Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-14355

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many public corporations there are; how (a) much funding and (b) many staff each has in 2022-23, and in which year each was established.

Question reference: S6W-14356

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) commissioners and (b) ombudsmen for which it is responsible there are; how (i) much funding and (ii) many staff each has in 2022-23, and in which year each was established.

There are 7 commissioners and ombudsmen. The following table with commissioners and ombudsmen contains year of establishment, funding and staff numbers.

In the case of Commissioners and Ombudsmen they are classed as Parliamentary Bodies and as such, are accountable directly to the Scottish Parliament with the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body conducting a sponsorship function.

Public Body	Year of establishment	Funding 2022-23	Staff numbers Q3 2022
Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life	2013	£0	11
Scottish Biometrics Commissioner	2021	£400,000	3
Scotland's Commissioner For Children and Young People	2004	£0	15
Scottish Human Rights Commission	2008	£65,000	12
Scottish Information Commissioner	2005	£0	20
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman	2002	£0	84
Standards Commission for Scotland	2000	£0	4

Question reference: S6W-14551

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether NHS 111 staff are trained to identify pressures of financial strain in callers and signpost to money advice services if appropriate.

Many of the calls received at the Mental Health Hub, via the NHS 24 111 line, are driven by a range of complex and interrelated social factors, including financial worries.

Callers to the Hub are connected to a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP), a specially trained advisor who can offer advice and support on coping with a range of mental health symptoms.

PWPs are able to signpost callers to sources of support and advice for financial worries, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, when appropriate to do so.

Question reference: S6W-14353

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 30 January 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many non-departmental bodies there are; how (a) much funding and (b) many staff each has in 2022-23, and in which year each was established.

There are 3 categories of non-departmental public bodies: executive non-departmental public bodies, advisory non-departmental public bodies and tribunals. There are 45 executive non-departmental public bodies, 9 advisory non-departmental public bodies and 3 tribunals. The following tables for each of these categories, contain year of establishment, funding and staff numbers.

Executive non-departmental public bodies

Public Body	Year of Establishment	Funding 2022-23	Staff numbers Q3 2022
Accounts Commission for Scotland	1975	£0	0
Architecture and Design Scotland	2004	£1,490,000	30
Bòrd na Gidhlig	2006	£5,125,000	24
Cairngorms National Park Authority	2003	£7,067,000	104
Care Inspectorate	2011	£25,389,000	624
Children’s Hearings Scotland	2013	£5,029,000	46
Community Justice Scotland	2017	£2,924,000	46
Creative Scotland	2010	£32,582,000	132
Crofting Commission	2012	£3,900,000	55
David MacBrayne Ltd	2006	£0	46
Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Ltd	2019	£33,400,000	359
Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd	1995	£61,857,000	702
Highlands and Islands Enterprise	1991	£62,245,000	274
Historic Environment Scotland	2015	£67,100,000	1,488
Independent Living Fund Scotland	2018	£53,300,000	63
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority	2002	£10,294,000	195
National Galleries of Scotland	1906	£22,050,000	404
National Library of Scotland	1925	£17,605,000	331
National Museums of Scotland	1985	£27,574,000	485
NatureScot (replaced Scottish Natural Heritage)	1992	£47,411,000	779
Police Investigations and Review Commissioner	2013	£5,824,000	87
Quality Meat Scotland	2008	£0	28
Redress Scotland	2021	£5,000,000	27
Risk Management Authority	2005	£1,835,000	24
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh	1985	£26,170,000	285
Scottish Agricultural Wages Board	1949	£0	0
Scottish Canals	2012	£22,700,000	316
Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration	1996	£26,860,000	503
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission	1999	£1,219,000	10
Scottish Enterprise	1991	£251,220,000	1,047
Scottish Environment Protection Agency	1996	£36,106,000	1,220
Scottish Funding Council	2004	£1,946,622,000	117
Scottish Futures Trust	2008	£3,800,000	73
Scottish Land Commission	2017	£1,550,000	17
Scottish Legal Aid Board	1987	£151,300,000	356
Scottish Legal Complaints Commission	2008	£0	56
Scottish National Investment Bank	2020	£214,900,000	67
Scottish Qualifications Authority	1996	£24,131,000	1,033
Scottish Rail Holdings Ltd	2022	£0	17
Scottish Social Services Council	2001	£16,035,000	328
Skills Development Scotland	2008	£224,200,000	1,635
Sportscotland	1971	£33,600,000	348
South of Scotland Enterprise Agency	2020	£36,003,000	145
VisitScotland	1969 - as Scottish Tourist Board	£46,712,000	593
Water Industry Commission for Scotland	2005	£0	28

Advisory non-departmental public bodies

Public Body	Year of Establishment	Funding 2022-23	Staff numbers Q3 2022
Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland	2009	£436,000	7
Boundaries Scotland	1973	£437,000	6
Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland	2002	£170,000	12
Poverty and Inequality Commission	2019	£317,296	0
Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards	1998	£74,393	0
Scottish Commission on Social Security	2019	£340,000	6
Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel	2022	£150,000	2
Scottish Law Commission	1965	£1,055,000	16
Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee (stood down in 2013)	2004	£25,318.16	0

Tribunals

Public Body	Year of Establishment	Funding 2022-23	Staff numbers Q3 2022
First - tier Tribunal for Scotland	2016	£0	112
Parole Board for Scotland	1968	£2,944,000	26
Upper Tribunal for Scotland	2016	£0	2

Question reference: S6W-14816

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 24 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many types of maritime studies apprenticeships have been successfully completed in Scotland since 2018.

