- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24106 by Fiona Hyslop on 30 January 2024, whether it will provide a breakdown of the £8.7 million spend since 2016 on the Aberdeen – Central Belt Journey Time Improvement project.
Answer
The £8.7 million has been spent on a programme of design and development works for the scheme with Network Rail, who is taking this project forward on the Scottish Government’s behalf. A breakdown is retained by Network Rail and you may wish to contact Network Rail directly. However, some parts of the requested breakdown may relate to commercially sensitive information which it would be inappropriate to share before a procurement exercise for the works.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Paul McLennan on 1 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis has been undertaken of the potential impact of short-term let regulations on the Scottish tourism sector and visitor economy, including on (a) visitor attractions, (b) activity providers, (c) service providers and (d) hospitality venues, and, if it is the case that no such analysis has been undertaken, what plans there are to do so.
Answer
We have published a Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, which is available on the Scottish Government website at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/short-term-lets-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/
I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25506 on 28 February 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
- Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how much Peel Ports Group has received in harbour dues relating to Ardrossan Harbour, since the company acquired the harbour in 2003.
Answer
The Scottish Government do not hold full details of the dues paid by CalMac Ferries Limited (CFL) to Ardrossan Harbour Company Limited (AHCL). The monthly grant subsidy paid to CalMac covers all the agreed costs of operating services across the network as per the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract. However, it is understood that harbour dues paid by CFL to AHCL in CHFS contract year seven (October 2022 to September 2023) totalled around £1.7 million. Further information on AHCL can be found through their published accounts.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 1 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24855 by Gillian Martin on 6 February 2024, how many members of staff are currently working in the Energy Consents Unit; in relation to the increased staffing resource, by how many the current number of staff in the unit has increased by since 2022-23; whether it expects the unit's budget to increase in 2024-25, and, if so, by how much.
Answer
As of 23 February 2024, the Energy Consents Unit have an allocation of 35 posts. Whereas, in March 2023, the Energy Consents Unit had an allocation of 30 posts.
Work to set budgets for the financial year 2024-25 is still ongoing and resourcing requirements are kept under review.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24655 by Mairi McAllan on 5 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the £63.4 million reduction to the “Future Transport Fund – Low Carbon” budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.
Answer
Further to the response given by Miri McAllan MSP, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.
The UK Autumn Statement was a worst-case scenario for Scotland. Our block grant funding, derived from the UK Government’s spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23 and our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over five years.
A significant proportion of the expenditure in the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio is legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system. This has been compounded by continuing high inflation, which has further reduced our room for manoeuvre.
This line has been reprofiled in line with anticipated expenditure and to reflect the move towards the use of private sector finance and ownership in areas such as charging infrastructure and bus electrification.
As Miri McAllan MSP indicated, the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment were published alongside this Budget. These impact assessments not only analyse the budget and the impact of the decisions contained in it, they also consider the process of making those decisions, and how we make sure the needs of all people are actively considered. The Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio was actively engaged in the analysis and production of these assessments.
- Asked by: Graham Simpson, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 08 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 1 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-24654 by Mairi McAllan on 6 February 2024, whether it will provide the information requested regarding whether an impact assessment was conducted regarding the £2.8 million reduction to the “Support for sustainable travel” budget, and for what reason it did not provide this information in its answer.
Answer
Further to the response given by Miri McAllan MSP, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.
The UK Autumn Statement was a worst-case scenario for Scotland. Our block grant funding, derived from the UK Government’s spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23.
A significant proportion of the expenditure in the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio is legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system. This has been compounded by continuing high inflation, which has further reduced our room for manoeuvre.
The “Support for sustainable transport” line has been funded at £4.5 million in 2024-25 in line with anticipated expenditure during the 2024-25 financial year.
As Miri McAllan MSP indicated, the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment were published alongside this Budget. These impact assessments not only analyse the budget and the impact of the decisions contained in it, they also consider the process of making those decisions, and how we make sure the needs of all people are actively considered. The Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio was actively engaged in the analysis and production of these assessments.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how many teachers have accessed the Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science website.
Answer
Although the number of individual Computing Science teachers visiting the website is not tracked, the STACS website is an important resource for the Computing Science community. 490 Computing Science teachers are members of the STACS website and have access to the full set of resources. Since launching in 2022 the website has had 53,000 unique visits.
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 1 March 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many children have attended independent schools in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
This data has been collected by the Registrar of Independent Schools from available independent school census statistics. The census commences in the September of each year in accordance with part 4 of the Registration of Independent Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended by the Registration of Independent Schools (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021).
The following table outlines the number of children and young people who attended an independent school in each year since 2015, broken down by local authority. This data is not held from before 2015.
