Chamber and committees

In general, the Scottish Government provides funding to all Health and Social Care Partnerships to commission and fund Residential Rehabilitation (RR) placements on the advice of their Alcohol and Drug Partnership. To support local commissioning, the Scottish Government also fund Scotland Excel for the National Commissioning Framework which aims to standardise commissioning for RR placements.

The Scottish Government also directly fund the following residential rehabilitation providers through the Residential Rehabilitation Rapid Capacity Programme (RRRCP) – 4 of these are new projects and 4 are expansions to existing services, which will provide 140 more bed by 2025-26.

The Scottish Government fully recognises the importance of young people learning languages, including languages spoken in our communities. The introduction of new qualifications is a matter for the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA). To establish a new National Qualification, the SQA would first consider if certain criteria have been met. These include evidence of demand and sufficient availability of qualified and registered subject specialist teachers to teach any new qualification.

I thank the Member for their question. The SPCB will consider this suggestion in due course.

The Scottish Government holds or has access to multiple datasets relating to land use. However, these datasets are not exhaustive and are not held in a compatible format that would enable us to provide the information requested.

In line with Tobacco and Vaping Framework, work is underway to improve the technical infrastructure of the existing register of tobacco and nicotine vapour product retailers, which has been welcomed by stakeholders. We plan to continue to review the register going forward.

At this time the Scottish Government’s view is that introducing a licensing scheme would put undue pressure on local authorities and the retail sector.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, if passed, will expand Scotland’s existing registration scheme to include retailers selling herbal smoking products and nicotine products.

The purchase of vaping products is age restricted. It is illegal to sell to, or buy them for, anyone under the age of 18. In Scotland, local authorities already have powers to issue fixed penalty notices to retailers and individuals who commit offences related to the age of sale.

We work with the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland on enforcement of existing legislation, including around underage sales and illicit tobacco and vapes. We also work with HMRC and Border Force who undertake intelligence led action to tackle the import of illicit tobacco and vaping products at the border.

Scottish Government has estimated that for the directly employed public sector workforce in NHS boards, additional costs to NHS boards from the changes to employer National Insurance Contributions may be £191 million in the financial year 2025-26. The information requested for the costs for each NHS board is not held centrally. However the combined estimate for all NHS boards is published and available online at this web address: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-insurance-contributions-public-sector-costs/

Since 2016, we have invested funding of over £4.8 million in work to tackle sectarianism as we believe that the direct involvement of communities is central to delivering positive outcomes which make our communities safer. This funding supports the delivery of education projects in schools, colleges, prisons, communities and workplaces, providing learning opportunities for thousands of children and adults across Scotland.

Details of Tackling Sectarianism project funding and local authorities worked in from 2016 to 2024 can be found in the following tables:

We can currently only provide information on mitigations or remediation works that we have funded for entries to the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Developers or other organisations may have carried out such works on other buildings without informing us.

We have funded work to remediate the external wall cladding system of one pilot entry. We have recently commissioned a Single Building Assessment to confirm that all works have been identified and completed.

Works to mitigate or remediate risks have also started for another five pilot entries. In this context, ‘work’ refers to any action taken to address known cladding related risks. This includes what are described as ‘Urgent Interim Measures’.

We have also commissioned Single Building Assessments for 13 pilot entries. This is made up of 12 recently commissioned following an Invitation To Tender (including the one noted above), and another that has now reached the reporting stage. We are fully funding these assessments at no cost to homeowners or residents.

We will work with victim support organisations and justice partners to take forward reforms to the Victim Notification Scheme to make use of resources and expertise that already exist, including within Scottish Government. The current work of the Victim Centred Approach workstream of the Victims Taskforce may also be relevant in terms of the model for victim support.

This will include exploring costs in the context of ensuring the best possible support and information for victims to be aware of the VNS, understand how it operates in their case, and to receive ongoing support if necessary. Much of this is likely to be possible through more effective joint working and the role of third sector support providers in providing practical and emotional support and engaging directly with victims will be recognised.

The management of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), including assessing its condition and any decision for removal, is a matter for building owners. Information on buildings identified as having RAAC, including its management, can be found in the Scottish Government report available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/raac-in-the-public-sector/ and also from individual building owners and authorities. The Scottish Government has not provided specific funding for RAAC remediation as it is primarily a building maintenance issue.