Chamber and committees

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 requires the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission to secure the audit of all accounts of local authorities and associated bodies (including health and social care integration boards and other joint boards) by appointing either Audit Scotland or firms of accountants as the auditors.

The extent to which local authorities did not meet the Accounts Commission’s deadline to submit their annual accounts is a matter for the Controller of Audit or the Accounts Commission and the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Local authorities in Scotland have a statutory duty to offer 1140 hours of high quality funded early learning and childcare (ELC) to all eligible children within their area. An ‘eligible child’ is described in the legal framework as all 3 and 4-year-olds from the relevant start date, and some 2 year olds are also eligible.

A range of research shows that while attending high quality ELC improves outcomes for all children, the children facing the most disadvantage benefit the most. Eligibility criteria for early access to funded ELC at age two currently target children in households that receive low or no income benefits, children with care experience, and children whose parents have care experience themselves.

Targeting eligibility for funded ELC at age two in this way ensures that those who will benefit most from high quality ELC provision, benefit first. While some two-year-old children of working parents will be eligible for this offer, eligibility is not dependant on the working status of parents. Currently, the offer of 1140 hours of high quality ELC is available to around a quarter of families with a two-year-old.

The Scottish Government has committed to work with local authorities and our partners in the sector to develop plans to expand access to funded ELC for two-year-olds. We will also continue to work closely with local authorities and providers to maximise uptake of the existing offer as we develop these plans. Further detail, including on the additional investment required to deliver the childcare expansion over this Parliament, will be set out later this year at the Scottish Budget for 2024-25.

Working families can access other support with childcare costs through UK-wide schemes like Tax Free Childcare or Universal Credit. Information about these schemes is available at the UK Government website Childcare Choices . This includes an eligibility checker.

Scotland already has one of the most generous childcare offers in the UK. In 2023-24 we are investing around £1 billion in the delivery of 1140 hours of high quality funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) to all three and four year olds and about a quarter of two year olds who face the most disadvantage.

The 1140 hours offer already equates to 30 hours per week during term time for all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds regardless of their parents' working status – putting children first.

The First Minister recently announced in the Programme for Government that over the next year we will work with local government and partners in the ELC sector to significantly expand our childcare programme, including our targeted offer for two year olds, focusing on those who will benefit the most.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is responsible for setting the national standards of medical education and training as the UK regulator. As part of work improve medical training on women’s health the GMC are introducing specific assessments for undergraduate medical students on women’s health, including on menopause, obstetrics, and gynaecology. This will apply to all medical students in Scotland.

Additionally, NHS Education for Scotland (NES), the body responsible for setting the postgraduate medical education curriculum in Scotland, have been asked to develop menopause and menstrual health training for all healthcare professionals working across the multi-disciplinary teams in primary care general practice.

The Scottish Government is advised on food safety and standards matters by Food Standards Scotland (FSS). They have advised that a formal post implementation review of the Honey (Scotland) Regulations 2015 has been delayed due to the need to prioritise EU exit related food law work, and more recently matters relating to the Retained EU (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.

A post-implementation review is due to be undertaken as part of consideration of proposed EU changes to labelling requirements for blended honey. FSS has contacted honey producers in Scotland to ask for initial views on these proposals, and are working closely with policy officials on a UK basis to consider next steps.

In the meantime, FSS continues to monitor the effectiveness and suitability of the Honey (Scotland) Regulations 2015 through communication with stakeholders, including Local Authorities, businesses and consumers.

The overall response landscape in Scotland is set out in our guidance document “Preparing Scotland - Responding to Emergencies”.

A review of this suite of guidance is currently underway. The review, which is being undertaken in consultation with resilience partners, will consider whether the inclusion of additional mechanisms for the coordination of mutual aid should be built into the arrangements.

The Scottish Government does not designate assistance centres or make decisions regarding the pre-positioning of generator capacity.

These issues are rightly for the front line responders, principally Local Authorities, to consider following any emergency. In the Scottish Government's June 2022 update to the Storm Arwen Review, we noted that "All LRPs (principally via Local Authorities) have a wide range of pre-identified rest or assistance centres, with associated arrangements for activation.”

The Scottish Government does not have any current plans to implement a fish counter on the River Dee.

The location of the 42 automatic fish counters that are known to Scottish Government are provided in the following table. The vast majority of these are not owned or operated by Scottish Government, and it is not possible to confirm their current operational status.

The Scottish Government operates one fish counter in the North Esk Salmon Fishery District and is a joint operator, of a fish counter in the Helmsdale district with the District Salmon Fishery Board. We recently supported the installation of three new fish counters in the Ayr, Deveron and Laxford districts. These are in the process of being validated and are not yet producing data.

The decision on whether or not to proceed with planned commercial rollout of broadband infrastructure is a matter solely for the relevant broadband infrastructure provider and their own internal governance. However, the Scottish Government is working to incentivise further commercial build through the series of pledges that comprise our Full Fibre Charter, and I am encouraged by discussions that took place with suppliers at last month’s Charter Forum.  

Any homes or businesses not in a supplier’s commercial build plans, and which cannot access a superfast connection, are being supported to access a minimum of a superfast service through the Scottish Government’s R100 programme.