The number of individuals successfully completing the Maritime Occupations Modern Apprenticeship framework across each year since 2018/19 is detailed in the following table. All MA statistics are published on the SDS website at Modern Apprenticeships | Skills Development Scotland . Year-end statistics for‎ 2022-23 are expected to be published in May 2023.

Maritime Occupations	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
MA Achievements	20	16	13	18

Question reference: S6W-14608

Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 03 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 24 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect jobs in the cultural sector, in light of reported concerns by the Scottish Contemporary Art Network that the proposed reduction to the Creative Scotland Grant in Aid budget in the draft Budget 2023-24 will lead to significant job losses, including the loss of opportunities for artists and freelance cultural workers.

The Scottish Government is in regular dialogue with the sector, most recently through holding a series of roundtable discussions. While we have had to make difficult choices to live within budgets, we have also listened to the concerns raised by the culture sector. In response, as announced on 21 February, the Scottish Government will provide an uplift of £6.6 million for Creative Scotland for 2023-24 to ensure their accumulated lottery funding reserves can supplement rather than replace grant funding.

This decision means there will be a substantial increase in the Scottish Government’s funding for culture and major events in the next financial year.

We expect Creative Scotland to set out quickly for the culture sector how it will use these additional resources to support organisations and help protect culture sector jobs at this difficult time.

We will continue to have close discussions with Creative Scotland and the wider culture sector to support workers and ensure our diverse and world-class cultural scene and rich heritage continue to thrive.

Question reference: S6W-14736

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 06 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many households in each local authority area have been estimated to be in fuel poverty in each year since 1999.

The number of households in each local authority that are experiencing fuel poverty is published annually (based on a three-year average) in the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) local authority tables starting with the 2003-2006 publication.

The latest published set of tables for 2017-2019 are available at:

Scottish House Condition Survey: Local Authority Analysis 2017-2019 .

Estimates from 2010-12 to 2016-18 are available at:

Scottish House Condition Survey: Local Authority Analyses 2010-2012 to 2016-2018

Estimates dating from 2003-2006 to 2013-2015 are also available on our archive at:

[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Scottish House Condition Survey - Local Authority

Please Note:

Results from 2016-18 to 2017-19 are based on best estimates under the new definition of fuel poverty as set out in the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019. They reflect amendments made to the legislation during the Bill process up to and including Stage 2.

Results from 2003-06 to 2015-17 are based on the definition of fuel poverty set out in The Scottish fuel Poverty statement 2002 .

As the 2020 SHCS was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and results from the 2021 External+ SHCS are not yet published and unlikely to be consistent with previous years, the 2017-2019 results are the latest available at Local Authority level.

Due to the recent rise in energy prices and lack of recent SHCS data on fuel poverty, we have published scenario modelling of national fuel poverty rates under the Energy Price Guarantee, at both the current £2,500 level from October 2022 as well as the £3,000 level from April 2023.

This modelling estimates that from October 2022 there are around 860,000 households (35%) in fuel poverty in Scotland. This is an increase of 247,000 households or around 10 percentage points from the latest available 2019 SHCS statistics, which showed 613,000 households in fuel poverty (25%). With the increase in the Energy Price Guarantee to £3,000 in April 2023 we estimate that around 980,000 households (39%) in Scotland will be in fuel poverty. While these modelled estimates are not available at Local Authority level, the large increases in the fuel poverty rate will be reflected across each Local Authority in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-14648

Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 24 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications have been (a) received, (b) approved and (c) rejected in each round of the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, also broken down by (i) how much has been awarded, (ii) the average award provided and (iii) how many awards have been given to businesses with (A) fewer than 10, (B) 10 to 49, (C) 50 to 99, (D) 100 to 249 and (E) over 249 employees.

Through the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF ), we are co-investing with a diverse range of Scottish manufacturers to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions through increased energy efficiency and deep decarbonisation projects. The requested information can be found in the following table:

Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund applications and awards (to date):

	Applications			Award		(iii) Business size (FTE employees)
	(a) Received	(b) Approved	(c) Rejected	(i) Grant awarded	(ii) Average award	A <10	B 10-49	C 50-99	D 100-249	E >249
Call 1	13	7	6	£3,103,311	£443,330	0	1	1	0	5
Call 2	20	14	6	£8,825,907	£630,422	1	1	0	2	10
Call 3	31	Currently at evaluation stage
Totals	64	21	12	£11,929,218		1	2	1	2	15

Source - Scottish Government, DECC, Energy industries, Industrial Decarbonisation, SIETF Tracker, Feb 23

Question reference: S6W-15366

Asked by: Dr Alasdair Allan, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 February 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 24 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government when the proposed consultation on merging UHI Outer Hebrides College, UHI West Highland College and UHI North Highland College will be published.

The consultation has been published today and is available on the Scottish Government’s Consultation Hub, Citizen Space https://consult.gov.scot/lifelong-learning-and-skills/rural-and-islands-college-merger-proposal

It seeks views on the proposals put forward by the boards of management of North Highland College (UHI North Highland), West Highland College (UHI West Highland) and Lews Castle College (UHI Outer Hebrides) to merge into a single, incorporated college.

Question reference: S6W-14949

Asked by: Jeremy Balfour, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 February 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 23 February 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it will publish its consideration of the final report of the Scottish Mental Health Law Review.

The Scottish Mental Health Law Review published its final report on 30 September 2022 and set out over 200 proposals for reform. The report recommendations are complex and wide-ranging, and cross-government work is underway to consider them and assess their implications.

We intend to set out our initial Scottish Government response to the Review report, including priority actions that will be taken forward, by summer 2023.

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