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In the course of establishing their local offices, Members enter directly into a private contract for their occupation of the premises with a landlord. The SPCB is not a party to Members’ contractual arrangements with their landlords.  This arrangement has the advantage that Members are free to choose premises that they consider suitable for their purpose within their own constituency or region. Provided that the rules of the Re-imbursement of Members’ Expenses Scheme are complied with, Members can recover the cost of the initial setting up and subsequent running of their local offices under the Scheme. 

Whether to have a local office or not and where that office is within the constituency or region they were elected to represent is a decision for each constituency MSP or through agreement of regional MSPs from the same party who are required to share an office under the Scheme. 

Members are free to enter into a lease, a licence to occupy or, for example, a shorter-term arrangement to occupy a unit which is part of larger premises. Each arrangement has advantages and disadvantages for a tenant. 

When a Member is contemplating acquiring a local office, they are strongly advised to seek their own legal advice in relation to any proposed arrangement in order to protect their own interests and to ensure they are fully aware of the obligations they are undertaking as they could, at some stage, no longer be eligible for recovery of their expenses and become personally liable for them.  The cost of such legal advice can be met from the Scheme.

In order to qualify for the re-imbursement of their expenses, Members must satisfy the SPCB that their private arrangements are clear in their terms and not ambiguous, are binding contractually on the Member claiming and do not constitute an unreasonable drain on the public purse for the period that the Member is able to recover those expenses under the Scheme.

Legal Services are the SPCB’s solicitors and are not authorised by the SPCB to provide legal advice on leases or other arrangements to Members.  Legal Services do, on behalf of the Allowances Office, ensure that Members’ arrangements allow them to recover their expenses under the Scheme, by checking that each arrangement sets out clearly an offer to let or occupy specified premises, the term for which the arrangement is to last, and the rent for the premises. Legal Services provide this service to assure the Allowances Office and the SPCB that public finance obligations are met.

The Allowances Office provide advice to Members on what a Member is able to claim under the Scheme and what is required by way of evidence of any expenditure to make a claim. For example, where a Member wishes to claim rent for an office a valid agreement binding them contractually to pay the rental costs would be required. 

The Scottish Government is working closely with colleagues within the Northern Ireland Executive to establish data feeds that will allow for the automatic exchange of vaccination information between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

People can request proof of the dose or doses received from Northern Ireland. Work is underway to enable people to upload evidence of their doses to NHS Inform and access a vaccine certificate. This upload was completed on 30 September 2021.

People can now update their record of vaccination in Scotland with Covid-19 vaccinations received out-with Scotland, but within the Common Travel Area. More information on how to do this can be found at Request an update to your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination record | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) .

For the purpose of vaccine certification, we accept proof of vaccination from Northern Ireland.

The National Care Home Contract is negotiated annually between Scotland Excel, COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities), Scottish Care and CCPS (Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland). The Scottish Government is not a contractual party to this agreement.

Decisions on future local government finance settlements will be the subject of negotiations with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities and announced as part of the outcome of future Scottish Budgets and/or Spending Reviews.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS awarded the pre-construction services contract for the HMP Highland project to Balfour Beatty in September 2021.

The SPS are working with Balfour Beatty to further develop the design of HMP Highland, prior to the award of a stage two contract that will deliver the construction element of the project.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the current number of specialist teaching staff vacancies. The results of the most recent teacher vacancy survey, undertaken in September 2019, are available here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-vacancy-survey-2016-to-2019/

The number of teachers by subject is shown in Table 3.

The 2016 to 2019 vacancy surveys were jointly administered by the Scottish Government and COSLA. The surveys were suspended in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. Vacancies are now advertised on “myjobscotland” which allows for easier continual monitoring by local authorities in line with their responsibilities for teacher employment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02365 on 3 September 2021. 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-02365 on 3 September 2021. Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) is the Scottish Government's approach to supporting children and young people. One of the core components of this is a named person who is a clear point of contact for children, young people and parents to go to for initial support and advice. The named person can also help to connect families to relevant services offered by the NHS, local authorities and third sector or community groups.

Another core component of GIRFEC is a single, shared approach to planning for children and young people’s wellbeing where support across services is needed. A personalised child’s plan will be available when a child needs a range of extra support planned, delivered and co-ordinated. The child's plan is managed by a 'lead professional': someone with the right skills and experience to make sure the plan is managed properly. Depending on the situation and the child's needs, the lead professional may also be their named person.

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-02365 on 3 September 2021. 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 information requested is not held centrally. However, the Scottish Government is committed to developing and implementing a national specification for neurodevelopmental services which outlines service standards that all Boards should follow, to ensure access to this support is effective and consistent across Scotland. The national specification for neurodevelopmental services will be published shortly and will provide a basis to enhance evidence and data collection in relation to neurodevelopmental assessments and pathways for children and young people.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

‘An initial ‘Expression of Interest’ stage was undertaken by SPS for the HMP Highland project with four expressions of interest received. Following evaluation and a high standard of response, all four contractors were invited to tender and four bids were received in June 2021.

Tender evaluation is underway and SPS anticipates the initial contract award will be made in September 2021.’