Chamber and committees

The information requested is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not hold specific information of how many release sites for beaver translocations have been identified.

Following the Scottish Government’s announcement to actively support the expansion of the beaver population in November 2021 much work has been undertaken by NatureScot to support the policy. While there have been no licence applications made by public bodies to date, NatureScot have logged a number of expressions of interest and are liaising with RSPB Scotland and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority in relation to the consultation for beaver translocations in progress for Loch Lomond, and with Forestry and Land Scotland for the consultation in progress for Glen Affric.

Scotland’s Redress Scheme has been designed and developed to offer survivors support at every stage of the process. Trained case workers, working on behalf of the Scottish Government, are there to communicate with applicants throughout the application process and are available to answer questions about how to complete an application form, what documents applicants might need to provide and where to get further support. When additional support is required, case workers refer applicants to the Redress Support Service provided by the In-Care Survivors Alliance. The In-Care Survivors Alliance draws on its existing network of over 70 delivery partners to provide support.

The Redress Support Service can help applicants access the emotional, practical or access to records support they require. They currently have contracts with two delivery partners; Birthlink and Wellbeing Scotland, who provide additional support for applicants in accessing records.

The Scottish Government have awarded a grant to the ‘In Care Survivor Alliance’ to provide this Redress Support.

£10 million of funding has been directed to support Cancer Waiting Times improvements in our NHS across 2022-23. Significant funds are going towards up-skilling nurses and investing in diagnostic tests to support extended working days/weekend working to increase capacity.

Meanwhile, work is underway to develop Scotland’s new cancer strategy, expected to publish Spring 2023. A recent public consultation received over 250 responses, including from blood cancer charities. A series of workshops are planned throughout September to help gain further insight and hear directly from those with lived experience to inform the focus of this strategy.

Yes, the statistics you refer to are accurate. The analysis can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/analysis-consultation-responses-consultation-review-children-scotland-act-1995/pages/9/ . There were 254 responses to the consultation, which asked a number of questions. As noted in the table at section 9.3.1 of the analysis, 124 consultees answered yes to question 31 on amending the Child Abduction Act 1984, with 13 answering no and 117 not answering the question. 124 of 254 is 49%, which is the figure referred to in section 9.3.2 of the analysis.

As the First Minister noted in her statement to the Scottish Parliament on the Programme for Government on 6 September 2022, the Scottish Government’s commitment to the full-parliament plans set out in last year’s Programme for Government - and in the Bute House Agreement - stands.

Under the Bute House Agreement, Ministers and Scottish Green Group portfolio holders hold regular liaison meetings as well as regular stocktake meetings with me, in my capacity as Deputy First Minister, and the wider Green Group of MSPs.

In line with the commitment in the Cooperation Agreement between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group, Patrick Harvie MSP and Lorna Slater MSP both attended Cabinet meetings on 26 April 2022 and 16 August 2022 where the Bute House Agreement was discussed.

Scotland has a varied building stock, with many different ages and types of properties. Homes are built with various levels of insulation, with many having altered the building fabric since construction (for example by installing double glazing). This makes defining a ‘non-retrofitted home’ challenging. The most consistent approach to comparing the running cost of a heat pump to the running cost of a gas boiler is to compare the relative cost of heat from each system, taking into account their differing efficiencies.

Under the recently announced Energy Price Guarantee, the unit rate of gas for the average consumer is 10.3 p/kWh, compared to 34.0 p/kWh for electricity. While estimates of the energy efficiency of heat pumps vary, air source heat pumps are typically considered to be two to three times more efficient than gas boilers. Therefore, we estimate broadly that a home with the average heat demand would face an estimated annual cost of around £1,900 using a gas boiler, compared to around £2,000 using an air source heat pump. This estimate is illustrative and subject to uncertainty. It is based on average household demand for heat and varies in line with assumed levels of gas and electricity prices, as well as the assumed efficiencies of the respective heating systems.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy proposes to set minimum energy efficiency standards alongside heating system change, so that the energy efficiency of our housing stock will be improved ahead of, or in tandem with, a zero direct emissions heating system being installed. This approach will reduce the running cost of zero direct emissions heating systems, such as heat pumps. We therefore don’t expect that heat pumps will be installed in properties unless the energy efficiency is at an appropriate level, which is currently being developed through external research.

Electricity policy and regulation is reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government is calling on the UK Government to take urgent action to rebalance gas and electricity prices such that the running costs of zero direct emission heating systems are more favourable compared with fossil fuel incumbents.

There is no target timescale for the time from an application being received by Scotland’s Redress scheme and it being processed through to being complete and ready to transfer to Redress Scotland, who are the non-departmental public body which assesses and makes decisions on redress applications. The reason for not having a target time is because each application varies in complexity, with survivors and applicants requiring differing levels of support to complete the application and a dependency on other organisations to complete the required verifications around care settings and any previous relevant payments made.

We are committed to ensuring each application is reviewed by case workers within six weeks of receipt. This process identifies if further information is required or if applications are ready to allocate to a named case worker to undertake the required verification checks, ahead of seeking applicant approval to send to Redress Scotland.

We have recently recruited additional case workers and have made changes to the operating model of the scheme to ensure there is an increased focus on the case working team contacting, offering support, and progressing the applications for all applicants. Applications are now allocated to a named caseworker when the application is largely complete and approaching the stage of being ready to send to Redress Scotland for consideration. It remains the case that priority for allocation is given to applicants with a terminal illness and those over the age of 68.

The power to deal with the owners of aggressive dogs rests with local authorities and Police Scotland. The two main pieces of legislation in relation to dog control are the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (“the 1991 Act”) and the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”).

The 1991 Act makes it a criminal offence for anyone in charge of a dog to allow it to be ‘dangerously out of control’. A dog is regarded as being dangerously out of control if there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure a person or assistance dog, whether or not it actually does so. For any given incident it is for Police Scotland to determine whether a crime has been committed.

The 1991 Act also gives power to any constable or authorised local authority officer (i.e. dog warden) to seize any dog they believe to be prohibited and/or a dog which appears to them to be dangerously out of control when it is in a public place.

The 2010 Act provides for a civil regime in respect of dog owners who allow their dogs to be ‘out of control’. The 2010 Act introduced the Dog Control Notice (DCN) regime. Local authority dog wardens are able to issue a DCN on dog owners. The DCN is a civil notice which can contain a number of conditions, such as requiring a dog to be kept on a lead when in public, muzzling the dog when in public, and undertaking training to modify/control the dog’s behaviour. A breach of a DCN is a criminal offence.

Scottish Government Guidance on the 2010 Act, published in December 2020, is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/updated-guidance-control-dogs-scotland-act-2010/

Local authorities can also consider byelaw making powers to address a specific problem. For example, if there is an area where dogs are often a nuisance, the matter can be raised for consideration by the council who have powers to make appropriate bye-laws, i.e. to keep dogs on leads in particular areas.

The total amount paid to employers from the Apprenticeship Employer Grant for Modern Apprenticeships was £19,023,900 and £119,750 for Graduate Apprenticeships.