Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26094 on 26 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/questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government has not had discussions with COSLA or local authorities regarding apprenticeship provision for traditional trades. Skills Development Scotland have operational responsibility for apprenticeship provision and regularly engage with local authorities, for both Modern and Foundation Apprenticeship provision.

Scottish Development International has over 100 staff in 30 international offices in 23 countries. SDI regularly reviews its overseas footprint to ensure it aligns with Scotland’s trade and investment priorities. There are currently no plans to reopen SDI’s office in Taiwan. The Taiwanese market continues to be serviced by SDI colleagues based in SDI’s Asia and Pacific offices.

Full budget allocations for 2024-25 are still to be confirmed.

In 2023-24, Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADPs) received funding exceeding £112 million. We anticipate that this funding will be maintained in 2024-25.

Annual ADP funding is published and available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/alcohol-and-drug-partnerships-funding-allocations/

The Scottish Government is committed to enhancing smart integrated ticketing and has set out its intention to develop a new national integrated ticketing system for public transport in Scotland, across all modes of transport, to enable a system that can used for all elements of a journey.

To support delivery of this, the recently established National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board (NSTAB) which comprises operators, transport authorities, user groups and technical experts, is set to advise Ministers on the future of smart ticketing in Scotland, including on technological standards to enable smart integration between modes. The NSTAB is currently developing their work programme for the next 3 years.

FAIRTIQ has engaged with NSTAB and will present on their smart integrated ticketing solution at an upcoming board meeting. FAIRTIQ is one example of a ticketing platform provider, and it is expected that NSTAB will consider the full range of options available for Scotland and their respective implications on cost and infrastructure. Any resulting public procurement of a new ticketing system will be required to follow public sector procurement processes to ensure best value for money.

The Scottish Government, NSTAB and stakeholders will continue to work closely together on developing these options, in order to best determine the method of delivering a new national integrated ticketing system.

The Chief Constable has been clear that the Proportionate Response to Crime pilot has been about ensuring an appropriate approach to policing. It is not the case that certain specific crimes will no longer be investigated.

Both Police Scotland and the Scottish Government have been consistently clear that all incidents reported are assessed using the THRIVE model which covers Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigative opportunities, Vulnerability and Engagement. The circumstance of each incident is fully assessed before a decision is made to either file the report and issue a crime reference number or have the incident passed to local officers for further investigation.

An evaluation of the pilot was provided to the Scottish Police Authority’s Policing Performance Committee on 12 March 2024 by Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond. ACC Bond stated that the plan for the rollout would be to initially cover the North region before moving east then west, acknowledging that training and preparatory work would be required.

It is worth noting that the pilot’s evaluation shows that only 5% of crime reports were recorded and filed for no further enquiry. The evaluation states that this freed up 2,657 police officer hours which were therefore used to investigate crimes where there are lines of inquiry.

ACC Bond stated at the meeting on 12 March that she would be able to provide a further update to the committee with more information on the rollout of the pilot in May.

The Phase 1 pilot programmes have now been fully evaluated and a report produced on the strengths of each approach, as well as considerations for the future. The Phase 1 evaluation is available here: https://sportscotland.org.uk/about-us/our-publications/archive/school-swimming-in-scotland-phase-1-evaluation

Phase 2, which is already underway, will further develop each approach and test the implementation of the school swimming framework, and is expected to be completed by the end of the academic year 2023-24.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with sportscotland, Scottish Swimming, and various local and national partners to support Phase 2 of the school swimming pilot, and will continue to consider the best approach for a continued roll out of a National Framework for school swimming over the coming years.

As announced by HM Treasury on 14 November 2016, the Scottish Government's population-based settlement from the UK Government's Apprenticeship Levy was £221 million in 2017/18, £230 million in 2018/19 and £239 million in 2019/20. This funding was allocated as part of the block grant.

Since 2020-21 the Scottish Government has not received a specific allocation of Apprenticeship Levy revenue. Scotland receives a Barnett Formula share of funding via the block grant in the usual way.

Scottish Government exploratory analysis of HMRC data suggests that the amounts contributed by Scottish employers in 2020-21 and 2021-22 were similar to those published by HMRC for earlier years, in the region of £220 million to £240 million.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) prioritises cases based on a number of factors. These include whether the person bringing the complaint, or person affected, is vulnerable; any immediate health issues of the complainant or person affected; whether the subject matter of the complaint is urgent and ongoing or time critical; and the impact. The SPSO encourages people to contact them if their circumstances change or if that they feel their complaint should be prioritised, so the priority level can be reviewed.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) are the independent regulator of the social service workforce in Scotland. SSSC protects the public by registering the workforce, setting standards for their practice, conduct, training and education and by supporting their professional development. Groups of workers subject to registration with the SSSC are set by Scottish Ministers within the Regulation of Care Act (Scotland) 2001.

The role of ‘healthcare assistant’ does not have a standard definition and the term is used for different roles within the health and social care workforce. Due to the varying definition of this role, it is currently unclear which roles would and would not be appropriate for SSSC registration. While some healthcare assistants job roles may meet the requirement for SSSC registration, many will not. Accordingly, while there are no current plans to commence SSSC registration for all individuals named as healthcare assistants, many will already retain registration with SSSC due to the specific nature of their role (i.e. as a practitioner in a care at home service).