Thursday 28 September 2017 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

Transcription

1 Thursday 28 September 2017 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT Economy Joan McAlpine (South Scotland) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that the European Investment Bank has effectively imposed a moratorium on new long-term loans to the UK due to the triggering of article 50, and what information it has been given on this issue. Holding answer issued: 26 September 2017 (S5W-10983) Michael Russell: The European Investment Bank (EIB) has been an important source of funding for major non-profit distributing projects within Scotland and, since 2006, has provided more than 3 billion for direct investment, with additional investment from UK-wide programmes. Brexit raises significant questions about the future prospects for EIB investment in projects in the UK, and presents a significant future risk for Scotland in terms of access to financing required for infrastructure projects. The Scottish Government has raised this with the UK Government and sought urgent assurances that the commitment remains that access to EIB funding should not be affected whilst the UK is still a member of the EU. Richard Lochhead (Moray) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the impact on rural communities of the recent closures of high street bank branches; what representations it has made to the UK Government on this matter, and what response it has received. (S5W-11025) Paul Wheelhouse: The regulation of banking remains reserved to Westminster and the Scottish Government cannot directly compel banks to maintain a branch presence where they have taken the commercial decision to close. Banks who are closing branches in and across Scotland, must take into account the needs of all customers, including those in rural communities and vulnerable groups who may not be able to access digitally delivered services and who continue to rely on physical branches and face to face provision of banking services. The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work and I raised the issue of branch closures with representatives of Scotland's financial sector at the last meeting of the Financial Services Advisory Board on 10 May I was pleased to see a recognition from those present that consideration of the impact of closures was now necessary and we will continue to engage in that discussion with the banking sector and UK Ministers, as requested. Mike Rumbles (North East Scotland) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many companies that employ people in Scotland are headquartered in the rest of the EU. Holding answer issued: 22 September 2017 (S5W-11132) Paul Wheelhouse: Statistics on the number of businesses, operating in Scotland, by country of ownership are produced by the Scottish Government within the Businesses in Scotland 2016 publication, available at: The latest figures show that, as at March 2016, there were 1,000 EU (excluding UK) owned companies operating in Scotland - these companies employed 127,110 people in Scotland. Note that the number of companies is rounded to the nearest five and employment is rounded to the nearest ten.

2 Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent per capita on Employability Fund placements in each of the last five years, and what the uptake has been. (S5W-11212) Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government allocates funding to Skills Development Scotland on an annual basis for delivery of training programmes and other activities, including the Employability Fund. In the Budget Bill Skills Development Scotland was allocated Grant in Aid of million which will be used to meet its commitments in including the delivery of 9,000 Employability Fund training places. It is difficult to aggregate a total overall breakdown of spend on Employability Fund since its introduction as liabilities are carried forward from one year to the next and that spend has been split across both Skills Development Scotland and the college sector Since the launch of the Employability Fund in 2013 until the end of the last contracted year, March 2017, there have been over 63,000 training places delivered. Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement in its Programme for Government, what the timescale is for Benny Higgins to develop the remit, governance, operating model and approach to managing financial risk for the Scottish National Investment Bank. Holding answer issued: 27 September 2017 (S5W-11234) Keith Brown: We expect the work led by Benny Higgins to develop detailed proposals for the remit, capitalisation, governance, operating model, regulatory timeline and financial risk management to report by February The Terms of Reference for this work have been published and can be found at Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, in each year since it was established, how many people have sought help from the Transition Training Fund; how many have been helped, broken down by sector, and what its budget has been. Holding answer issued: 27 September 2017 (S5W-11239) Paul Wheelhouse: Skills Development Scotland (SDS), who administer the Transition Training Fund (TTF) on behalf of Scottish Government, provide up to date information on the funds performance on a weekly basis. This can be accessed from the following website SDS have advised that up until the 10 th September 2017, there have been 6,003 applications since the TTF was announced. This is represented across the financial years below: ,393 applications to the fund, resulting in 1,822 individuals supported ,610 applications to the fund, resulting in 675 individuals supported SDS have advised that no information is gathered or held on applications to the fund, by sector. However, below is a breakdown of the number of applicants approved by sector, by year: % ( /18 (as at % ( as at Total Total Categories 17 17) 10/09/17) 10/09/17) % Transportation Renewables / Low Carbon / Engineering Health & Safety Management & Business Occupations Skilled Trades Education / Care / Health Services Office & Administrative

