- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the amount of public funding that independent schools potentially save as a result of not receiving funding directly from central government for the services that they provide.
Answer
Scottish Government has not made an assessment of this cost. The independent sector is a well-established part of the Scottish education system that promotes choice for parents. Officials are in regular contact with the Scottish Council of Independent Schools to discuss a range of issues that affect the sector.
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13162 by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022, whether it will provide a list of the industry stakeholders, including trade associations and businesses, that the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity has met with to discuss the implementation of the Deposit Return Scheme, and when such meetings took place.
Answer
All Ministerial meetings with stakeholders are proactively published on the Scottish Government website at: -
https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/
- Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13722 by Jenny Gilruth on 23 January 2023, how much ScotRail is planning to spend on its aim "to roll out a programme of menopause awareness training across the organisation", and how much it has spent to date on menopause-related initiatives.
Answer
ScotRail Trains Ltd. is currently developing a training plan with associated costings to roll out menopause awareness across the organisation. It is anticipated that this will include, among other things, “Train the Trainer” sessions with Henpicked, which will enable the delivery of awareness sessions across the organisation. Henpicked works with organisations to help develop the right menopause in the workplace training, education, policies and practices to make an organisation menopause friendly.
Scottish Rail Holdings has advised that ScotRail Trains Ltd.’s expenditure on menopause-related initiatives to date are as follows:-
- 2022 and 2023 - Annual Membership fee to Henpicked to become a Menopause Friendly Accredited organisation - £1500 plus VAT each year
- 2022 and 2023 - speakers fees for events for World Menopause Day/World Menopause Month – Total £1000
- Asked by: Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 January 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13230 by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022, whether it will provide further detail of the scale of the financial impact on those local authorities not expected to receive a net financial benefit from the introduction of Deposit Return Scheme, and whether it proposes to provide funding to local authorities to offset any losses.
Answer
Calculations are based on commercially sensitive data provided in confidence to Zero Waste Scotland by local authorities. Therefore, we will not provide any additional information.
Zero Waste Scotland has engaged with three local authorities which are modelled to not make a saving and offered modelling support to identify changes that could mitigate the potential net cost. The Recycling Improvement Fund, a £70 million fund designed to support local authorities to make impactful change to their recycling services, is available for any local authority to apply to.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of the Public and Commercial Services Union industrial action, on 1 February 2023, on the work of Architecture and Design Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government discussed with Architecture and Design Scotland the effect of the Public and Commercial Services Union industrial action on 1 February 2023. There was no significant impact on its business.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants employed by Architecture and Design Scotland are working on its Climate Action Towns project, and what the total cost of this civil service resource has been for each year since the project began.
Answer
Architecture and Design Scotland staff are not civil servants, however their pay and conditions are analogous with Scottish Government civil servants.
The Climate Action Towns project commenced in September 2021. The number of Architecture and Design Scotland staff working on the Climate Action Towns project is as follows:
Year | Staff numbers | Staff cost (£) |
2021-22 | 4 | 94,000* |
2022-23 | 5 | 228,000 |
*commenced from Sept 2021.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government which (a) cities, (b) towns and (c) villages Architecture and Design Scotland has engaged with in each year as part of the Scotland + Venice project.
Answer
Since joining the Scotland + Venice project in 2016, Architecture and Design Scotland has supported the commissioning and work of external curatorial teams. These teams develop and deliver the project including engagement with communities. Architecture and Design Scotland do not generally engage directly with cities, towns and villages as part of the project.
As part of the 2020 Scotland + Venice work, Architecture and Design Scotland staff members supported the delivery of a workshop in Elgin.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13542 by Humza Yousaf on 20 January 2023, how many non-executive board members have completed the e-learning module on the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Equality Act.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information as this module is owned and hosted by NHS Education for Scotland.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 23 January 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it is using artificial intelligence to create data-driven recommendations in health and social care.
Answer
We are working in partnership across the UK to explore the safe use of AI within health and social care. AI is currently being utilised in the NHS to support clinicians by making data driven recommendations in areas like cancer screening and other medical imaging practices.
The Scottish Government is also currently considering how the specific needs of AI can be built into our wider work on data to provide the right infrastructure and support service that enables the adoption of AI solutions within the NHS. Further details on this will be set out in the forthcoming Data Strategy for Health & Social Care, including on the ethical and transparent use of AI.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 January 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 7 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of people with type 1 diabetes have had access to flash glucose monitoring in each year since 2007.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.