Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19456 on 24 July 2023. 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 .

The current starting salary for a fully qualified/registered teacher in Scotland is £37,896, compared to (a) £28,000 in England and (b) £29,278 in Wales.

The requested application figures for solar PV and/or energy storage systems for the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan Scheme and Private Rented Sector Landlord Loan Scheme are set out in the following tables:

The Scottish Government had made clear our commitment to supporting Gillian Mackay MSP on her Abortion Services Safe Access Zones (Scotland) Bill. The First Minister and I met Ms Mackay to reaffirm that commitment during the First Minister’s first week in office.

I meet regularly with Ms Mackay to discuss the Bill, and to offer support and input at each stage of the process, most recently the publication of the consultation analysis and final Bill proposal. This support will continue as the Bill is introduced to, and progresses through, Parliament.

All funding for services delivered by the community pharmacy network, including for Pharmacy First Scotland, is paid directly to independent community pharmacy contractors as part of the remuneration arrangements. No funding is paid directly to Community Pharmacy Scotland.

NHS Pharmacy First Scotland funding forms part of the overall remuneration package. These details are published annually on the SHOW website - SHOW - Scotlands Health On the Web - Publications

The remuneration Global Sum was set at the following in each year from 2018-19

2018-19 - £180.959 million

2019-20 - £183.559 million

2020-21 - £188.148 million

2021-22 - £197.977 million

2022-23 - £205.489 million

The NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service was launched in 2020-21. Funding allocated from the remuneration Global Sum for each year since was as follows:

2020-21 - £25.8 million

2021-22 - £27.5 million

2023-23 - £30.8 million

Ministers and Officials follow the Scottish Government’s travel policies when travelling on official business. The policy for air travel is outlined below. Section 5 of the policy relates to private air travel.

Travelling by air - Colleagues can book flights for long distances, but should choose greener forms of transport, for example bus or rail, for shorter journeys.

Things to consider before booking flights - Before booking flights you should be aware that:

• mainland UK flights need to be approved at director level
• economy class should be used for journeys of 10 hours or less
• business class is only permitted if the flying time on a specific flight is more than 10 hours one-way, unless otherwise agreed
• always try to book well ahead of the planned trip to enable the travel agent to find competitively-priced tickets

To maximise negotiated fares/services available to the SG all official air travel must be booked through the SG’s Travel Agent. This should include travel required in emergencies as the SG’s Travel Agent operates an out of hours service.

1. Class of Travel -The class of air travel is governed by the airline’s fare structures on the various routes, the level of the officer travelling, and the duration of the flight. The following information sets out entitlements. Countersigning Officers may however exercise discretion.

Fare Structure Available on Flight Level of entitlement

Economy All staff

Business Senior Civil Service – however economy is encouraged

First Senior Civil Service in exceptional circumstances with prior approval of Director General.

2. Domestic flights - Air travel within the mainland United Kingdom should only be made with Director level (or above) approval.

The SG wishes to show leadership in getting best value for money, and prudent use of the public purse. Economy Class must be used in all circumstances where this is available, unless the Countersigning Officer is willing to sanction a higher level of ticket in accordance with the exception:

Where a member of staff, who is not a Senior Civil Servant, necessarily travels for official reasons, in company with a person who is not a United Kingdom civil servant, and who is travelling in a higher class.

Last minute bookings should be avoided. In exceptional circumstances, or where the Director is not available, retrospective Director level approval can be sought. However, before bookings are made you should discuss it with your line manager and inform your Director’s office of your intentions.

3. Travel to London -The presumed method of travel for staff going to London on official business is rail. Staff who intend to fly to London must obtain Director level authorisation. The SG’s Travel Agent can provide more detailed information on fares and ticket types.

4. Overseas travel -When travelling on official business staff should travel economy on any individual flight when the flying time (one way) is less than 10 hours.

Business class travel is only permitted when:

the flying time (one way) for that flight is more than 10 hours, or

the Countersigning Officer is willing to sanction a higher level of ticket in accordance with exception noted in part 2.

5. Charter flights - Special regulations apply in connection with the charter of air transport. The SG’s Travel Agent must be consulted in all cases where it is proposed to use that method of travel. The exception is if the aircraft is chartered by another government department.

We have committed to investing £97.5m over a five year period from 2021-22 to 2025-26 to support The Scottish Ambulance Services fleet replacement programme, which includes dedicated funding to support the introduction of over 250 electric vehicles.

Transport Scotland's Switched on Fleets programme has also invested just under £8.4m to support the decarbonisation of vehicles and install associated infrastructure.

International waste export legislation is a reserved matter for the UK Government. However we are working with the UK Government to support the delivery of its existing commitment to ban plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries, while urging it to go further and consider banning the export of plastic waste from the UK to all countries.

The information requested is not centrally held by the Scottish Government but may be available from individual NHS Boards.

I meet local authority representatives on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues which I am responsible for as the Minister for Local Government Empowerment and Planning. The Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council 2023 raised third party rights of appeal with me at a meeting on 11 May. Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council officials met on 30 May 2023 to discuss planning appeal procedures – the matter of third party rights of appeal was briefly raised during that discussion.