3 Oil & Gas Other Source: SDS The TTF is a 12 million fund, operating for a three year period. The total in Year 1 for , was 5.1 million. The current expenditure for Year 2, calculated from 1 April 2017 until end July 2017 and includes both the actual and committed expenditure, is million. Anticipated spend for is budgeted at 5 million, with a further 2 million in Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government (a) on what dates and (b) where it has met Benny Higgins. (S5W-11282) Keith Brown: Scottish Government officials have engaged in discussions with Benny Higgins regarding a Scottish National Investment Bank via telephone calls on 22 August, 29 August, 8 September and held face to face meetings on 1 September and 22 September, both in Edinburgh. I met with Benny Higgins on 21 September The First Minister met with Mr Higgins on 27 September to discuss implementation planning to create a Scottish National Investment Bank. Both these meetings took place at the Scottish Parliament. Dean Lockhart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how much inward investment has been recorded by Scottish Development International in each of the last four years, broken down by sector. (S5W-11302) Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W on 25 August All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament s website, the search facility for which can be found at: Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote the (a) Crofters Agricultural Grant Scheme and (b) Small Farmers Grant Scheme to potential applicants. (S5W-11318) Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government Rural Payments and Services website offers extensive guidance on both these schemes. Information on both of these schemes can be found on the Scottish Rural Network website. Scotland s Farm Advisory Service provides advice on both these schemes Up to date information on all rural matters can also be found on the Scottish Government RPID Twitter and Facebook accounts. Allied to this, both schemes are discussed at the Crofting Stakeholder Forum, Cross Party Group on Crofting, and during external engagements involving crofting officials. Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made into the effects of reducing the budget for the (a) Crofters Agricultural Grant Scheme and (b) Small Farmers Grant Scheme. (S5W-11320) Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has taken a strategic approach to maintaining and protecting the SRDP budget, ensuring that we maximise the EU funds. The Scottish Government had no choice but to makes changes to the budget due to the expectation that Scotland s

4 overall discretionary budget, as set by the UK Government, is expected to be 9.2% lower in real terms in , compared to The Scottish Government remains committed to building growth all across rural Scotland. The annual indicative budget for the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme has not been reduced, and remains at 2m per annum. The reduced Programme budget is due to the lower than forecasted uptake from earlier years in the programme. Similarly, the Small Farms Grant Scheme budget remains at a level which will continue to meet the demands of the scheme. We will continue to monitor scheme performance and demand, along with the impact of future Spending Reviews, to ensure that the SRDP continues to deliver. Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government by how much the budget for the (a) Crofters Agricultural Grant Scheme and (b) Small Farmers Grant Scheme has been reduced for the next six years, and for what reason it chose to do so. (S5W-11324) Fergus Ewing: The published budget for the Scottish Government covers There are currently no budgets beyond this. The changes to the SRDP budgets up to 2020 are indicative forecasts to ensure that the EU funds are maximised under the Scottish Rural Development Programme. The Scottish Government had no choice but to amend the SRDP budgets, due to the expectation that Scotland s overall discretionary budget is expected to be 9.2% lower in real terms in compared to This has been compounded by the failure of the UK Government to transfer 160 million of CAP convergence funding which rightly belongs to Scottish farmers and crofters, despite repeated requests to do so, and cross party support from the Scottish Parliament. The annual indicative budget for the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme has not been reduced, and the indicative budget for the Small Farms Grant Scheme remains at a level which will meet the demands of the scheme. Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how many applications each year to the (a) Crofters Agricultural Grant Scheme and (b) Small Farmers Grant Scheme (i) have been approved, (ii) have been rejected and (iii) remain unprocessed, and how many rejections were appealed, broken down by the number of appeals that were upheld. Fergus Ewing: Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme: applications 228 approved 24 rejected applications 614 approved 48 rejected (to 31 August) 559 applications 461 approved 56 rejected 102 being processed. (S5W-11327) The reason that the numbers approved, rejected and being processed in 2017 exceed the number received, is due to a number of the approved applications having been originally received in Small Farms Grant Scheme: applications 3 approved - 9 rejected applications 19 approved - 1 rejected (to 31 August) 13 applications 7 approved 4 rejected. In respect of both schemes, applications are also returned, seeking additional information, and withdrawn by the applicant. There is no right of appeal for rejected applications as applicants are free to submit applications at any time.

