Chamber and committees

The M8 Woodside Viaducts are a vital element of the motorway and road network serving Glasgow, the wider region and country, carrying approximately 150,000 vehicles per day. The structure requires to be temporarily propped to facilitate the refurbishment of the bridge elements in need of repair. The temporary propping design and implementation is highly complex in nature and requires careful consideration of the underground services and other site constraints in the vicinity of the Viaducts.

The budget allocation for the ongoing works on the Woodside Viaduct project for the 2024-25 financial year is £46.97m.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to embedding anti-racism in education. As part of the Anti-Racism in Education Programme for financial year 2023-24 the Scottish Government provided the following funding aimed at providing anti-racist education. Funding streams for 24-25 will be published in due course.

The Scottish Government consulted on its Report into the Effectiveness of Environmental Governance last year. The report outlines the Scottish Government’s position on maintaining the balance of parliamentary, administrative and judicial roles in decision making on environmental matters. However, the Scottish Government will continue to engage with stakeholders – including those who provided evidence to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee – on environmental governance and environmental justice.

Over the past 10 years the number of teachers in permanent posts has remained stable at over 80%, and since 2014 the number of school teachers in post has increased by 8%, from 49,521 to 53,331 in 2023. Our overall teacher ratio is the lowest in the UK at 13.2.

Whilst the recruitment and employment of teachers is a matter for local authorities, we are committed to supporting the recruitment of teachers, and we are providing local authorities with £145.5m in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers. This additional funding provides assurance of funding for councils and should remove this as a barrier to employing staff on permanent contracts.

The Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is made up of a range of key education stakeholders, is looking at issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail.

This relates to indicative figures provided by universities at the start of the academic session. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) will publish the 2023-24 academic year Official Statistics data in 2025. These will provide the most accurate figures on enrolments into modern language Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes.

This information is informing the work of Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail, together with work to improving the promotion of teaching as a valued career.

Modern languages are classified as a priority subject for ITE intakes by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Both the Scottish Government and SFC have offered to work with universities to develop alternative routes into subjects which have traditionally been difficult to recruit to.

The Scottish Government remains committed to enhancing audiology services, and to its vision for an integrated, community-based audiology service. We are currently focusing on delivery of the actions required to respond to the Independent Review of Audiology services, and our approach will continue to be informed by this, alongside ongoing consultation with the audiology sector.

The UK Government’s Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill is currently at House of Lords Committee stage, and is therefore still subject to change. As it stands, it is clear that this disproportionate and unnecessary legislation is likely to significantly affect the ways in which public bodies can take human rights concerns into account when making certain decisions. We will make a full assessment of the Bill, its coverage and its impact on public bodies in Scotland when it is in its final form, and will make any necessary adjustments to our Human Rights Due Diligence guidance, and any other relevant guidance, accordingly.

The Scottish Government has not recently undertaken an assessment of unmet need for people with hearing loss, but we are engaged with stakeholders and those with lived experience to inform our understanding of unmet need.

As part of the See Hear Strategy refresh, we have engaged with people who are hard of hearing, deaf and deafblind. This includes children, young people and their parents/ carers.

We asked what topics and issues matter to them for inclusion in the strategy, through an online survey and a series of in-person and online focus groups and interviews.

In total we have received insights from over 170 adults with lived experience and 17 parents and carers of children/young people. Additional focus group discussions were held with 17 children and young people with lived experience from all sensory impairment groups. The engagement took place between September 2023 and February 2024.

People who have had a clinical diagnosis of coeliac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis are eligible to access staple gluten-free food products on NHS prescription. There are no current plans to change the criteria.

Coeliac disease is an auto-immune disease whereas wheat intolerance alone does not meet the criteria for gluten-free food products on prescription. Patients with a wheat intolerance should be encouraged to be tested for coeliac disease. If coeliac disease has already been ruled out, they could request referral to the local Dietetic Service for dietary advice and support to help manage a wheat free diet.

The Scottish Government remains committed to enhancing audiology services, and to its vision for an integrated, community-based audiology service. We are currently focusing on delivery of the actions required to respond to the Independent Review of Audiology services, and our approach will continue to be informed by this, alongside ongoing consultation with the audiology sector.