Chamber and committees

The update of the Material Flow Accounts will inform the development of policy for the circular economy bill.

SWEFT is currently in development by Zero Waste Scotland. Research is focused on identifying accurate and representative data that is needed to estimate the environmental impacts and how best to communicate results to stakeholders according to international best practice. Information on progress to date can be found here: To carbon targets, and beyond! | Zero Waste Scotland .

Schools already have the flexibility to teach about relationships and domestic abuse. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all children and young people receive high quality relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education, an integral part of the health and wellbeing area of the Scottish curriculum which has been in place since 2010. The curriculum is not mandatory, it is for teachers to decide which resources they use to deliver relevant and engaging learning. However, we are clear about the need for children and young people to gain knowledge appropriate to their age and stage of education. The aim of RSHP education is help children and young people build positive, safe and healthy relationships as they grow older and content should be delivered in a non-judgemental manner, within a framework of sound values and an awareness of the law, including that on sexual behaviour.

In addition, we are taking forward a wide range of actions in schools such as Mentors in Violence Prevention, aimed at reducing and preventing sexual harassment and violence in schools. Mentors in Violence Prevention Scotland have developed a wakelet on domestic abuse to help teachers and school staff provide appropriate support, resources and signposting to pupils. We continue to implement ‘Equally Safe’, Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls and Equally Safe at School provides a suite of whole school materials. We are also committed to publishing a national framework for schools on addressing gender based violence. This work is being delivered by the Gender Based Violence in Schools Working Group who will also review existing resources and develop new resources where needed.

In accordance with the Bute House Agreement, the Gender Based Violence in Schools Working Group and the Harmful Sexual Behaviour Delivery Group met in September 2021 to consider existing work on addressing gender based violence in education settings and identify any gaps in the current approach. The minutes of this meeting can be found here . The Scottish Government have committed to commissioning an independent review following the completion of the work of both groups, which will consider the impact of the work, establish positive practice, and any further areas for improvement.

The slope stabilisation and wall reconstruction is currently programmed to be completed by late Autumn 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09275 on 12 July 2022. 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 Scottish Government funded and supported delivery of the recent Future Planners Project Report which identifies the need for a number of new initiatives to increase the number of planners working in Scotland, including introducing a planning apprenticeship scheme. We recognise the value such an apprenticeship scheme would bring and we are engaging with the Royal Town Planning Institute to support introduction of a planning apprenticeship scheme in Scotland.

Around 43,000 home buyers have claimed first-time buyers relief since its’ introduction in September 2018.

Revenue Scotland does not publish constituency level data, however, the latest available local authority data shows that around 1,040 homebuyers in South Lanarkshire have claimed the relief.

LBTT statistics published by Revenue Scotland can be found at: https://revenue.scot/news-publications/publications/statistics/land-buildings-transaction-tax-statistics-0

As the Scottish Waste Environmental Footprint Tool (SWEFT) is developed it will be used as appropriate to support policy making, helping to ensure that we have a sustainable international material footprint, and supporting the Scottish waste and resources sector to play its full role in tackling the global climate emergency.

This is a question for the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland (RoS). She advises me that RoS does not hold information on transfers which may have occurred but for which no registration application has been submitted.

In relation to registrations in each of the last 10 years the position is given in the following table.

These numbers include transfers for value (sales) and transfers which are not for value (such as succession), but do not include voluntary registrations (where a property owner voluntarily moves their property from the Register of Sasines to the Land Register with no change in ownership).

As at 22 July 2022, in total there are 396 titles with an area over 3000 hectares registered in the Land Register of Scotland. A further 32 titles with a provisional extent over 3000 hectares are currently undergoing first registration.

I have today launched an online employer mental health and wellbeing platform, which provides a single point of access to signpost employers to relevant, reputable and free sources of support. As well as links to guidance and training to help employers support mental wellbeing at work, there are a range of case studies that showcase existing promising practice in organisations across Scotland.

The platform has been developed in collaboration with a wide range of partners, including employer organisations, Trade Unions, Public Health Scotland and mental health charities, and will be hosted on Public Health Scotland’s Healthy Working Lives website. The URL for the platform will be: www.healthyworkinglives.scot/mentalhealth