Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to Keeping the Promise and ensuring that families are supported to stay together when it is safe to do so. While we still have more work to do, it is positive progress that the recent Infant's Born into Care Report confirms that the proportion of children entering care before their first birthday in Scotland has fallen since 2018 - from 122 in every 10,000 to 91 in every 10,000 in 2021.

The Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach ensures that children and families can access support across maternity, health visiting, family nursing and social work services to help them thrive. Where it is deemed that a child requires statutory support for their care, the Local Authority becomes their Corporate Parent and are responsible for working with partners to ensure that the right services are in place to deliver a personalised plan to meet their needs.

No consideration has been given to a moratorium on the creation of bus stop bypasses. Local authorities are responsible for management of local roads and paths and the Scottish Government has no authority to make such a mandate.

A total of (a) £18.181 million has been allocated from the (b) £30 million demand-led Rural and Islands Housing Fund for the current parliamentary term. The following table provides a breakdown of allocated funds between rural and island by local authority area.

Pre-pandemic, the poverty related attainment gap in primary schools was closing across Scotland, including in South Lanarkshire. We nonetheless recognise the negative impact of the pandemic. We are now seeing strong evidence of recovery: the latest published data, the 2021-22 Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (ACEL) data, shows the biggest single year decrease in the gap in primary numeracy and literacy levels since records began (in 2016-17).

Before the pandemic, the attainment gap in South Lanarkshire was below the national average. During the pandemic, in 2020-21, we saw a widening in the attainment gap across the country, with the gap in South Lanarkshire widening by more than the average change nationally. Data from 2021-22 shows that South Lanarkshire has started to recover from the impact of the pandemic in both literacy and numeracy.

South Lanarkshire Council received £10.9 million of Scottish Attainment Challenge funding in 22-23, empowering headteachers and Local Government to achieve their ambitions to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty. This includes:

• South Lanarkshire schools receiving almost £8.95 million Pupil Equity Funding for headteachers enabling them to invest in the best approaches to raise attainment of the pupils in their schools.
• South Lanarkshire Council receiving over £1.4 million Strategic Equity Funding to develop strategic plans for closing the poverty related attainment gap; and
• Care Experience Children and Children Young People Funding of £628,425.

There are records of 212 instances of damaging or unconsented activities on SSSIs that have not been attributed to third parties. No compensatory agreements have been entered into as a result of these cases.

NatureScot is only obliged to offer compensation to a land manager if the SSSI consenting process restricts the established management of their land and where this leads to a loss of income. NatureScot has 89 active compensatory Management Agreements with land managers to prevent damaging activity. The majority date back to before 2013. The majority of active Management Agreements entered in to by NatureScot contain provisions for proactive management to restore or maintain biodiversity.

The following table sets out the charging and convictions data requested:

The Scottish Budget 2023-24 published in December 2022 did not include any budget provision for teachers’ pay. At that time, the Scottish Government was participating in discussions on a 2023 pay offer through the tripartite SNCT and, as always, it was for COSLA – as the employer – to make any pay offer. Publishing a budget at that stage would have risked undermining COSLA’s position and the negotiations themselves. We continued to work with COSLA to assess what specific support was needed. At the point of the Scottish Budget 2023-24 being published, we had confirmed a contribution of over £50 million to the pay offer made to teachers.

The Scottish Government will provide a total of £205m in 2023-24 to help meet the costs of the final March 2023 pay deal, £50 million of which is included in the local government finance settlement.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken an inspection for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in the Core SG Estate since 2021. A specialist has been appointed to develop a scope for inspection surveys. The Core Estate is defined as those sites/buildings where SG Directorates operate from.

The following number of Site Checks and Site Condition Monitoring assessments for protected areas were completed by NatureScot since 2017:

The Innovation Centre funding partners (Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise) have commissioned an evaluation of the IC Programme led by Additional Research and in association with Context Economic and Social Research, ADD Specialists, Open Cities Ltd and IBP Strategy and Research. The report will be published shortly.

I refer the member to the answer to the similar question, S6O-02277, on 25 May 2023. The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the Official Report can be viewed at Meeting of the Parliament: 25/05/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website

I reiterate my thanks to Changeworks for this important report.

The average energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of Highland and Island properties is lower than the national average rating because of the typically more expensive fuels that are used or available, how those are reflected in the current EPC metric, and the historically lower energy efficiency standards.

We propose that all housing in Scotland should meet the equivalent of EPC rating C by 2033, following reform of EPC metrics. We intend to consult on reformed EPCs shortly.

We offer support to improve the energy efficiency of rural homes, including a funding uplift to our Home Energy Scotland grant and loan scheme, and targeted fuel poverty support.