5 Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what procedures are in place to alert the public to the potential dangers associated with consuming salmon or trout that have escaped from fish farms, and what plans it has to update the section on the website, aquaculture.scotland.gov.uk, which provides information about such escapes, regarding the safety of eating such fish, including whether they have been subject to pesticide or other chemical or pharmaceutical treatments. (S5W-11350) Fergus Ewing: The risk to the public of consuming treated escaped farmed salmon is negligible although caution should always be applied when there is any uncertainty around the provenance. Guidance on the handling of any farmed caught salmon by anglers is available at John Scott (Ayr) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to eradicate bovine viral diarrhoea. (S5W-11383) Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government provides legislative backing and the ScotEID BVD database in support of an industry-led scheme to eradicate bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) from cattle in Scotland. Measures are currently in place to determine the BVD status of all cattle breeding herds in Scotland and to restrict the movement of animals where there is evidence of disease. The BVD advisory group has indicated that they wish to increase the BVD control measures and to this end, Scottish Government are conducting a public consultation on which measures should be introduced or altered in the next phase of the eradication scheme. John Scott (Ayr) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government when it expects bovine viral diarrhoea will be eliminated from Scotland. (S5W-11384) Fergus Ewing: It is not possible to accurately predict how long Scotland s industry-led bovine viral diarrhoea eradication (BVD) eradication scheme will take due to the nature of BVD spread, the variation of farming practices across Scotland and the changeable market forces in play for those farmers sourcing replacement animals outside Scotland. Scottish Government will continue to work with industry, taking these factors into account to eliminate BVD from Scotland as soon as possible. Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government when its report into community land purchases will be published. (S5W-11425) Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is preparing the first official statistical publication 'Estimate of Community Owned Land in Scotland, 2017'. We expect to publish these first official estimates to be published on 8 December Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many community land purchases have been made in each local authority area; when each purchase took place and what the acreage was of each. (S5W-11426) Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is preparing a full statistical release which will include answers to these questions which we expect to publish on 8 December The provisional estimate for Scotland is 563,000 acres, but the data are undergoing quality assurance before the final publication will be made including local authority and Scottish Parliamentary Constituency breakdowns.

6 Dean Lockhart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement in its Programme for Government, on what date a full implementation plan for a Scottish National Investment Bank will be published. (S5W-11451) Keith Brown: Benny Higgins Chief Executive Officer of Tesco Bank, has agreed to lead the development of the Implementation Plan for a Scottish National Investment Bank. This work is due to be completed in February The Terms of Reference for the Implementation Plan can be found via the following link: Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of what the financial impact could be on consumers of the proposed deposit return scheme for drinks bottles and containers. (S5W-11484) Roseanna Cunningham: The financial impact on consumers will be dependent on the exact design of the scheme brought forward. This will be considered as part of the design work, which will incorporate equality and other impact assessments. Graeme Dey (Angus South) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government when (a) the Scottish Land Commission will lay its Strategic Plan and Programme of Work and (b) it will lay a Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement and related consultation report in the Parliament, as required by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act (S5W-11565) Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Land Commission is charged with bringing increased focus and energy to land reform in Scotland. Its creation in April this year, through the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, underlines the Scottish Government s commitment to on-going and long term land reform, to help ensure that everyone benefits from Scotland s land. The Scottish Land Commission laid its first Strategic Plan (SG/2017/145) and Programme of Work (SG/2017/164) in the Scottish Parliament this morning, 28 September The Scottish Government has also laid the Scottish Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement (SG/2017/162) and related consultation report (SG/2017/163) in Parliament this morning. This is the first such Statement in the world, and we will encourage everyone who owns, manages and uses land to adopt its principles. Education, Communities and Justice Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what percentage of summary criminal cases were dealt with from caution and charge to verdict within the 26 week target in each month since April 2015, broken down by sheriff court. (S5W-11012) Michael Matheson: The available information is contained in the table titled 'Percentage of summary criminal cases concluded within 26 weeks (caution and charge to verdict) - All Sheriff courts Apr 15 Aug 17' which is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 59063). Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent per capita on foundation apprenticeships in , and what the uptake was. (S5W-11213)

