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Information on the number of classroom assistants in the years 2003-2020 is provided in the following tables. Data on the number of classroom assistants or other support staff from 1999-2002 is not held by Scottish Government.

The variability in categorisation of staff and the definition of full time equivalent means that caution should be taken if making comparisons over time or between local authorities. Full details on the use and comparability of the data are available in the background notes of the statistical publications.

Table 1: 2020 Pupil Support Assistants - Hours Worked per week

Table 2: 2020 Classroom Assistant and ASN Auxiliary or Care Assistant - Hours Worked per week

Data on school support staff was collected in the form of hours per week rather than the number of full time equivalent (FTE) staff in 2020. This is because different local authorities have different definitions of ‘full time hours’ so changing to measure hours rather than FTE allows for more accurate comparison between local authorities.

Statistics on hours worked per week of pupil support assistants in 2020 are provided in Table 1.

Management information on hours worked per week hours worked of classroom assistant and ASN auxiliary or care assistant are provided in Table 2.

Table 3: Pupil Supports Assistant - 2017 to 2020 – FTE

The use of the term 'classroom assistant' varies between local authorities and is sometimes used interchangeably with 'additional support needs auxiliary or care assistant'. Therefore these two categories of school support staff have been combined and reported as 'pupil support assistants' in the published statistics on school support staff since 2017. Statistics on FTE of pupil support assistants for 2017 to 2020 are provided in Table 3.

Since 2017 the categories of classroom assistant and additional support needs auxiliary or care assistant have been published separately as management information and have not been subject to the same level of quality assurance as the published statistics.

Calculations of full time equivalent (FTE) numbers of pupils support assistants for 2020 were published to allow a comparison to be made with data from 2018 and 2019. The data on pupil support assistants published in 2017 is not directly comparable because of changes to the method of estimating FTE in some authorities. Calculations 2020 FTE of classroom assistants and ASN auxiliary or care assistant have not been calculated.

Table 4 - Classroom assistants - 2003-2019 - FTE

Table 5 - ASN auxiliary or care assistant - 2003-2019 - FTE - (part 1)

Statistics and management information on the FTE of classroom assistant and ASN auxiliary or care assistant from 2003 to 2019 are provided in Tables 4 and 5.

The Scottish Government has made significant progress in addressing injustices in land ownership, specifically through the 2016 Land Reform Act. However, we recognise that there is more to do and are committed to land reform on an ongoing basis. As set out in our manifesto, we will introduce a new Land Reform bill in the current session.

Everyone has a stake in Scotland’s land and everyone should benefit from Scotland’s land. In September 2017, the Scottish Government published the Scottish Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement, the first of its kind anywhere in the world. Taking a human rights approach, it sets out a vision of a strong and dynamic relationship between Scotland’s land and its people, where our land contributes to a modern and successful country and where land rights and responsibilities are recognised and fulfilled.

We have also committed to double the Scottish Land Fund to £20 million per year by the end of this Parliament to provide further support to communities wishing to acquire assets. We look forward to working with parliament and society to take forward this work together to create a fairer Scotland.

The self isolation support grant(SISG) is designed to encourage eligible individuals who have tested positive for Covid 19 to self isolate for the required period to stop onward spread. The SISG will be available for as long as required, subject to budget availability, with no plans at this time to withdraw that support.

The number of people who died of infectious diseases in each of the last five years are shown in the following table. These figures are available on the NRS website up to 2019. Data for 2020 will be published on 17 August 2021. This data can be accessed at: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/vital-events-ref-tables/2019/vital-events-19-ref-tabs-6.xlsx

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01396 on 12 July 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 .

A planning application has been submitted by Stonepack Ltd to Scottish Borders Council for a proposed Sand and Gravel Quarry at Slipperfield, West Linton. It is understood that the Health and Safety Executive does not advise, on safety grounds, against the granting of planning permission in this case. As this is a live application it would not be appropriate to comment on the merits of the case.

This information is not held centrally. It is the responsibility of territorial Health Boards to ensure there is adequate provision of NHS Pharmaceutical Care Services, working with community pharmacy contractors listed on the Boards Pharmaceutical List.

The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 set out the responsibilities for community pharmacy contractors to notify Health Boards when there are instances in which the contractor is unable to provide those NHS services.

Although the Scottish Government’s Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) does not have any options specifically for grey partridge, it does provide funding for options that benefit the habitats of grey partridge, namely:

• Beetlebanks,
• Creation of Hedgerows,
• Management or restoration of existing hedgerows,
• Forage Brassica Crops for Farmland Birds,
• Grass Strips in Arable Fields
• Retention of Winter Stubble for Wildlife and Water Quality
• Species Rich Grassland Creation and Management
• Species Rich Grassland Management only
• Stubbles followed by Green Manure in an Arable Rotation
• Unharvested Conservation Headlands for Wildlife
• Wild Bird Seed for Farmland Birds

The Scottish Government has committed to spending £66.16m towards these options from 2016 through to 2025. 1,838 businesses have these options in their AECS contracts, with over 29,000 Ha due to be managed throughout Scotland in 2021.

Further information about the scheme and how to apply can be found at Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (ruralpayments.org)

This partnership working is continuing to grow and develop and will form part of our NHS Recovery Plan due to be published shortly.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery, hosted by the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, has been established and commissioned by the Scottish Government to support NHS Boards to deliver wide-ranging and complex national programmes, such as the Scottish Access Collaborative and the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme.

As part of this, several Third Sector organisations and societies are involved in the delivery of programme workstreams, as well as co-production of patient pathways and self-guidance materials to support patient wellbeing. This involves a wide-range of Third Sector bodies, including Crohn’s & Colitis UK, Coeliac UK, Bowel Cancer UK, Pain Association, Pain Concern, Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland Chronic Pain Reference Group, and Endometriosis UK plus many others.

The Scottish Government does not hold any trend data for grey partridge across Scotland, due to low sample size in the Breeding Bird Survey annual monitoring scheme. The UK trend shows a 64% decline over the period 1995-2018. The more recent 10-year trend (2008-2018) is lower at a 34% decline.