Chamber and committees

The information requested is available as a snapshot as at September 2022. This information has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under Bib No. 63901.

The information requested is not held centrally.

There were no specific questions on drive-through developments in the consultation on Draft NPF4. Despite that, five local authorities directly referenced drive-throughs in their responses to Question 45, which related to ensuring Scotland’s places will support low carbon living and for people to live well locally. Several of these responses supported the policy approach towards drive-through developments.

Most authorities made broader comments strongly supporting the town centre first principle and limiting out of town development. Other respondents raised particular issues about drive-throughs, including suggestions that their development must be limited to prevent the cumulative effects of carbon emissions by vehicles.

It is important to note that the vast majority of Group A Streptococcal (GAS) infections result in mild illnesses that can be easily treated, and that complications are very rare.

Public Health Scotland (PHS), in line with standard public health procedures, are leading on the response to the earlier than usual rise in GAS cases. An incident management process is in place, and PHS are working closely with the other health agencies of the UK to ensure we have a clear picture of the situation.

PHS have also issued an alert to ensure health services act swiftly to identify and treat suspected cases, and guidance has been provided to nurseries and schools on the need for good hygiene measures, and steps to manage outbreaks to minimise transmission.

PHS are working with the UK Health Security Agency to develop guidance to manage clinical cases of GAS and iGAS to ensure consistency across the 4 nations.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer has issued a Medicine Supply Alert Notice providing advice on the supply of Antibiotics for the treatment of GAS. In addition, the Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group (SAPG) has issued interim guidance to support antibiotic management of GAS infection in children age 18 and under.

PHS have provided information through the media and online advising parents to seek advice from a health professional if their child is displaying symptoms of scarlet fever.

Further information on Group A Streptococcus and Scarlet Fever, including when to seek medical help, is available on NHS Inform .

In his 2019 letter to the Education and Skills Committee, the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science proposed to undertake the introducing of the ability for the SFC to attend the board meetings of assigned colleges.

Given the recent resumption of work around the Good College Governance Task Group’s recommendations, following a pause due to the pandemic, the Scottish Government has no immediate plans to implement direct observation of college board meetings. However, Scottish Government officials will work with the SFC, Colleges Scotland, regional strategic boards, trade unions, student associations, and the College Development network through the Good Governance Steering Group to implement changes to college governance in the best possible way.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12954 on 20 December 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx' .

Funding for CCTV is provided to local authorities through their block grant and, as with most of that funding, is not ring fenced. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available. This includes installing, upgrading and maintaining CCTV, and working with the police, based on local needs and priorities. First, they must fulfil statutory obligations within the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Police Scotland and CoSLA have highlighted ongoing challenges around the use, management, maintenance and funding for an ageing public space CCTV network. In response to this, in July 2022, the Scottish Government commissioned research on public space CCTV in Scotland. The purpose of this research is to collate a baseline of evidence in order to better understand the effectiveness and value of public space CCTV in Scotland. The research is due to conclude by the end of March 2023. The findings will be used to inform policy on public space CCTV and help future discussions with national partners.

The Scottish Government welcomes the commitment to transparency evidenced in Redress Scotland’s Progress Report and accompanying Facts and Figures Report, both of which were published on 5 December 2022.

The Progress Report details the first six months of the body’s existence (December 2021 – June 2022). Further progress has been made in the period since - on governance, staffing and processing capacity as Redress Scotland matures. A further update on activity will be given in Redress Scotland’s first annual report, due next year.

The Facts and Figures Report is the first of a regular series, sharing information about completed redress applications, types of applications, timescales for decision making and levels of redress awards. The reports will give up-to-date data on the work that Redress Scotland delivers. The Scottish Government welcomes Redress Scotland’s continuing plans to consult with the Survivor Forum about the information they publish and how they should develop their work in this area.

The claimant count rate for Dundee City local authority and 2021 electoral wards within Dundee City are shown in table 1 for November 2018 to November 2022.

The model based unemployment rate for Dundee City local authority are shown in table 2 for years Jul 2017-Jun 2018 to Jul 2021-Jun 2022. Model based estimates of unemployment are the official source for unemployment rates by local authority. Unemployment rates by electoral ward are not available from this source.

Table 1: Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 years

Amended Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) regulations were introduced in November 2021 for use by all Road Authorities to help tackle the main issues that had been raised by the TRO Review Group.

The Scottish Government continues to engage with a range of stakeholders including the local authority sector, Police Scotland, business and active travel representatives to understand any remaining issues being encountered with the various road order processes.

Transport Scotland officials have regular discussions with Forth Ports officials regarding a number of maritime issues, including direct ferry links to Europe.

Transport Scotland officials have met with Antwerp-Bruges Port Authority officials twice this year, to discuss potential links between Scottish ports and Antwerp-Bruges Port. There have also been government to government discussions with the Government of Flanders and Transport Scotland officials are maintaining this contact.