7 Jamie Hepburn: The average cost per capita for Foundation Apprenticeships (FA) is 3,424 per person over the duration which is made up FA Framework delivery costs and participant travel costs associated with the delivery of the Foundation Apprenticeship (FA) programme. As with Modern Apprenticeships, the total cost of delivery per person will vary by Foundation Apprenticeship framework. For example, 2,296 over 2 years for Accounting or Financial Services to 5,103 over 2 years for Engineering. The individual FA framework delivery costs are published on Public Contracts Scotland and provide the basis for contracting with all lead providers. For FA delivery contracts there were a total of 354 starts registered by end of September Tom Mason (North East Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what strategy it has in place to deal with knife crime, and what the impact on this would be of extending the presumption against criminal sentences of up to 12 months. (S5W-11263) Michael Matheson: Scotland's approach to tackling knife crime is based on a twin approach of education and diversion activity and robust enforcement measures. Along with the Scottish Government's on-going investment in the 'No Knives Better Lives' campaign, the Scottish Government recently increased the maximum custodial penalties for carrying a knife from 4 years to 5 years and is committed to working with the UK Government in seeking to address issues relating to the online sale of knives. It is not expected that there will be any impact on tackling knife crime by extending the presumption against short sentences up to 12 months. Discretion will remain with the court to determine in any given case whether a custodial sentence is merited including for offences involving knives. Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the salaries of university principals and vice-chancellors, in light of the recent announcement by the UK Government in relation to universities in England. (S5W-11264) Shirley-Anne Somerville: As autonomous institutions, the salary levels of Principals and Vice- Chancellors are a matter for each university's governing body and remuneration committee. However, the Scottish Government is clear that we expect universities to exercise restraint in setting senior pay. The Scottish Government's position is that senior pay packages should be in step with the salary, terms and conditions offered to other university staff. Institutions must ensure the highest standards of transparency in setting pay awards. We welcome further work that the higher education sector is progressing to increase transparency and accountability in remuneration committee decision-making. All higher education institutions in Scotland publish the details of senior remuneration on an annual basis. Every institution reports on the number of staff paid in the higher salary brackets. Tom Mason (North East Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of people convicted of assault with the use of a knife received a custodial sentence of up to 12 months in each of the last three years. Michael Matheson: The information is provided in the following table. (S5W-11268) People receiving a custodial sentence of up to 12 for common assault where a knife modifier is recorded, to Common assault 17 people 5.3% of all people convicted Source: SG Criminal Proceedings Database 26 people 7.8% of all people convicted 42 people 12.4% of all people convicted

8 Michelle Ballantyne (South Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in partnership with national higher education institutes, beyond the allocation of funding to the Flexible Workforce Development Fund, to encourage up-skilling and re-skilling of the workforce to prepare people for a changing workplace. (S5W-11330) Jamie Hepburn: Our education system, and employability and training opportunities such as Individual Training Accounts, Modern Apprenticeships and the Scottish Union Learning Fund, aim to ensure that all of our people are equipped with the skills to contribute to our economy. We invest 1.6 billion a year in Scotland's further and higher education sectors to support skills development. The Scottish Funding Council and Skills Development Scotland along with Scottish Enterprise develop Regional Skills Assessments to provide a single, agreed evidence base on which to base future investment in skills. As part of the Scottish Government commitment to expand Scottish Apprenticeships, we are increasing the number of Graduate Level Apprenticeships (GLAs) available. GLAs are developed through employer engagement with the higher education sector and offer an opportunity for employees to work and achieve a degree level qualification at the same time. Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents involving new psychoactive substances have been reported in Scotland s prison estate in each of the last three years, broken down by prison. (S5W-11364) Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows: There has been one incident in the last year across the SPS prison estate, where forensic testing has confirmed the possession of psychoactive substances. There have also been a number of varying incidents, across all prisons, where the unsubstantiated abuse of substances may have been a contributing factor. Intelligence suggests that some of these may relate to the illegal use of psychoactive substances however it is impossible to say conclusively that this is the case. SPS will continue to review its policy and tactical options to address this emerging issue. Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government when it will carry out a review of procedures relating to prisoners mail, in light of new ways of getting new psychoactive substances into Scotland s prisons. (S5W-11365) Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows: SPS has robust mail handling procedures in place across all establishments. These procedures deter and disrupt attempts to introduce illicit articles to the prison estate and support the identification of any substances recovered. These procedures consider the health and safety of staff as an utmost priority. As new and emerging attempts to smuggle articles through mail are identified, these procedures are reviewed. Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the misuse of new psychoactive substances in prisons. (S5W-11366) Michael Matheson: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

