Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is committed to openness and transparency and updates Parliament regularly on discussions relating to Gupta Family Group companies.

On 11 February 2021, Fergus Ewing the then Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy updated the Finance and Constitution Committee on the contingent liability arising from the Lochaber guarantee. The Cabinet Secretary made a statement to Parliament and answered questions on 24 March 2021 on the administration of Greensill Capital UK Limited and its implications for businesses in Scotland, including GFG companies. The former Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy also briefed a cross-party meeting of MSPs and MPs alongside the relevant trade unions on the financing challenges facing the GFG Alliance on 16 April during the election period.

The GFG Alliance is currently in a process of refinancing and restructuring its global businesses in the wake of the collapse of Greensill Capital UK. This is a sensitive commercial matter and Scottish Ministers are duty bound to maintain commercial confidences and not to fuel speculation or prejudice commercial processes.

The Scottish Government will continue to publish details of all Ministerial engagements via its website ( https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/ ) and take opportunities to update members and Committees of Parliament where appropriate.

Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is a UK wide benefit reserved to the UK Government. Guidance from the Department for Work and Pensions requires that GPs provide fit notes, as evidence of the advice the ESA applicant has been given about their fitness for work, and these are provided free of charge. These requirements do not apply where further non-mandatory evidence is sought to support a claim. The Scottish Government has not made any representations to the UK Government on this specific matter.

The Scottish Government will continue to work in partnership with COSLA and Local Authorities to ensure our communities receive the support and services that they expect and deserve. It is, however, the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including for the range of community services they deliver, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of local and national priorities.

In 2021-22, Glasgow City Council will receive a total funding package of almost
‎ £1.5 billion to support local services, which includes an extra £29.8 million to support vital day to day services, equivalent to an increase of 2.2 per cent compared to 2020-21. To date, the council has been allocated an additional £221.7 million to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, through the local government settlement - over and above their regular grant payments.

In addition, Glasgow City Council will receive their fair share of a further £137 million included in the original 2021-22 local government finance settlement which is currently undistributed. The Council will also receive their fair share of the subsequent 2021-22 funding that has been discussed and agreed with COSLA since the announcement of the settlement.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic National Records of Scotland (NRS) has placed significant amounts of information on care home deaths into the public domain. NRS analyses provides valuable information on characteristics of the deceased as well as presentation at Health Board and Local Authority level.

Following receipt of a FOI request for data at individual care home level, NRS carefully considered the potential public benefit of providing care home level data against the potential distress the public release of these data may cause families of the deceased, care home staff, residents and families of residents. NRS recognises that this is a complex issue and therefore welcomed the Scottish Information Commissioner's conclusion on how the balance of public benefit and potential distress should be considered. Following the decision by the Scottish Information Commissioner, NRS has complied with the instruction and now made this data available in line with the original FOI request.

All of our decision making in the approach to responding to Covid-19 is guided by the latest scientific evidence from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) , advice from Health Protection Scotland and our Chief Medical Officer. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provides advice on immunisation to all UK Health Departments, including on the efficacy and safety of vaccines.

Current JCVI advice does not cover vaccination in those under 18 years old, so far only 16 and 17 years olds in groups 1 -9 are covered.

Clinical trials are currently underway for vaccination of children and young people.

We will continue to engage with vaccine developers, and the JCVI so that if trials are successful we are ready to vaccinate younger age groups, if that is what the clinical and scientific evidence supports.

The information requested is not held centrally. Aggregate CAMHS waiting times statistics are published by Public Health Scotland every quarter and report on waiting times from referral to first treatment appointment. Health Boards have just been allocated £4.25 million for 2021-22 from the £120m Recovery and Renewal Fund to clear CAMHS backlogs. Those Boards with the longest waits are also receiving enhanced improvement support to deliver local recovery plans by mid- June.

The establishment of the Site Recovery Group was one of the recommendations from the report of the Buchanan and St Ambrose Independent Review, and we welcome the Group's report.

North Lanarkshire Council has assured us that it is taking action as quickly as possible to resolve the issues raised by the Chair within the Group’s report.

As it is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate, any further questions on this matter should be put to the Council directly.

In December 2020, the Scottish Government were delighted to announce that Liberton High School would be included within Phase 2 of the £2 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme.

We remain committed to this funding commitment and expect Phase 2 projects, including the replacement for Liberton High School, to be completed by December 2025.

University entry requirements vary among universities and between subject, and also vary over time as demand for particular subjects and courses increases or decreases. As autonomous bodies universities are responsible for their own policies and procedures, including setting entry requirements for each course they offer.

Following exam changes in 2020, the Scottish Government asked the Scottish Funding Council to fund additional places in Scotland’s universities in AY 2020-21. These places will continue to be funded in AY 2021-22 along with further additional places for affected 2020 students starting their studies in AY 2021-22.

With the exception of the controlled subjects (i.e. medicine, pre-registration nursing and midwifery education, dentistry and initial teacher education), the Scottish Government does not direct individual institutions on the number of funded places to make available for eligible students.

Minimum entry requirements (access thresholds) for SIMD20 students have been set by all Scottish universities and were published for the very first time in 2019 (for AY 2020-21 entrants).

All of Scotland’s higher education institutions (excluding The Open University in Scotland as it has a different admissions system) have committed to guaranteeing an offer of an undergraduate place at university to care-experienced applicants who meet minimum entry requirements. This was effective from autumn 2019 for learners entering university in autumn 2020.

We remain absolutely committed to the principle that access to education should be based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay. Every child growing up in Scotland, regardless of their background, should have an equal chance of attending university and participating in higher education.

Following exam changes in 2020, the Scottish Government asked the Scottish Funding Council to fund additional places in Scotland’s universities in AY 2020-21. These places will continue to be funded in AY 2021-22 along with further additional places for affected 2020 students starting their studies in AY
‎ 2021-22.

Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) data covering the 2021 cycle, published in February, shows that, in total across all domiciles, there were 132,960 applicants making 310,190 applications for a Scottish University by the January deadline.

The following link provides further details, including specific domicile groupings:

https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-releases/applicant-releases-2021/2021-cycle-applicant-figures-january-deadline

The Scottish Funding Council continues to work closely with the Universities to determine their AY 2021-22 requirement as definitive student numbers will not be known until courses start.