I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08300 on 12 May 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 and COSLA agreed a joint funding model in 2018 to support the training of new Educational Psychologists. This model was agreed and developed by the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists (NSSGEP), which the Scottish Government chairs. This group includes representation from professional bodies, ADES, COSLA and EIS.

The model consists of two stages. Stage one is a 2-year MSc in Educational Psychology at Dundee University. Tuition fees are fully funded and students are entitled to receive a living-costs grant of £15,000 from SAAS.

In Stage two, trainees are employed by a local authority for a year, during which they complete the Qualification in Educational Psychology (QEP). During this year, their living-costs grant is paid in the form of a salary. In addition, their membership fees for the British Psychological Society (BPS) are paid.

As local authority employees, trainees are liable for tax and national insurance, but also benefit from employment rights including paid annual leave and the option to join a pension scheme. The Scottish Government agreed with the NSSGEP that employment in a local authority offers the experience and support needed for trainees in their third year.

The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 requires licensing authorities to consult with such persons as they consider appropriate in preparing and reviewing their temporary exemptions policy statement. This is a discretionary power to exempt premises from the requirement to have a short-term let licence for a specific period.

The Licensing Order also provides licensing authorities with powers to include additional licence conditions. We expect licensing authorities to include additional conditions on the licence documentation provided to the host or operator; and to publish their additional conditions on their website, together with the criteria and circumstances they will use to determine when these apply.

While there is no requirement to consult on additional licence conditions, licensing authorities may choose to do so as they consider appropriate. It is our understanding that a number of licensing authorities are planning to consult, or have already undertaken consultation, about their policies for short-term let licensing.

Within our pilot model, applicants are required to obtain up to three quotes to participate in the Single Building Assessment programme.

We do not have similar figures in Scotland because we do not hold data on whether a care home has unionised staff. There are no plans to collect that information, however in May 2021, the Care Inspectorate published a report analysing different factors affecting Covid-19 care home deaths (e.g. care home size, care home provider).

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08300 on 12 May 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 is proud to be increasing our International Development Fund by 50%, over this parliament, at a time when the UKG has reduced its bilateral programmes for the most vulnerable communities in the world by 53%.

Our first uplift towards that commitment to a £15 million per annum International Development Fund was introduced from April 2022, an additional £1.5 million this financial year, as announced in the Scottish Government Budget.

We have agreed a 1 year extension period with the majority of our cohort of competitively awarded Zambia and Rwanda projects (2017-22), to now take them also to a new finish date of March 2023. We are also discussing with our partner countries additional funding to support their sustainable recovery from COVID, including on areas like vaccine equity.

We are also currently considering our programmes in the light of the findings of our Review into our approach to International Development, working towards new Programmes commencing in 2023. We will provide further details to the Parliament in due course.

It is for Police Scotland to decide how best to engage with non-governmental organisations in the context of an international deployment. I can, however, confirm that Police Scotland discussed this particular deployment with a Scottish-based NGO which has a strong track-record in Colombia. Police Scotland has also held discussions with representatives from indigenous communities in the country. This approach has helped to ensure that officers are aware of human rights concerns and that there is transparency in relation to the purpose of the deployment. Doing so reflects a human rights-based approach and is consistent also with Police Scotland’s Code of Ethics.

We have had no discussions with Circularity Scotland Ltd on this subject.

The Assurance of Action Plan report which followed the Gateway Review of 2021 recommended a further Gateway Review be conducted in approximately March 2022. This review is being carried out this month.