Chamber and committees

Geographical indications are a reserved matter. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the competent authority for the geographical indication schemes in the UK.

To ensure compliance with product specifications for protected geographical indications, regular inspections are carried out by control bodies, such as local authorities or UKAS-accredited organisations.

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

The Scottish Government uses robust contract management procedures in relation to the procurement and compliance of licensing agreements for software subscriptions, procuring through national public procurement frameworks to ensure transparency, quality and value for money. Criteria will vary depending on business needs, costs and value.

The Scottish Government has a centrally-managed contract with Office Papers to supply newspapers on an ad-hoc rather than subscription basis. The guidance on spending on newspapers allows for current awareness; to help identify and monitor local and regional issues and to support policy and operational delivery.

For software subscriptions, the Scottish Government uses robust contract management procedures in relation to the procurement of licensing for software subscriptions, procuring through national public sector procurement frameworks to ensure transparency, quality and value for money. Criteria will vary depending on business needs, costs and value.

In relation to the Scottish Government's policies or guidance in relation to spend on professional membership subscriptions, we have published guidance. The key points are that any professional membership the Scottish Government supports must be a) directly relevant to the person's current job, b) of relevant value to the SG, and c) further the person's continuous professional development. The funds and decisions on professional memberships are held by local senior managers, not centrally.

The Scottish Government remain committed to ensuring the Arran ferry service is fit for the future, and to finding a solution at Ardrossan that can be delivered in a cost effective way, reflecting the needs of all of the partners involved. We understand and share frustrations at the pace of progress on the Ardrossan Harbour redevelopment.

Ongoing discussions and negotiations around the delivery of improvements at the port have been complex but the business case review is substantially complete, and project partners continue to work on this as quickly as practicable. The next meeting of the Ardrossan Task Force will be convened soon after the business case and cost review exercise has been submitted to Ministers for a decision.

Professional memberships are funded by each Directorate - i.e. the home location of the job and the person.

Our financial systems do not hold central or aggregable data on how much each Directorate or Division spends on memberships.

In most cases this would be an element of their local learning and development budgets and not a distinct, identifiable budget component. The information requested could therefore only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

From April 2019 to March 2024, the total number of hospital admissions in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary hospital for pedestrians injured in collisions involving pedal cycles, is 9.

During the same period, less than 5 hospital admissions were recorded for pedestrians injured in collisions involving two- or three-wheeled motor vehicles. The source is SMR01, Public Health Scotland, extract: January 2025.

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

The Scottish Government is currently awaiting the UK Government’s proposals on introducing new child criminal exploitation (CCE) offence as part of the upcoming Crime and Policing Bill in England and Wales.

My officials are in regular contact with Home Office officials on the progress of these plans, and when the finalised proposals are made available, we will be in the position to assess the potential to extend this measure to Scotland through the Legislative Consent process.

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