Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is not responsible for the design of low traffic neighbourhoods; local authorities are responsible for management and maintenance of local roads and paths in their area under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.

Low traffic neighbourhoods guidance provided alongside the Place Standard Tool on the “Our Place Scotland” website. Local authorities should undertake an equality impact assessment prior to any changes to ensure the needs of our most vulnerable people are taken into account.

The Scottish Government will also launch consultation early in 2024 on new draft guidance to support Inclusive Design for Town Centres and Busy Streets.

Of the 105 entries on the Pilot Programme, sixteen Pilot Building Assessment reports have been returned to the Scottish Government for those that are Government led. Remediation of the External Wall System has been completed on one building. No buildings have been removed from the pilot and work is continuing to ensure that all 105 entries in the pilot are on a pathway to an SBA by June 2024.

We do not hold information on which local authorities operate Demand Responsive Travel Schemes or how they monitor the success of such schemes. The provision of local authority Demand Responsive Transport schemes is a matter for individual local authorities taking into account their local transport needs.

The Department for Transport publish a bus fares index for each region within the UK, which tracks changes in ticket prices. This is used in the Scottish Transport Statistics publication, and the Scottish Government currently has no plans for further monitoring of bus fares.

The Department for Transport publishes data and statistics about the local bus sector in Great Britain, which includes passenger journey numbers. This is used in the Scottish Transport Statistics publication, and the Scottish Government currently has no plans for further monitoring of passenger numbers.

The Scottish Government does not assess the commercial viability of individual bus service routes, Local authorities have a duty to identify where there is a social need for particular bus services and can seek additional information from bus operators to support that identification in cases where services have been varied or withdrawn.

As set out in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Workforce Action Plan, we recognise that counsellors and psychotherapists are part of the core mental health and wellbeing workforce and play a critical role in delivering the Strategy.

Throughout the development of the Strategy, associated Delivery Plan and Workforce Action Plan, we engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, including directly with representatives of the workforce.

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA) and the British Psychological Society participated in the consultation processes.

We will continue to engage with them and other representatives of the mental health and wellbeing workforce on the implementation of the Strategy’s Delivery and Workforce Action Plans.

The Scottish Government has no plans to segregate pupils by sex when participating in physical education and sporting activities. Decisions on the teaching of PE rest with education authorities and schools in line with curriculum for excellence.

Following a successful vessel berthing trial on 20 December, ferry services resumed on the Little Minch route on 22 December 2023.

Carrying capacities and route requirements are kept under periodic review by operators and CMAL as the vessels’ owner.

The Scottish Government set the following outcomes for the funding provided to Early Years Scotland in 2021-22 and 2022-23 through the Children, Young People & Families Early Intervention Fund and Adult Learning & Empowering Communities Fund:

1. Children have improved quality of life.

2. More Early Years Professionals benefit from dedicated EYS membership support.

3. More Early Years Professionals have improved skills and knowledge.

4. Policy makers and practitioners have better understanding of the needs of children, families and the ELC community overall.

5. We will take steps to promote, respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children and young people and increase awareness of the UNCRC amongst our staff and stakeholders. We will also promote the UNCRC throughout the creation and development of our programmes, projects, policies and procedures in relation to this funding.