Chamber and committees

Visits to schools by the Health and Safety Executive or any other organisation, are a matter for individual schools within each education authority area. The member may wish to contact the Health and Safety Executive direct in order to request this information. Contact details are available at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/maps/scotland.htm

ScotRail advise that colleagues are supported from immediately after any incident of this nature. That support comes in a range of ways which includes the offer of professional counselling.

This is a matter for ScotRail. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Heat in Building Strategy (October 2021) states that we will build on existing regulations to require existing non-domestic buildings to reduce demand for heat where appropriate, and install a zero emissions heating supply, within the extent of our powers. The Scottish Government is committed to working with commercial and public sector organisations across Scotland to develop the regulatory and support framework that will enable all non-domestic buildings to reduce their direct greenhouse gas emissions. We will consult on primary legislative powers in the coming months. However, we have not, to date, made any proposals around requiring non-domestic rented properties to achieve EPC C by 2028.

The rating on a non-domestic EPC cannot be compared with the relative rating used on domestic EPCs. This is because non-domestic EPCs use fundamentally different calculation methodologies and rating scales. Domestic EPC ratings are currently based on calculated running costs for a dwelling. Non-domestic EPC ratings are based on calculated direct and indirect emissions from the building and estimate a building’s absolute energy demand. We recognise the need for reform of EPCs and first consulted on proposals in 2021. We will consult on finalised proposals later in 2023.

The range of non-domestic EPC ratings for buildings within the Scottish Government Estate reflect their varied use as greenhouses, laboratories, storage units and offices. The variety of activities and building types in the non-domestic built environment will require many different options for decarbonisation - reflecting, for example, the difference between an office in Edinburgh and a laboratory in Aberdeen. The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the public sector playing its part and the Bute House Agreement includes a commitment to develop and agree a series of phased targets for all publicly-owned buildings to meet zero emission heating requirements, with a backstop of 2038.

An Estate Strategy for SG Core buildings is under development to support our asset planning and the future investment decisions required to deliver the Heat in Building Strategy and Net Zero targets.

The current ScotRail mobile app went live on 1 July 2019 and the following data, as provided by ScotRail, is relevant from that date until the present day:-

- App downloads: 1.4 million (this figure includes re-installs which ScotRail is unable to differentiate)

- Average users per month: 619,000 (average across last three months)

- Average sessions per user per month: six (average across last three months)

- Average session length: one minute, five seconds (average across last three months)

The EPC for Strathbeg House in Thurso was completed on 20 May 2023 and has now been lodged with the Scottish EPC register. The EPC rating is D

Information on the facilities available at ScotRail stations can be found on its website at the following link:-

Stations and facilities | ScotRail

The information on cycle storage at stations can be found under each station under the heading “interchange”. This confirms if the station has cycle storage available and how many storage spaces are available at that station.

Education Scotland has four officers with responsibility for improving gender balance and equality. Building on the success of the IGBE team, a new equalities team has recently been established to continue the IGBE activity as part of a workstream to challenge equalities more broadly. The salary costs for these four staff members in financial year 2023/24, including an anticipated pay award of up to 3%, is £284,000.

(a) These four officers comprise:

• a Senior Education Officer for Equality;
• two Education Officers for Equality; and
• an Education Officer for Improving Gender Balance and Equality.

(b) These officers continue to lead a wide range of work to change perceptions, promote gender balance and challenge unconscious assumptions about gender roles and learner pathways, including in STEM subjects. They have developed an extensive range of resources which are hosted on Education Scotland’s National Improvement Hub. Up to March 2022, Education Scotland’s Improving Gender Balance and Equality Officers engaged with more than 1150 distinct establishments, and reached over 9400 practitioners.

Education Scotland and Scottish Government recognise that much work that remains to be done in this area which is why we’ve invested in a new team of permanent officers with relevant expertise. Through the work of the Gender Equality Taskforce in Education and Learning, which I have agreed to Chair, we will continue to consider how best to effect systemic change which will remove barriers and promote gender balance and equality.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Education Scotland Improving Gender Balance and Equalities team developed new methods for achieving strong engagement with practitioners, as well as adapting to the new and unprecedented needs of schools, settings and local authorities.

In addition to engaging directly with practitioners and education settings, the team developed a national professional learning offer that could be accessed remotely by practitioners.

The national professional learning offer includes a mixture of remote delivery, online courses, podcasts and YouTube videos. As part of this approach, six podcasts were created and released from August 2021 – November 2021. The podcasts have 6,069 views.

This is a matter for ScotRail. However, it has advised that it is actively considering inclusion of calorie information on its onboard trolley service.