Chamber and committees

Thank you for your question. The criteria for emergency workers differ from that of the public. For emergency workers, the criteria are:

The individual (or team) acted beyond the normal expectation of them and made a deliberate decision to do so in the knowledge of the dangers / risks involved e.g., where the incident escalated unexpectedly beyond the initial assessment and the individual had to adapt their training or improvise to achieve the desired outcome.

The individual (or team) displayed outstanding bravery in the knowledge of significant risk or danger to their own life whilst protecting or attempting to protect another person. Consideration of the UK Gallantry Award System may also come into play in these situations.

The individual (or team) showed personal courage in the face of violent or unpredictable circumstances.

Where the individual (or team) made a significant contribution to reducing risk to the public and preventing future deaths or injuries.

Where an individual or team has gone beyond the expected contribution to their service and has through determination, innovation and persistent effort overcome obstacles resulting in a quantifiable contribution to public safety.

The Scottish Government works with a variety of stakeholders, who support and shape work on the just transition, net zero and energy. The input from our stakeholders is invaluable and plays a vital role in helping deliver a just energy transition to net zero.

The number and makeup of these working groups varies in line with government priorities. Examples of working groups which fall under the remit of just transition, net zero or energy include:

• The Scottish Energy Advisory Board (SEAB)
• The Scottish Energy Networks Strategic Leadership Group
• The Renewable Energy Strategic Leadership Group
• Energy Consumers Commission
• Just Transition Commission
  

The Scottish Government lead a number of working groups that fall under the remit of transport. The groups are appointed to study and report on a particular question or make recommendations based on its findings hence the longevity of each group will vary. The following non-exhaustive list includes currently active transport groups managed by the Scottish Government, but it does not include all of the transport groups that we engage with.

National Transport Strategy Delivery Board

National Transport Strategy Business Group

Analysis of Demand Management Options Steering Group

Transport Governance and Collaboration Working Group

Forth Bridges Forum

LEZ Leadership Group

LEZ Communications Group

LEZ Consistency Group

LEZ Enforcement Group

Queensferry Crossing Ice Accretion Working Group

Queensferry Crossing Ice Accretion Peer Review Group

A83 Taskforce Group

A9 Road Safety Group

Road Safety Strategic Partnership Board

Road Safety Operational Partnership Group

Motorcycle safety group

Three Local Partnership Forums for Road Safety across Scotland (east, west and north)

Road Safety Scotland Learning Advisory Group

Road Safety Scotland Publicity Advisory Group

The Parking Standards Advisory Group

The Traffic Regulation Order Review Group

Scottish Road Research Board

National strategy for 20mph Working Group

Road Traffic Fatality Working Group

Transport Scotland Pavement Forum

Scottish Traffic Signs Working Group

Roads for All forum

Vulnerable Locations Operations Group

Zero Emission Truck Taskforce

Bus Taskforce:

• Driver Shortage subgroup
• Patronage Growth subgroup
• Community Engagement subgroup

Mobility as a Service Working Group

Operator Smart Steering Group

Active Travel Delivery Partners’ Data, Monitoring and Evaluation Group

Accessible Travel Steering Group

Accessible Travel Framework Impact Evaluation Project Working Group

Scottish Freight and Logistics Advisory Group (ScotFLAG)

Ardrossan Task Force

Edinburgh Waverley Station Masterplan Steering Group

Edinburgh Waverley Station Masterplan Working Group

Perth Station Masterplan Steering Group

Perth Station Masterplan Working Group

Inverness Station Masterplan Steering Group

Inverness Station Masterplan Working Group

Sustainable Travel to Station Steering Group

Sustainable Travel to Station Working Group

The Aberdeen to Central Belt Key Stakeholder Group

The Scottish Government provides local authorities with an annual local government finance settlement which in 2022-23 amounts to almost £12.7 billion. Over 93 percent of this total funding, representing £11.8 billion, is by means of a block grant. Individual local authorities can allocate this sum together with their locally raised income through council tax and fees and charges to meet local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The Scottish Government does not allocate education funding on a per subject basis and therefore does not hold the information requested. Statutory responsibility for the delivery of education sits with local authorities and schools as set out under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. This provides local authorities and schools with the autonomy and flexibility to plan their curriculum to best meet the needs of their learners and local circumstances. The setting of school budgets remains the responsibility of each local authority.

Education Scotland, Regional Improvement Collaboratives and local authorities provide direct support to schools in terms of teaching and learning across all subjects. The Scottish Government also funds other bodies direct to deliver additional support. For example, in 2022-23 we are funding the Scotland’s National Centre for Languages £570,000 to support teachers and schools in delivering high quality language learning.

The Local Government distribution formula is kept under constant review and is agreed with COSLA each year.

Any requests for changes to the agreed distribution formula must, in the first instance, come through COSLA.

This information is not held centrally and is a matter for the Care Inspectorate.

The Puppy Trade Working Group (PTWG), of which the Scottish Government is a member, seeks to disrupt the unlicensed puppy trade, including online sales of low welfare puppies. We work closely with other members of the PTWG, which includes Gumtree and Pets4Homes, to address the advertising of illegally bred puppies on online platforms. As a consequence of this collaborative working, Gumtree and Pets4Homes continue to adapt their advertising practices in order to address online selling by unscrupulous breeders.

At this time Facebook are not members of the PTWG. The PTWG and the Scottish SPCA continue to seek to engage with Facebook on this matter.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with Police Scotland on the threats from organised crime, including criminal activities associated with the illegal puppy trade. While it would not be appropriate to comment on the detail of those discussions, we know that Police Scotland continue to work in partnership with the Scottish SPCA to disrupt the activities of those involved in this abhorrent trade.

The Scottish Government has not recovered and has no plans to recover any COVID-19 related funding from councils. Individual councils continue to have complete autonomy to allocate their reserves based on local needs and priorities.

The Scottish Ministers provided £145 million in Covid support grants to local government between 2019-20 and 2021-22 (TBC).

This included £95m for Hospitality and Leisure, £9.5 million for Public House Table Service, £4.7 million for Nightclub Closure, £1.2 million for Scottish Brewers, £29.4 million for Taxi and Private Hire and £5.5 million for Business Ventilation.

Local authorities have confirmed that £32 million has not been spent. Consideration of amounts to be recovered from local authorities is ongoing and therefore I cannot provide figures at this time. However, I would be happy to provide those figures once they are available.

All children and young people should receive the support they need to reach their full potential.

Education authorities are legally responsible for identifying and meeting the additional support needs of their pupils, including any additional support needs of pupils receiving Gaelic-medium education. The Scottish Government has supported education authorities in the delivery of these duties through the preparation and publication of statutory guidance.

We are also working closely with local government partners, through the Additional Support for Learning Project Board , to ensure we continue to see progress with the delivery of the recommendations from the 2020 additional support for learning review. In November 2022, we published an updated action plan and progress report to further support improvement in the implementation of additional support for learning, including within Gaelic-medium education.

As I have previously said , we have committed to undertaking a programme of work and analysis to better understand Scotland’s energy requirements as we transition to net zero and how this aligns with our climate change targets. We continue to engage with BOGA and as part of a wider programme of analysis and engagement with a range of organisations and stakeholders.