9 SPS is aware of the emerging risks presented by the use of psychoactive substances within prisons, which are reflected in the growing challenges presented within the wider community. It should be noted that components utilised within psychoactive substances are subject to frequent change. Products used for testing and identifying these substances, therefore, quickly become obsolete, presenting challenges to successful detection in the custodial environment. SPS will continue to evolve its understanding of the use of psychoactive substances and deploy a range of tactics in order to address the alleged use of such substances within prisons. Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what the membership is of the (a) Product Design, (b) Benefits and Support, (c) Information, Advice and Guidance and Financial Literacy, (d) Effective Administration and (e) Finance sub group to the Further and Higher Education Support Review, and what (i) organisations and (ii) individuals have been invited on to these sub groups. (S5W-11367) Shirley-Anne Somerville: Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money was appointed as Independent Chair of the Review of Student Support in October Membership of the Review Group is published on the Scottish Government website at: In her role as Chair, Ms Gadhia appointed four Review group members as Chairs of the Product Design; Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) and Financial Literacy; Benefits and Support; and Effective Administration and Delivery sub-groups. Each sub-group Chair has reported the work of their own group to the main Review group and Chair. Overall membership of the four sub-groups was appointed by each of the sub-group Chairs and is provided below: Product Design Shona Struthers, Colleges Scotland Chair Dr John Kemp Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Lorna Caldwell Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) Angela Cox Borders College Gillian Plunkett City of Glasgow College Erin McAuley Scottish Youth Parliament and current student Alastair Sim Universities Scotland Russell Gunson IPPR Scotland Annag MacLean Headteacher David Wallace Student Loans Company Maggie Wightman Student Loans Company Ann Gordon University of Dundee/National Association of Student Money Advisers (NASMA) Chris Greenshields UNISON Graeme Forrester UNISON Angela Toal CPAG Scotland Philip Whyte NUS Scotland (until June 2017) Vonnie Sandlan NUS Scotland (until June 2017) Fergus Boden NUS Scotland (from June 2017) IAG and Financial Literacy Yvonne MacDermid, Chair (from March 2017, previously Louise Macdonald, Young Scot to March 2017) Laura McCluskey Angela Toal Money Advice Scotland Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) CPAG Scotland

10 Yvonne MacDermid, Chair Money Advice Scotland (from March 2017, previously Louise Macdonald, Young Scot to March 2017) Patricia Murray UNISON Liz Clark UNISON Letitia Friary Napier University Neil Cowie North East Scotland College (NESCOL) Ian Hanson Skills Development Scotland (SDS) Ann Gordon University of Dundee/National Association of Student Money Advisers (NASMA) Louise Macdonald Young Scot Dr Jenny Peachey Carnegie Trust UK Philip Whyte NUS Scotland (until June 2017) Vonnie Sandlan NUS Scotland (until June 2017) Risga Carson NUS Scotland (from June 2017) Benefits and Support Russell Gunson, Chair IPPR Scotland Angela Toal CPAG Scotland Erin McAuley Scottish Youth Parliament and current student Dr Muir Houston University of Glasgow Steven McAvoy ENABLE Scotland Paul Traynor Carers Trust Satwat Rehman One Parent Families Scotland Robert Foster WhoCares? Scotland Louise Park Ayrshire College Chris Greenshields UNISON Angie Cruikshank UNISON Heather Noller Carer s Trust Scotland Rebecca Scarlett LEAD Scotland Philip Whyte NUS Scotland (until June 2017) Vonnie Sandlan NUS Scotland (until June 2017) Fergus Boden NUS Scotland (from June 2017) Effective Administration and Delivery Dr John Kemp, Chair Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Paul Lowe Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) Andrew Cunningham Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) Tracey Slaven University of Edinburgh Chris Greenshields UNISON Graeme Forrester UNISON Wendy Brymer Fife College David Wallace Student Loans Company Philip Whyte NUS Scotland (until June 2017) Risga Carson / Fergus Boden NUS Scotland (from June 2017) The Scottish Government provides secretariat support to both the main Review group and all subgroups. Complementing the four sub-groups, Ms Gadhia has been working with Scottish Government officials on a Finance sub-group concerned with assembly of relevant financial information on the current student support system as it relates to colleges and universities, with the Chair reporting directly to the Review group on that. The Review process has engaged extensively with students via a student survey, consultation, and focus groups which have taken place at both colleges and universities across Scotland.

