Tim Eagle

2 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that there will be no loss in whole-time equivalent (WTE) midwifery hours as a result of the reduction in the time worked by midwives by 30 minutes each week, as stated in the NHS Agenda for Change.

Answer · Neil Gray: The reduction of the working week for Agenda for Change staff was agreed in partnership between the Scottish Government, Agenda for Change Staff Side representative groups and NHS Scotland employers, and the implementation of the first 30 minute reduction has…

2 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Royal College of Midwives' reported statement that the current number of student midwives due to graduate in 2024 who have not been offered posts could result in an estimated £12 million of public money having been spent on training midwives who do not e…

Answer · Neil Gray: The training costs for an average nursing or midwifery student is in the region of £60,000 and a full breakdown of these costs including teaching grants, tuition fees, bursary and the various allowances was reported in S6W-28706 on 6 August 2024.In the …

2 Sep 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason NHS Scotland reportedly no longer offers graduate midwives at least a one-year job guarantee, and whether it has plans to review this.

Answer · Neil Gray: The One Year Job Guarantee (OYJG) scheme was previously facilitated by NHS Education for Scotland. The scheme was closed due to low application numbers.Scottish government officials have been engaging with health boards on their current position in relation t…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the organisations that received funding from its Ecosystem Fund in 2023-24, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Kate Forbes: A full breakdown of the organisations that received funding from the 2023-24 Ecosystem Fund, including their core project local authority areas, is available on the Scottish Enterprise website Funding outcomes and information | Scottish Enterprise (scottish-e…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of its Reading Schools programme on improving literacy rates among children.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Book Trust (SBT) to deliver the Reading Schools programme which represents an inclusive, whole school approach to embedding a reading culture within schools.SBT commissions independent evaluations of the programme to…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons its Ecosystem Fund was not continued in 2024-25.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government is developing the third phase of the Ecosystem Fund, building on the success of previous rounds. This follows a comprehensive evaluation of the 2023-24 phase conducted by Scottish Enterprise. Further information about the next phase wi…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has allocated to promote its Reading Schools programme.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government has allocated £548,723 in this financial year 2024/25 to the Scottish Book Trust (SBT) to deliver the Reading Schools Programme. Since the Scottish Government began funding the programme in 2018, SBT have received a total of &pou…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria schools are required to meet to achieve Reading Schools accreditation.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Book Trust (SBT) to deliver the SBT Reading Schools programme and therefore SBT is responsible for setting the criteria for core, silver and gold accreditation.Reading Schools encourages a whole-school approach to es…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it works with teachers to improve its Reading Schools programme.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Book Trust (SBT) to deliver the Reading Schools programme and therefore SBT works with teachers to seek feedback and improve its programme.SBT seek feedback from teachers taking part in the programme via annual surve…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will confirm the (a) number and (b) percentage of schools that have (i) been awarded Reading Schools accreditation and (ii) joined the Reading Schools programme, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Book Trust (SBT) has a dedicated page on their website providing information on the total number of accredited Reading Schools. The website can be accessed at: https://www.readingschools.scot/map and includes a filter option which enables the tot…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the outcomes were of its Phase 2 Democracy Matters national conversation, which concluded in February 2024.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Democracy Matters 2 national conversation received over 160 responses and was informed by engagement through multiple channels including facilitated engagement events. Engagement has informed a detailed findings report which will be published later in Sep…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date National Records for Scotland will next publish a report on alcohol-specific deaths.

Answer · Angus Robertson: I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of NRS to respond. Her response is that the National Records of Scotland (NRS) will be publishing a release on Alcohol-specific deaths 10 September 2024.Future publication dates are pre-announced on the NRS website a…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of all funding associated with carrying out the Phase 2 Democracy Matters national conversation.

Answer · Ivan McKee: A key aim of Phase 2 of the Democracy Matters engagement process was ensuring that as many voices were involved as possible in the national conversation on the future of community decision-making. Therefore, resources were invested to remove barriers to parti…

29 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it measured the efficacy of its Ecosystem Fund in 2023-24.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Government ensured a comprehensive evaluation of the 2023-24 Ecosystem Fund was undertaken by Scottish Enterprise. The Fund provided vital stimulus to organisations supporting start-ups, reaching over 13,000 direct beneficiaries across Scotland.

