Chamber and committees

As set out in the Heat in Buildings Strategy, £33 billion is the estimated total gross capital cost of converting our entire building stock, domestic and non-domestic, to zero emissions heat. This estimate is purely indicative and based on a single technology pathway, with cost assumptions derived from the best available evidence including research published by the Climate Change Committee. The Scottish Government continues to keep cost estimates under review, incorporating new evidence as it becomes available.

The Scottish Government recognises the great value of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, and the impact which this celebrated international recognition can offer to both individual sites, as well as to the wider national natural, culture and heritage sectors. Through our sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland, advice and guidance is delivered to support many local organisations and groups across the country, to develop and deliver appropriate maintenance plans and sustainable business models for a wide variety of sites.

When the UK Government decided to review and invite new applications to the UK’s World Heritage tentative list, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Constitution and External Affairs wrote to Nigel Huddleston MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to ensure that there would be representation from all UK nations on the independent panel of heritage experts who will be reviewing the applications.

Expressions of interest were due to be submitted by 6 May, with a full application form due by 15 July so that the expert panel can fully assess each application for suitability for inclusion.

Scottish Ministers and officials from the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland have been engaging closely with stakeholders in the hospitality, cultural and events sectors on the impact of the reduced Scotrail timetable. This has included discussions through the Events Industry Advisory Group. Officials have continued this engagement on the impact of the industrial action.

Public Health Scotland produce an Annual Statistical Report on Acute Hospital Activity and NHS Beds Information , including data on hospital stays with a diagnosis of sepsis by NHS Board and local authority area at tables 5 and 6.

PHS also monitor sepsis prevalence by maintaining a sepsis clinical data profile within their performance management and benchmarking database, based on patients receiving care in general acute specialties. This data is for use by NHS Boards, local authorities, health and social care partnerships and the Scottish Government. It is updated quarterly – the most recent profile update was made in May 2022 and includes data up to December 2021.

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP), led by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, has been supporting clinical teams to improve their recognition of sepsis and to deliver six simple interventions (the “sepsis six”) which, when delivered within an hour of recognition, will improve survival for these patients. This response is kept under constant review and updated in line with new guidance as it emerges, such as the recent Academy of Medical Royal Colleges guidance on Sepsis management.

Building on this successful work, SPSP launched a revised deteriorating patient driver diagram and change package in September 2021. Sepsis forms a core part of this change package. The SIGN Deteriorating Patient Guideline, currently under review, will also include an updated section on sepsis.

Amongst other matters, the bail provisions in the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill provide for a new bail test to be used by the court when assessing whether to grant bail to an accused person or remand them in custody. As the decision in any given case will continue to remain with the court and in light of the various uncertain factors that influence the court's decision-making e.g. levels of crime, types of crime committed, previous history of those accused of offences etc, it is not possible to provide an analysis of how the proportion of people charged with a crime who are granted bail might change as a result of the Bill's provisions.

The financial memorandum for the Bill outlines the estimated impact of all the provisions contained in the Bill. In particular, pages 2 to 14 provides details of the Scottish Government's estimates as to the financial impact of the bail provisions in the Bill.

The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland statistics publication for 2021-22 will be published on 24 August 2022.

The answer to question S6O-01292 does not directly reference any data on heat pumps. However, the answer to the supplementary question does:

"the experience that we have and the comparable data that we have from countries that already have a long history of using heat pumps and heat networks show that they will be effective in Scotland"

The research being referenced here was commissioned by the Scottish Government through ClimateXChange and was published under the title “Heat pump use in Scotland - an evidence review” in October 2021. The paper can be found here:

https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/research/projects/heat-pump-use-in-scotland-an-evidence-review/

I recognise the potential impact of industrial action by the RMT and ASLEF unions on the culture sector at a time when it has been seeking to recover from the Covid19 pandemic.

Officials are continuing to monitor the situation closely, including through engagement with organisations representing hospitality, cultural and events stakeholders.

There is positive progress being made on pay negotiations with ASLEF in Scotland, and I am hopeful that additional services will be added in the near future.

The following table shows the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) teachers with STEM subjects listed as their main subject as reported during the 2021 census of teachers in publicly funded schools in Scotland.

The figures exclude head teachers and deputy head teachers.

We expect all Councils to take appropriate action in response to any complaint from an employee through their policies and practices.

Councils are independent corporate bodies responsible for the management of their employees and the Scottish Government has no power to investigate reports or allegations of this nature.