Chamber and committees

Following a fair and open recruitment exercise Scottish Ministers have appointed a Chair and three non-executive Directors to the Board of David MacBrayne Limited.

Analysis of the recruitment exercise confirms that a total of 52 applications were received, and 6 of those were from Island residents.

A total of 6 applications were received for the position of Chair of the Board, direct links to Scottish islands cannot be broken down for this appointment.

While the Scottish Government and our agencies sometimes make use of aerial imagery services, excluding this, spend on “Photography Service Providers” – the relevant category in our accounting system - per year since 2016 is shown in the following table:

Public Health Scotland publish a monthly census of delayed discharges in Scotland, broken down by Health Board and Local Authority, which allows for public scrutiny of progress in every partnership.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with the Chief Executive of NHS Lothian, the Chief Executive of City of Edinburgh Council and the Chief Officer of Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership to monitor progress in tackling delayed discharges in Edinburgh.

We know meaningful, fair work can provide important benefits for people’s mental health and wellbeing. Creating workplaces which support and promote good mental health benefits individuals and employers.

Our ‘Mental Health – Transition and Recovery Plan’ outlines our response to the mental health impacts of COVID-19 and our commitments to support mental health and wellbeing. The plan includes key employment actions to promote and support mental wellbeing at work.

A Short Life Working Group, consisting of employer groups, trade unions and mental health organisations has been established to help take forward key employment actions. The group is working collaboratively to identify the issues and challenges employers are facing in supporting mental health in a range of different workplaces, including office and home-based environments. The outcomes of this will inform the next steps to be undertaken to ensure employers have the support they need to create mentally healthy workplaces, free of stigma and discrimination across all sectors.

The group has a dedicated sub-group reviewing current national guidance on safer workplaces, including guidance on home working to ensure it reflects the importance of looking after employees’ mental wellbeing while working from home, and signposting to appropriate sources of advice and support.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05073 on 7 January 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05073 on 7 January 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 General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), as the Independent Professional and Regulatory Body for teachers in Scotland, has a published Fitness to Teach Threshold Policy which sets out what GTCS will investigate under its fitness to teach procedures. It is available on the GTCS website and members of the public are encouraged to read it prior to submitting a referral to GTCS regarding a registered teacher.

The Scottish Government is aware of these issues and continues to have regular dialogue with GTCS on these matters.

Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership has been experiencing a period of significant hospital flow pressures due to a combination of sustained front door attendances and workforce issues and a drop in packages of care at home capacity, which has contributed to the increase in delayed discharges in Edinburgh. These are in addition to long standing recruitment and retention of Social Care staff within Edinburgh, and the availability of staffed care home places.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05073 on 7 January 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 .

Our assessment is that the costs of bringing stores up to the required standard may range from a minimal amount for small improvements to major investment to improve a store which is not fit for purpose. Due to the individuality and scale of any potential works required at each site, an assessment of every store in Scotland would be needed to identify accurate costs of bringing slurry stores up to the required regulatory standard. To take account of these differences in scale of potential works, we have built in reasonable timescales by which storage facilities must be brought up to standard.

Stores built since 1991 are already required to meet a set of regulatory standards and would be expected to continue to be maintained in compliance with these standards. Those farming in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones already have a regulatory obligation to meet both post 1991 build standards and a 22 week minimum quantity requirement. The onus is on the operator to maintain these essential business assets to the required standard.