Chamber and committees

The education and skills system is critical to the delivery of a just transition and the further education sector is actively supporting individuals to gain the skills and knowledge they need to participate in the green economy.

Our forthcoming Just Transition Plans will set out where the Scottish Government, partners in the private sector and educational providers can further support this ambition.

Additionally, the Scottish Funding Council’s Net Zero and Sustainability Framework for Action sets out the long-term plan to support the sector transition to net zero.

The Department for Transport publish statistics on all licensed plug-in vehicles for each quarter and this provides the total number of bus and coaches operating in Scotland. The data is captured at data sheet VEH0141 and can be found at the following link - Vehicle licensing statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

This information is not held by the Scottish Government

The list of practices accepting new patients in NHS Lanarkshire can be found at: Dental Practices accepting new NHS patients | NHS Lanarkshire (scot.nhs.uk), and as with all Boards, is subject to change at short notice.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25967 on 11 March 2024. 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

The Scottish Government expects fair work principles to be adhered to in the college sector. To support fair work in the college sector, the Scottish Government recently introduced legislation to add trade union nominees to college boards, which will improve trade union recognition and confidence in college governance.

While operational decisions on pay and staffing matters are the responsibility of individual colleges, the Scottish Government has been clear that compulsory redundancies should only be considered as a last resort, after all other options have been fully explored in collaboration with trade unions.

The Scottish Government remains concerned by the impact of potential action on students and expects that institutions take action to mitigate those impacts.

Scottish Ministers remain committed to working with councils to ensure that all households across Scotland benefit from a council tax freeze in 2024-25. Our offer to Argyll and Bute Council and Inverclyde Council to deliver a freeze in 2024-25 remains on the table.

The Bill was introduced on Wednesday 13 March, and published on Thursday 14 March 2024.

The Scottish Government is keenly aware of the importance of increasing digital access for all people in Scotland. Through programmes such as Connecting Scotland, the Scottish Government is taking action to improve digital access for multiple priority groups, including people who are living in low-income households.

In August 2023, the Connecting Scotland programme launched two projects to provide kit and connectivity through Device Libraries and Social Housing organisations. Over £204,000 was awarded across both projects to a range of organisations across Scotland. This funding is helping Device Libraries to expand their range of devices, to extend the number of devices available for loan and to replace devices that are coming to the end of their lives. The funding is also supporting Social Housing providers to support connectivity infrastructure projects that benefit their residents, as our research has shown that Social Housing tenants are a group particularly impacted by digital exclusion.

Social tariffs can additionally provide the means for people in need of digital access to get online by providing reduced broadband tariff rates. Connecting Scotland is working with Ofcom to improve information about social tariffs for people in Scotland. In April 2023, based on dialogue with officials, Ofcom updated their webpage to show which tariffs are available to which regions of the UK. Officials will continue dialogue with Ofcom to ensure that social tariffs are widely understood as a potential option for people living in low-income households to get online.

International law is a reserved matter and the Scottish Government has not had formal contact with the UK Government in relation to the potential criminalisation of ecocide in international law. However, the Scottish Government is supportive of a revision to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to include ecocide, and would support the UK Government in officially supporting and/or ratifying a new law on the criminalisation of ecocide in international law.

In terms of the domestic consideration of ecocide, the Scottish Government will carry out an assessment, in line with its policy on EU alignment, of the revised EU environmental crime directive, which has now been approved by the EU Parliament.

The Scottish Government is keenly aware of the importance of increasing digital access for all people in Scotland. Through programmes such as Connecting Scotland, the Scottish Government is taking action to improve digital access for multiple priority groups, including older people and people who are living with a long-term illness or disability.

In August 2023, the Connecting Scotland programme launched two projects to provide kit and connectivity through Device Libraries and Social Housing organisations. Over £204,000 was awarded across both projects to a range of organisations across Scotland. This funding is helping Device Libraries to expand their range of devices, to extend the number of devices available for loan and to replace devices that are coming to the end of their lives. The funding is also supporting Social Housing providers to support connectivity infrastructure projects that benefit their residents, as our research has shown that Social Housing tenants are a group particularly impacted by digital exclusion.

Social tariffs can additionally provide the means for people in need of digital access to get online by providing reduced broadband tariff rates. Connecting Scotland is working with Ofcom to improve information about social tariffs for people in Scotland. In April 2023, based on dialogue with officials, Ofcom updated their webpage to show which tariffs are available to which regions of the UK. Officials will continue dialogue with Ofcom to ensure that social tariffs are widely understood as a potential option for older people and people living with long-term illness or disability to get online.