11 Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of apprenticeships in the Scottish Borders. (S5W-11371) Jamie Hepburn: Modern Apprenticeship Statistics published on 6 June 2017 showed a 22% rise in uptake of Modern Apprenticeship s in the Scottish Borders with 472 starts in compared to 387 starts in The Borders Developing the Young Workforce Regional Group has been working in partnership with Skills Development Scotland and the Local Authority to promote Scottish apprenticeship opportunities including Foundation, Modern and Graduate level to employers, young people, parents and teachers. Richard Lochhead (Moray) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to mark the Royal Air Force s centenary in 2018, and what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding events in relation to the anniversary. (S5W-11385) Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is delighted that the RAF will be celebrating its Centenary in 2018 and recognises the huge contribution RAF personnel and their families make to their communities in Scotland. The RAF 100 team is planning UK-wide events and the lead for events across Scotland is Air Officer Scotland. Officials are in regular contact with Air Officer Scotland s office, including discussion on the RAF 100 programme. Scottish Ministers will be invited to celebrate this important anniversary with the RAF in Scotland to celebrate, commemorate and inspire for the future. Colin Beattie (Midlothian North and Musselburgh) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support staff at the Bilston Glen police call centre who are taking on extra work, including handling calls from other police forces in the UK. (S5W-11386) Michael Matheson: The delivery of Police Scotland's contact, command and control function is an operational matter for Police Scotland with oversight from the Scottish Police Authority. Every Police Force (and other Emergency Authority) has an established reciprocal arrangement in place to assist each other at times of high demand or exceptional need called the Public Emergency Call Service (PECS) Code of Practice. This applies only to emergency 999 calls and not those calls which are received on the 101 platform. Full details of what happens within Police Scotland service centres (call handling centres) are outlined in the Police Scotland statement issued 14 October by Nelson Telfer, ACC Service and Protection, Police Scotland, available at Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how its new homelessness strategy will help encourage care-experienced young people to declare their housing status. (S5W-11413) Kevin Stewart: We have been working with our partners to prevent homelessness amongst care experienced young people in recent years and this will remain a priority as we develop the proposals around Programme for Government. The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group will focus on the actions needed to eradicate rough sleeping and transform the use of temporary accommodation. We know that there will be people with experience of the care system amongst those with more complex needs who may be rough sleeping, who will be the focus of immediate action.

12 An important part of the work of this Group will be ensuring the voice of people with direct, personal experience of homelessness informs its actions, including the voice of care experienced young people. The national group for homelessness in Scotland in recent years has been the Scottish Government and COSLA s Homelessness Prevention and Strategy Group and this group will retain an important long term role going forwards in identifying priorities for tackling homelessness amongst young people, including care leavers. Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how it will reduce the number of care-experienced young people who end up in homeless accommodation through no fault of their own. (S5W-11414) Kevin Stewart: The Scottish Government recognises the particular vulnerability of those leaving care to homelessness. Numbers of young people recorded as leaving care and directly applying as homeless to local authorities are low and has been falling in recent years due to our focus on the prevention of homelessness. Alongside the forthcoming care review and the recent extension of legal rights to those leaving care, we have issued Guidance for Corporate Parents on Housing Options for Care Leavers, which was clear that care leavers should not have to become homeless to access appropriate housing. This approach will be further strengthened by the publication of a Housing Options Training Toolkit, with funding from the Scottish Government, due to be published next year. I wrote to local authorities in the summer to highlight the importance of preventing homelessness amongst care experienced young people. This followed a bilateral meeting with the Minister for Childcare and Early Years to identify what more can be done in this area. Graham Simpson (Central Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many private high-rise blocks in each local authority area have combustible cladding. (S5W-11429) Kevin Stewart: The Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety sought information from all 32 local authorities on the use of Aluminium Composite Cladding (ACM) on private high rise domestic buildings. No ACM was identified in 31 local authorities. Glasgow City Council identified 57 buildings with some ACM. The extent of coverage or exact details of the type of ACM identified is being scrutinised further by Glasgow City Council. Health and Social Care Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support GP surgeries in Fife. (S5O-1312) Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is aware of the pressures facing general practice and are fully committed to supporting a model of sustainable general practice. On 10 March, I announced an additional 71.6 million will be invested in direct support of general practice, helping to transform the way services are delivered in the community. This forms the first stage of the Scottish Government s commitment to provide an extra 250 million in direct support of general practice per year by increasing the overall investment in primary care by 500 million. As part of this, I have increased the GP recruitment and retention fund this year from 1 million to 5 million, enabling expansion and continued support to existing and new initiatives across Scotland. One existing initiative is The Scottish Rural Medicine Collaborative a ten board collaboration involving NHS Fife. The project will bring together recruitment strategies and support networks for GPs working in remote and rural areas.

