Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold a central record of meetings held with suppliers so is therefore unable to confirm what meetings have been held with Deloitte LLP since May 2021.

The Public Sector Pay Strategy 2023-24 applies to staff in the Scottish Government and its associated departments, agencies, non-departmental public bodies and public corporations.

All organisations covered by our Pay Strategy are required to pay at least the real Living Wage rate to all their staff, including apprentices. Apprentices are employees and as such benefit from the same rights and protections offered to other employees through their employment. Skills Development Scotland will continue to encourage all employers outside our Public Sector Pay Strategy to pay apprentices at least the real Living Wage rate, including those aged 19 and under and those in their first year.

The commissioning of NHS national services is the responsibility of NHS National Services Division (NSD), a sub division of NHS Services Scotland (NSS).Eligible patients for magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) for essential tremor can be referred to NHS Tayside in conjunction with the University of Dundee.

At present, no new application has been received to designate MRgFUS as a national specialist service to NHS Tayside. NSD will continue to work with the MRgFUS team in NHS Tayside in the meantime.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific assessment of the impact of delays in ferry replacement on island economies.

The ferries network has seen significant improvements in the last decade a result of the 2013 Ferries Plan. Scottish Government and Transport Scotland are keenly aware of the importance of reliable ferry services upon which our island communities depend. With 6 major vessels currently in construction, and more vessel replacement projects ongoing, the future ferries network will be more reliable and resilient bringing travel to and from the islands communities up to meet their needs.

The charter, and preceding discussions, for the MV Alfred from Pentland Ferries for use in Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service contract were a matter for the operator CalMac Ferries Limited.

In line with the Contract for the Provision of Ferry Services Between the Scottish Ministers and Calmac Ferries Limited, the confirmation of funding and agreement to proceed were provided by the Scottish Ministers prior to CalMac Ferries Limited deciding to sign the charter.

Further to question S6W-01240 submitted by Monica Lennon answered by Humza Yousaf on 9 August 2021. The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Information on deaths by cause are held by National Records of Scotland (NRS). Data is available at: List of Data Tables | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk) . Detail on how to request further information from NRS can be found at Requesting Information | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk) .

The previous Minister for Community Safety met with the FBU on 2 February 2023. This meeting, which included Professor Anna Stec of the University of Central Lancashire, was specifically to discuss issues around the FBU DECON campaign including firefighter health screening, the SFRS estate and budgets.

Currently, there are charges in place for the use of toilet facilities at Inverness, Fort William, Aberdeen, and Glasgow Queen Street stations.

The Scottish Government has continued the commitment to support SFRS service delivery and reform with a further uplift of £10m resource for 2023-24. In recognition of the pay and inflationary pressures faced by SFRS, we have provided SFRS with additional budget cover of up to £4.4m on top of the allocation set in the 2023-24 budget announcement.

The Scottish Government’s Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022 sets out that SFRS should ensure that the capability of its assets and staff, combined with technological improvements, enable it to respond to incidents with the right resources at the right time across communities in Scotland. The deployment of the appropriate level of resources to deal with an incident is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The Scottish Government moved swiftly to meet with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) after the Members debate on the FBU DECON Campaign on 19 January 2023. In addition to regular discussions with the SFRS Chair and Chief Officer, the former Minister for Community Safety met with the SFRS at their Headquarters on 21 February 2023 to discuss current actions that the SFRS are taking and also future plans to further protect firefighters from contaminants. Officials are also in close contact with the SFRS on an ongoing basis on these issues.