Local Authority | Pupil Numbers 2021 | Pupil Numbers 2020 | Pupil Numbers 2019 | Pupil Numbers 2018 | Pupil Numbers 2017 | Pupil Numbers 2016 | Pupil Number 2015 |
Aberdeen City Council | 3,072* | 3,032 | 3,082 | 3,402 | 3,115 | 3,034 | 3,256 |
Aberdeenshire Council | 18* | 15 | 15 | 15 | 21 | 23 | 21 |
Angus Council | 223* | 219 | 211 | 222 | 223 | 223 | 249 |
Argyll and Bute Council | 352* | 321 | 332 | 352 | 366 | 367 | 362 |
City of Edinburgh Council | 11,298* | 11,055 | 11,161 | 11,102 | 10,993 | 10,917 | 10,974 |
Clackmannanshire Council | 1,550 | 1,530 | 1,531 | 1,509 | 1,469 | 1,409 | 1,470 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 9 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 15 |
Dumfries and Galloway Council | 27 | 42 | 42 | 36 | 43 | 44 | 34 |
Dundee City Council | 956* | 920 | 954 | 968 | 979 | 1,002 | 1,022 |
East Ayrshire Council | 12 | 51 | 51 | 35 | 32 | 31 | 43 |
East Dunbartonshire Council | 19 | 16 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
East Lothian Council | 753* | 745 | 806 | 811 | 805 | 874 | 867 |
East Renfrewshire Council | 205 | 199 | 199 | 209 | 219 | 220 | 221 |
Falkirk Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fife Council | 1,196* | 1,148 | 1,120 | 1,087 | 1,078 | 1,098 | 1,107 |
Glasgow City Council | 5,068* | 5,004 | 5,196 | 5,238 | 5,369 | 5,420 | 5,506 |
Highland Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Inverclyde Council | 686 | 689 | 719 | 739 | 754 | 787 | 771 |
Midlothian Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Moray Council | 603 | 600 | 607 | 626 | 598 | 605 | 645 |
North Ayrshire Council | 56 | 66 | 66 | 74 | 91 | 72 | 66 |
North Lanarkshire Council | 44 | 48 | 48 | 43 | 46 | 49 | 51 |
Orkney Islands Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Perth and Kinross Council | 1,424* | 1,350 | 1,454 | 1,443 | 1,423 | 1,434 | 1,478 |
Renfrewshire Council | 233 | 236 | 237 | 246 | 263 | 268 | 263 |
Scottish Borders Council | 134 | 142 | 157 | 155 | 156 | 154 | 161 |
Shetland Islands Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
South Ayrshire Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
South Lanarkshire Council | 588 | 578 | 585 | 597 | 622 | 643 | 667 |
Stirling Council | 292 | 279 | 269 | 254 | 509 | 545 | 560 |
West Dunbartonshire Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
West Lothian Council | 16 | 18 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 |
Scotland | 28,834 | 28,316 | 28,888 | 29,188 | 29,198 | 29,264 | 29,822 |
Some pupils will attend a school in a different local authority from the local authority area in which they reside.
Some pupils will be from outwith Scotland and attend a boarding school.
Some independent schools have a presence in more than one local authority, pupils from such schools have been allocated to the local authority of the main school.
The figures for 2021 differ from those provided in answer to PQ from September 2023 (S6W-21172 Written question and answer: S6W-21172 | Scottish Parliament Website ). *Figures have been corrected following the identification of schools being allocated to the wrong local authority. The total of pupils in independent schools for 2021 remains the same.
- Asked by: Fulton MacGregor, MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the levels of vitamin D within the general population.
Answer
Scottish Government recognise the health benefits of maintaining adequate vitamin D levels across our population. Current advice is for everyone to consider taking a daily 10 microgram supplement of vitamin D to maintain bone and muscle health, particularly during the winter months. We recommend that population groups at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency take a daily 10 microgram supplement all year round.
Since 2017, all pregnant women in Scotland have been offered Healthy Start Vitamins which contain vitamin D, throughout their pregnancy. Free vitamin D supplements are also available to children under 3 and breastfeeding women.
Food Standards Scotland are currently running a social media Vitamin D campaign toolkit | Food Standards Scotland to raise awareness of the importance of vitamin D, and to encourage people to take vitamin D supplements. This builds on a number of previous FSS vitamin D campaigns during the winter.
Information on vitamin D is available for the general public on Vitamin D | NHS inform , including in different languages, easy read and audio formats. Our Parent Club website also contains information on the importance of Vitamin D. Vitamin D in care homes | Care Inspectorate Hub for adult care homes has also been published to support care home staff in discussing vitamin D supplements with residents and/ or their representatives.
- Asked by: Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what steps are being taken to ensure early and consistent diagnosis of severe asthma across the NHS.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s Respiratory care - action plan: 2021 to 2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) sets out our priorities and commitments for driving improvement in the prevention, diagnosis, care, treatment and support of people living with respiratory conditions such as severe asthma.
The Centre for Sustainable Delivery is also developing a person-centred, once for Scotland severe asthma pathway which will streamline access to advanced therapies and specialist care. This will identify people with severe asthma in the community who are struggling to manage their condition and at high risk of a poor outcome; provide a clear referral pathway through to severe asthma specialists; and provide an evidence-based framework to aid specialists in their decision-making.