13 Jenny Gilruth (Mid Fife and Glenrothes) (Scottish National Party): To ask the Scottish Government what support it gives to young carers. (S5O-1313) Aileen Campbell: This government recognises the vital role that carers, including young carers, play in supporting their loved ones and has always been strongly committed to enhancing carers rights. That is why, last week the First Minister announced a package of new measures to support young carers, comprising: a Young Carer Grant for young adults with significant caring responsibilities who do not currently qualify for Carer s Allowance; free concessionary bus travel to recipients of the Young Carer Grant, following piloting; and a bespoke carers element to the Young Scot Card, providing non-cash benefits for young carers aged In addition, the Carers (Scotland) Act takes effect next April, establishing new rights for all carers, including young carers. Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Scottish Conservatives and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the interpretation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that was contained in the report presented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the UN's Human Rights Council in March 2017, in particular the view that "Guaranteeing informed consent is a fundamental feature of respecting an individual's autonomy, self-determination and human dignity" and "States should repeal legal frameworks allowing substitute decision makers to provide consent on behalf of persons with disabilities and introduce supported decision-making, ensuring its availability for those who request it." (S5W-11346) Maureen Watt: The UN Human Rights Council is currently in session and is considering the report presented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Scottish Government has contributed to the discussion of a resolution which looks to address the global burden of obstacles in mental health, to provide effective mental health and community-based services, and to respect the enjoyment of legal capacity on an equal basis with others. We await the outcome of the negotiations amongst UN member states. In Scotland, we are proud that our mental health legislation promotes rights and is based on principles. The Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015 improves existing legislation to ensure the system works as effectively as possible for service users and builds on existing measures and principles around named persons, advocacy and advance statements, which will encourage service users involvement in decisions about their care and treatment and help strengthen support for decision making. Article 12 of the UNCRPD requires that persons with disability should be able to access the support they need to exercise their legal capacity. This means the person should be at the forefront of all decision making. Supportive decision making and the determination of the rights, will and preferences of the person are paramount. We are currently reviewing the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 and developing a range of proposals for legislative reform, including the introduction of supported decision making. We take the view that by devising a system which makes it easier to secure only those powers that are absolutely necessary will safeguard the financial status and welfare of the person concerned. Under such an arrangement, the person would then be free to make other decisions about their lives, with the appropriate support if required. Informal consultation has already been carried out with a range of stakeholders and a full formal consultation will launch later in the year. We believe that this approach is aligned to the ideals enshrined in the UNCRPD and our intention is for legislative changes to the Act to include the provision of appropriate support for decision making.

14 Alexander Burnett (Aberdeenshire West) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what preventative action (a) Health Protection Scotland and (b) each NHS board has taken to warn of tick-related health conditions; what (i) posters, leaflet and other information have been issued and (ii) events have been organised on this topic (A) routinely and (B) since 1 September 2017, and what analysis it has carried out or plans of the effectiveness of this. (S5W-11374) Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Health Protection Network (SHPN), comprising Health Protection Scotland (HPS) and all the NHS Health Boards, as well as Local Authorities and other agencies with a responsibility for public health, formed a Lyme disease group as a subgroup of the Gastrointestinal Infections and Zoonoses (GIZ) group at the beginning of The group has produced new publicfacing materials, in the form of an information leaflet and an infographic poster, explaining the risks from ticks and tick borne diseases and highlighting simple steps people can take to avoid infection. The group has also launched the Outdoor bugs and germs pages on NHS Inform ( bringing together in once place, for the first time, comprehensive advice on how to avoid infection from bugs and germs. Scottish Government officials, along with members of the SHPN GIZ group are currently planning greater and sustained promotion of these materials commencing in Spring Lyme disease has also featured on the programme of the NHS Health Protection Symposium held in December 2016, which was open to all members of the SHPN, and the symposium was attended by a group of individuals from different sectors and regions of Scotland. Through February and March, evening meetings for Community Pharmacy Groups featuring Lyme disease were presented by members of the group in 5 Health Boards and in August 2017, a Lyme disease one-day symposium was held in Benbecula, organised by the local Health Protection team in partnership with SHPN. The ongoing work of the group seeks to improve surveillance of Lyme disease in Scotland. This will give us a better estimate of the burden of disease and the impact of our efforts to raise awareness about its avoidance. Annie Wells (Glasgow) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce accident and emergency waiting times at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. (S5W-11388) Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is working closely with the local team at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) to support improvements. While performance at the QEUH over the summer months (June and July) improved to over 90%, performance against the four hour A&E target over the last few weeks has dipped. There have been a number of issues impacting on performance at the QEUH including the level of attendances; with the exception of May 2017, August saw the highest level of attendances since the hospital opened in This high level of attendances has been consistent throughout September - despite this no patients have been delayed over twelve hours. My officials are in regular contact with the senior Executive Team at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and have had a number of discussions around actions in place to support improved performance. The national team are on site working with the local team to strengthen the principles of the unscheduled care six essential actions and support the specific actions that have been put in place, including: Opening additional capacity Additional staffing in place in the A&E department at peak times Focused approach to maximising appropriate daily discharges to create capacity throughout the day Golden hour on all medical wards to support early discharges We will continue to work with the Board and monitor improvements over the coming weeks.

