Chamber and committees

In 2020-21 academic year, the estimated number of school leavers who self-identified as deaf/having a hearing impairment was 170, which represented 0.6% of all school leavers who were enrolled in college. Of the estimated 680 school leavers recorded for Young Person’s Guarantee funded courses (which began in January 2021), 10 were school leavers who self-identify as deaf/having a hearing impairment, which represented over 1% of enrolments. The number of enrolments in 2020-21 for Kickstart placements cannot be provided due to small numbers.

Advancing equality and inclusion, and working to eliminate discrimination, is central to the Young Person’s Guarantee, ensuring that no one is left behind. Provision is supporting tailored education, training and employment opportunities for young people with protected characteristics across Scotland, including young people who identify as deaf or have a hearing impairment.

Through the Guarantee we have provided colleges with additional funding of £10m per year in 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23, to enable them to deliver shorter industry focused opportunities for young people, including skills boost and fast track courses, to meet the needs of employers and support economic recovery. We are continuing to engage with the college sectors and key partners to ensure opportunities are targeted at supporting individuals who experience barriers to participating in the labour market, including disabled young people.

It’s important to note that as disabilities and health conditions are self-declared at the point of application, these figures may not provide the total number of deaf school leavers accessing these opportunities. The figures are also estimates based on data returned from colleges.

The site is identified as a national development in the current National Planning Framework 3 (2014). The draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) (November 2021) does not propose a national development designation for Cockenzie, however its spatial strategy notes that there are existing assets and infrastructure at coastal former baseload power generation sites that can be repurposed to form the basis of new proposals. At Cockenzie it identifies ongoing work to develop the Climate Evolution Zone.

The comments received through the Parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation processes are being analysed prior to laying a revised NPF4 in the Scottish Parliament in the autumn.

Following the 2019 consultation on the future use of the Scottish Ministers’ power under section 5 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 to extend coverage of the Act, the Scottish Government is currently considering all the issues highlighted in the responses. One area of particular consideration is social care services provided on behalf of Scottish public authorities. No decisions have yet been taken. Before making any order under section 5 the Scottish Ministers have a statutory obligation to consult those to whom the order relates, and there would also be wider public consultation on any proposed order.

Starting from Autumn 2023, the Fund will be subject to annual reviews which will consider to what extent the Fund is meeting its aims, in particular, in assisting households who are unable to access self-build finance. The reviews will also consider if adjustments should be made to the Fund to ensure it continues to meet these aims.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of empty commercial properties. Data is collected on properties eligible for and claiming non-domestic rates reliefs, including reliefs or exemptions for unoccupied properties, on specific snapshot dates.

The following table shows the number of properties receiving a non-domestic rates relief or exemption from rates for unoccupied properties since 2011. Data for years before 2011, as well as for 2014 and 2017, is not available. The figures are as at the snapshot date and may therefore underestimate final numbers of recipients in a given year, and include entire local authority areas as data by parliamentary region is not held.

Data for 2022 is expected to become available in late 2022.

A number of Working Groups have been set up to support and inform the Lady Dorrian Review Governance Group on specific areas or aspects of the recommendations, share accountability and ownership of action, and encourage stakeholders and organisations to work together.

In the context of broader terms of reference to support the Governance Group, the Single Judge Trial Pilot Working Group has been set up specifically to:

• Identify the key areas for development in order to make recommendations to the Governance Group on how to progress the consideration of a pilot. This may include aspects of feasibility and potential challenges (legal and other) of a pilot;
• Identify what other information, research, evidence may be needed to assist the consideration of the issues arising from the recommendation and any pilot;
• Consider how the progress, consideration and evaluation planned in relation to recommendation 5 and ‘steps to enhancing the quality of jury involvement’ might impact on the scope of any planned pilot.
• Identify policy and operational development required to further the consideration of a pilot and key opportunities/challenges to building consensus given the division of the Review Group;
• Consider what might be included within a public consultation document to gather views on the recommendation;
• Look at any other issues relevant to its considerations;
• Consider the implications of progressing of this recommendation in light of the work on the other recommendations within the Report, bearing in mind the independence of certain recommendations identified in the Report.

The Working Group is expected to report its findings to the Lady Dorrian Review Governance Group in Autumn 2022.

Asylum is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament. The Scottish Government has raised a variety of issues impacting people seeking asylum with the UK Government, including on asylum accommodation and the use of hotels to accommodate people seeking asylum.

Scottish Ministers have repeatedly requested detail of any investigation undertaken by the Home Office following deaths in asylum accommodation in Glasgow during the Covid-19 pandemic. We have also requested an update on the status of recommendations in an internal Home Office report on asylum accommodation during the pandemic, which appeared in the media in April but has not yet been made public.

Asylum is a matter reserved to the UK Parliament. The Scottish Government does not hold data on deaths of people seeking asylum in any type of accommodation.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days .

The Scottish Government continues to provide financial support to protect the bus network and passengers. On 22 June I announced that an additional £25.7 million will be provided to extend the Network Support Grant Plus until October of this year. In return, operators are subjected to controls on the level of fare increases, controls on profits, Fair Work requirements and an expectation as to service levels run. I will be convening a group of Scotland’s bus operators to discuss how we can support network recovery, and place the sector on a sustainable financial footing for the long term. I would encourage operators and local authorities to work together to ensure that connectivity is protected as passenger demand adjusts from the effects of the pandemic.