Chamber and committees

The following organisations have received funding from the victim surcharge fund since 31 March 2024

Remote and rural communities can be hugely impacted by wildfire incidents, which can cause significant environmental and economic damage. SFRS works closely with a number of key partners to establish a common understanding of the risk, prevention measures, and response procedures to wildfire in Scotland. The Service works closely with land managers, communities and other safety partners to prevent these incidents ever occurring.

SFRS will always maintain fire cover and ensure it continues to attend at every emergency. As a national service, SFRS also has the capacity and flexibility to operate as a network. SFRS has strategically placed wildfire resource capability within the following tiered locations, and these resources can be deployed as a network to support rural areas where required.

Tier 2 Stations

New Galloway, Langholm, Fort Augustus, Kingussie, Aviemore, Kyle of Lochalsh, Fortrose, Gairloch, Dunbeath, Insch, Alyth, Callander, Coldstream, Lauder, Lybster, Balintore, Cromarty, Carrbridge, Newtonmore and Spean Bridge.

Tier 2 Wildfire Stations with 4x4 Support Vans

Alford, Oban, Galashiels and Dornoch.

Tier 3 Stations

Helensburgh, Kilwinning, Ballater, Elgin, Invergordon, Ullapool, Dunblane, Pitlochry, Stornoway and Musselburgh.

The Scottish Government recognises the positive contribution older people make to their communities. We aim to enable better access to services for older people as and when they need them, and to ensure people are financially secure and supported as they age.

Our 2021 Population Strategy sets out our ambition that as Scotland’s population lives longer - which is to be celebrated - that people are healthy and active, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of our public services.

An example is NHS Education for Scotland's National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, launched in October 2023. The Centre is working with Health Boards and Health and Social Care partnerships to drive improvements in sustainability and the capability of rural and island primary and community care services, aligned to the specific needs of communities.

As set out in the information disclosed by Scottish Government on 26 October 2024, several Scottish Government officials had permissions to access the mailbox used by Mr Hamilton’s secretariat. The reason they were granted access was for business continuity purposes, for example if there were an urgent business requirement in the case of unexpected absence. The individuals who had permissions to access the mailbox were permanent civil servants. To comply with data protection principles the names of those civil servants are not disclosed.

We have not conducted a formal cross SG review. As explained in the answer to S6W-33501 and S6W-33502 on 28 January 2025. Decisions on memberships are made by Directorates, Division and Departments following the guidance outlined in S6W-33505 on 28 January 2025 which states it must be directly relevant to the person’s current job and of relevant value to the SG. Heads of Profession will also oversee and advise on memberships based on industry and practice requirements, and their knowledge of each membership’s efficacy and value for money.

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.

Since 31 March 2024 three organisations have been unsuccessful in applying for support from the Victim Surcharge Fund.

The Scottish Government is currently conducting a programme of work to reform and modernise compulsory purchase to make the system simpler, more streamlined and fairer for all parties. The reforms are intended to support the delivery of all types of project, not just those related to renewable energy infrastructure, net zero and climate adaptation. Our aim is to move towards a system that is:

• Equitable: compensating claimants fairly and timeously;
• Effective: supporting efficient decision-making, whilst ensuring procedural fairness, openness, and transparency; and
• Easy to understand, providing all parties with certainty and clarity about how the process works and their rights, roles and responsibilities within it.

In March 2024, we appointed an expert advisory group to help support the reform process. We are working with the advisory group and engaging with a range of stakeholders to develop reform proposals ahead of a public consultation later this year. A Compulsory Purchase Reform Progress Report was published in December 2024, which recaps progress to date, summarises emerging proposals and sets out next steps:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/compulsory-purchase-reform-scotland-progress-report-december-2024/.

More information on the Compulsory Purchase Reform Programme, can be found at https://blogs.gov.scot/planning-architecture/2024/07/09/compulsory-purchase-reform/.

Scottish Government costs directly associated with the implementation of compulsory purchase orders cannot be disaggregated within the cost information that we hold.

UCAS data can be used to look at the number of Scottish and English domiciled applicants securing university places across the UK, typically at full-time undergraduate level. Data is available in background tables back to 2006: https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-end-cycle-data-resources-2024

Information on the number of Scottish domiciled students enrolling at English Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), and English domiciled students enrolling at Scottish HEI courses, covering all levels, years and modes of study is published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Data, covering 2014-15 to 2022-23, is available on HESA’s website:

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-59

Earlier university data can be found in the publication archive under the “Students in Higher Education” section: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/publications. Between 2009-10 and 2013-14 information can be found in table 7g. Between 1999-2000 and 2008-09 information can be found in tables 5a and 5b. HESA data prior to academic year 2013-14 counted all enrolments at the Open University, regardless of domicile, as at English Providers, so data is not fully comparable.

Data for Scottish domiciled students enrolling at English colleges is not held by the Scottish Government. Data for English domiciled students enrolling at Scottish colleges is collected by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), and provided below:

English domiciled students (headcount) at Scottish colleges by academic year

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-32827 on 16 January 2025. 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