain regular contact on reducing single-use items in healthcare settings through the Sustainable Procurement Steering Group, which supports Boards transition to more circular supply practices.

A programme of work has been established to review the use of reusable alternatives and reduce the amount of single use Personal Protective Equipment used by Health Boards. This work looks at existing stock within NSS warehouses, current decontamination guidance and the capability of Health Board infrastructure to process reusable products. Where the use of reusable products is not possible, we aim to increase the number items that can be recycled at the end of their use.

National uniforms, bedding and textiles are all reusable and are laundered in house through NHS Scotland laundries, or in the case of uniforms and workwear, staff may launder at home.

In line with the action from the Drug Death Taskforce 'Changing Lives' report that the Scottish Government should work with NHS naloxone leads and pharmaceutical companies to ensure sufficient supplies are available to meet demand we are working closely with these bodies, as well as others involved in the supply and distribution of Naloxone, to ensure sufficient supplies are available and to monitor demand and any increases.

The Scottish Government does not expect to receive Barnett consequential funding in connection with this UK Government scheme.

Scottish Government is a key partner in the Save a Life for Scotland partnership which delivers the Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy 2021 – 2026. A key aim of this strategy is to increase the percentage of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest incidents which have a defibrillator applied before the ambulance service arrives from 8% to 20%.

This is not only about increasing the number of defibrillators in public places but also about building the evidence base to support defibrillator guardians to make strategic decisions about the placement of their defibrillators, to encourage their registration with Scottish Ambulance Service and to increase public confidence and knowledge around defibrillation. We are working as part of the Save a Life Scotland partnership to deliver on these aims.

Every child growing up in Scotland, regardless of their background, should have an equal chance of attending university and participating in higher education.

More students than ever have a place at university, and will benefit from free tuition – saving them up to £27,750 of student debt, compared with their counterparts in England. We continue to invest nearly £2 billion per year in Scotland’s colleges and universities, enabling them to continue to deliver high-quality education and training.

Average student support provided per full-time student was £6,140 in 2019-20 (the latest data available), an increase from £6,010 in 2018-19.

Latest HESA statistics demonstrate the continued strength of our university sector with record numbers of Scottish Students in 2021-22.

Once again, we have a record high number of students from deprived areas with 5,595 Scots entering university (+80 on previous year) - up 41% since the establishment of the Commission on Widening Access by this Government. This illustrates the important work achieved in supporting people into Higher Education.

The Scottish Government has no direct role in placement of students in accommodation or in the provision of student accommodation, whether that is university halls of residence, private purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) or private rented tenancies.

However, we are determined to improve supply, accessibility, affordability and standards across the private rented sector; and our review of purpose built student accommodation, which is looking at issues including supply and affordability, is nearing conclusion. We look forward to receiving the recommendations of the cross-sectoral PBSA Review Group in due course.

We are also committed to introducing new prevention of homelessness duties as part of a forthcoming Housing Bill. The bill will include new duties on public bodies to ‘ask and act’ about housing situations. We are exploring what is possible in relation to colleges and universities to be part of this. It will also include changes to existing legislation to allow local authorities to intervene at an earlier stage to prevent homelessness.

The Scottish Government does not hold complete information on the expenditure of public money on town centre regeneration in local areas. Local authorities are responsible for delivering local economic development and local regeneration in their areas and public money from the wider public sector will contribute to regeneration of town centres.

While noting that many wider public sector budgets and funds contribute to town centre regeneration, the Scottish Government has provided targeted funding to support regeneration, including in town centres. This includes support available through the:

• Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) which includes the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF).
• Town Centre Fund (TCF).
• Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP); and
• Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF).
  

Allocations to North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Falkirk from these funds are in the following tables:

Note: The above RCGF figures include investment awarded to support regeneration in close proximity to town centres.

Note: The VDLIP was launched in 2021. The table above includes projects that were awarded funding for regeneration in close proximity to town centres.

Note: The above table shows the full allocation of the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund for each local authority. Each local authority is responsible for developing proposals based on its local regeneration priorities and funding may have been allocated across the local authority.

The information you have requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Decisions around school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, are at the discretion of each individual local authority. Local authorities' approaches to school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, should be compassionate, proportionate, and seek to minimise as far as possible the stigmatisation of children, young people, and their families.

The draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan is open for consultation until 9 May 2023. The final version of the Energy Strategy and Just Transitional Plan will be published once we have conducted a thorough review of the consultation responses and engaged with the full range of stakeholders.   The Scottish Government’s position on oil and gas is part of the consultation process and we will provide an update in the final Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan. We are not pre-empting responses.

The Scottish Government has supported payment of the real Living Wage in our Public Sector Pay Policy since 2011. Data from the 2022 Annual Survey of Hourly Earnings (ASHE) shows that 97.6% employees in the whole Scottish public sector (devolved and reserved) earn at least Real Living Wage or more. The recent increase to the real Living Wage to £10.90 per hour should be applied as part of public sector pay settlements from April 2023. The 2023 ASHE data (expected to be released in October / November) will show the proportion of employees who are paid the £10.90 Real Living Wage in the Scottish Public Sector.

The analysis was published on 3 March and can be found here - https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-system-transition-independent-analysis/ .

This publication is an independent report, reviewed by an independent panel, which provides a significant volume of evidence and analysis and will contribute to our understanding of the opportunities and challenges in energy transition. To allow stakeholders to fully consider this material before responding, the consultation period for the draft ESJTP has been extended by 5 weeks, and will now close on 9 May.