15 Organisational Development and Operations Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what the total annual salary for (a) cabinet secretaries, (b) ministers and (c) its special advisers (i) was in and (ii) will be in (S5W-11278) Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government does not hold the salary information for Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers as the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body is responsible for paying their salaries. Special Advisers are appointed in accordance with Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance (CRAG) Act 2010 by the First Minister for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers. Under the terms of the CRAG Act 2010, the First Minister is required to prepare an annual report setting out the number and cost of Special Advisers and to lay it before the Scottish Parliament. This information will be published in the next few weeks. Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government where the (a) 5,500 core directorate, (b) 6,200 agency and (c) 3,600 non-ministerial department staff referred to in Public Sector Employment Statistics for 2nd Quarter 2017 are located. (S5W-11368) Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government only holds location information for those organisations to which it provides an HR service. Data is available for all Core Directorates, most Agencies and some Non-Ministerial departments. Location information is not collected for other organisations which contribute to the Public Sector Employment statistics. Scottish Government Core Directorates, Q Aberdeen City 259 Aberdeenshire 85 Angus 4 Argyll & Bute 49 City of Edinburgh 3806 Dumfries & Galloway 32 Dundee City 21 Eilean Siar 28 Falkirk 47 Fife 2 Glasgow City 785 Highland 109 Moray 14 Orkney Islands 20 Outwith Scotland 9 Perth & Kinross 115 Renfrewshire 1 Scottish Borders 43 Shetland Isles 16 South Ayrshire 50 South Lanarkshire 28 West Lothian 19 Total 5542 Note:

16 1. The total headcount for Scottish Government Core Directorates is the same from the Scottish Government HR and Public Sector Employment data sources. Agencies, Q Aberdeen City 8 City of Edinburgh 355 Dumfries & Galloway 1 Dundee City 22 Fife 9 Glasgow City 763 Highland 5 North Ayrshire 136 Scottish Borders 305 Shetland Isles 1 West Lothian 66 Total 1671 Notes: 1. The total headcount for Agencies in the above table is not the same as the total in the Public Sector Employment publication as the Scottish Government HR data source only includes those agencies for which the Scottish Government provides an HR service. 2. Agencies included: Accountant in Bankruptcy, Disclosure Scotland, Education Scotland, Student Awards Agency for Scotland, Scottish Public Pensions Agency, Transport Scotland. Non-ministerial Departments, Q Aberdeen City 109 Aberdeenshire 13 Angus 3 City of Edinburgh 452 Dumfries & Galloway 21 Glasgow City 49 Moray 2 North Ayrshire 4 North Lanarkshire 3 Perth & Kinross 9 Renfrewshire 7 South Ayrshire 3 Stirling 10 Total 685 Notes: 1. The total headcount for non-ministerial departments in the above table is not the same as the total in the Public Sector Employment publication as the Scottish Government HR data source only includes those departments for which the Scottish Government provides an HR service. 2. Non-ministerial departments included: Food Standards Scotland, National Records of Scotland, Revenue Scotland, Scottish Fiscal Commission, Scottish Housing Regulator. Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government which areas in the Scottish Borders will next receive broadband improvements. (S5W-11372)