28 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action (a) it and (b) its agencies are taking to improve the strength of mobile phone signals along train routes in the Highlands and Islands region.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29410 on 17 September 2024. 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-commit…

28 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has met (a) BT Openreach and (b) mobile phone service providers to discuss improving access to a phone signal on train routes in the Highlands and Islands region, and, if so, what the outcome was.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government’s recently concluded £28.75 million Scottish 4G Infill investment programme and the UK Government’s ongoing Shared Rural Network programme have, and are continuing, to deliver widespread improvements to mobile connect…

28 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of locations along train routes in the Highlands and Islands region has access (a) 3G, (b) 4G and (c) 5G mobile phone signals.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29411 on 17 September 2024. 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-commit…

28 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of mobile phone signal blackout spots for (a) 3G, (b) 4G and (c) 5G services on train routes in the Highlands and Islands region.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government does not collect or hold, nor has assessed data on current 3G, 4G and 5G mobile notspots or areas with coverage, alongside train routes in the Highlands and Islands region. Overall policy relating to telecommunications, including mobil…

27 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has undertaken any economic modelling of the potential impact of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill on the rural economy.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government has carried out economic analysis of impacts of the provisions of the Land Reform Bill. This is set out in the. Land Reform (Scotland) Bill - Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (www.gov.scot).

27 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many rural jobs it anticipates could be impacted by the provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: To understand the impact of Land Reform Bill proposals on businesses, the Scottish Government conducted a Scottish firms impact test, involving engagement with landowners, land agents and representative organisations of land-based businesses.Full detail of th…

26 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it can provide to local authorities to help them train community councillors on planning applications in relation to energy infrastructure projects.

Answer · Ivan McKee: We currently do not have plans to provide direct training for community councillors in relation to energy infrastructure projects. The Scottish Government provide funding to Planning Aid Scotland who offer tailored training for Community Councils to meet thei…

26 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has given any consideration to establishing a publicly available real-time map of (a) proposed, (b) ongoing and (c) completed energy infrastructure projects.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: The Scottish Parliament publishes a renewable energy map of Scotland which is available here Renewable energy map of Scotland – SPICe Spotlight | Solas air SPICe (spice-spotlight.scot) This makes available details of operational and planned renewable en…

26 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to end the process of "salami-slicing" of energy infrastructure projects.

Answer · Alasdair Allan: As part of the application process for energy infrastructure projects, the Scottish Government undertake a full and thorough consultation with stakeholders, including the relevant Local Planning Authorities, to ensure all aspects of the development are consid…

26 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) UK and (b) EU registered vessels were monitored during their landings in each year since 2021.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government publish Enforcement Data which details the number of coastal inspections by nationality. Marine and fisheries compliance: boardings of vessels in Scottish waters - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). These statistics have been updated recently to…

26 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what measures Marine Scotland takes to ensure that EU registered vessels are properly monitored when landing in ports.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government ensures all non-UK vessels landing into Scotland are authorised to do so by meeting detailed regulations which includes vessel tracking and daily electronic catch reporting, and the requirement to complete Port State Control and export…

26 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates were claiming the Winter Fuel Payment prior to its decision to make its proposed Pension Age Winter Heating Payment a means-tested payment, in each year since 2021.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In 2021-22, there were 973,604 recipients of Winter Fuel Payment in Scotland. This number increased to 991,431 recipients in 2022-23.

26 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) UK and (b) EU vessels were registered to fish in Scottish waters in each year since 2021.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: UK commercial fishing licences provide general authority for the registered vessel to fish in the UK EEZ, subject to specific conditions detailed in the licence. The UK Fisheries Act 2020 sets out the ‘equal access objective’, stating that, "acces…

26 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people it estimates will (a) now be eligible and (b) not be eligible to receive its Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, following its reported decision to make it a means-tested payment.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Scottish Government analysis suggests that between 110,000 and 130,000 pensioners will remain eligible for payment in Scotland this winter. This represents a reduction of around 900,000 pensioners who will no longer be entitled in 2024-25.The UK Government&rs…

26 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there was any increase in passenger levels on the (a) Aberdeen to Inverness and (b) Perth to Inverness route during the ScotRail peak fares removal pilot compared with passenger levels prior to the pilot being introduced, and, if so, whether it can outline this as a percentage of…

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The following table sets out the comparisons on passenger data for the Aberdeen to Inverness and Glasgow / Edinburgh to Inverness rail services prior and during the peak pilot.We don’t hold a breakdown of the Perth to Inverness section due to the way th…

26 Aug 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) UK and (b) EU registered vessels received boarded inspections by Marine Scotland in each year since 2021.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government publish enforcement data which details the number of marine inspections by nationality. Marine and fisheries compliance: boardings of vessels in Scottish waters - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) These statistics have been updated recently to i…