Friday 16 August 2019

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

Economy

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (): To ask the , further to the answer to question S5W-23827 by Derek McKay on 15 July 2019, when it plans to next meet the European Commission, and whether the European Social Fund is on the agenda. (S5W-24480) Derek Mackay: Officials from the Scottish Government met officials from the European Commission in Brussels on 14 June 2019 to discuss the European Social Fund.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23827 by Derek McKay on 15 July 2019, when it last met the European Commission, and what was discussed. (S5W-24481) Derek Mackay: Scottish Government officials from the European Structural Funds and State Aid Division maintain regular dialogue by email, phone and in person with the European Commission regarding the European Social Fund.

Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that councils comply with their statutory duty to keep a register of contaminated land. (S5W-24515) Roseanna Cunningham: Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires all Local Authorities, as the primary regulators, to produce inspection strategies for their area which are publically available and are subject to periodic review.

When Local Authorities formally identify a site as contaminated land they are required to notify SEPA and to place the site on a public register.

In addition, the Scottish Government has specific powers under Part IIA to request SEPA to produce a ‘State of Contaminated Land in Scotland’ report. Local Authorities are required to provide information on the condition of contaminated land sites to SEPA for inclusion in the report. Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish its analysis of the wildlife crime penalties’ consultation, which closes on 16 August 2019, and by what date it will introduce any subsequent legislation. (S5W-24534) Roseanna Cunningham: An analysis of the responses to the consultation on wildlife crime penalties will be published on the Scottish Government website as soon as practicable after the consultation closes on 16 August 2019.

We will set out our future legislative plans in due course.

Education, Communities and Justice

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update regarding what specific action is being taken to protect prison staff from inhaling new psychoactive substances. (S5W-24394) Humza Yousaf: I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

As detailed in the response to PQ S5W-23105 on 29 May 2019, SPS continues to work alongside justice sector partners to understand the risks of psychoactive substances.

In addition, SPS is working collaboratively with the University of Dundee to analyse illicit articles recovered from our prisons in order to better understand the changing nature of drug misuse. Further planned research will improve understanding of transdermal transfer and second hand ingestion.

SPS is committed to ensuring that all staff guidance is evidenced based and mitigates the risk of exposure.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21823 by Clare Haughey on 6 March 2019, whether it plans to produce a tailored mental health training package specifically for school staff and, if so, when it will do so. (S5W-24520) John Swinney: The Scottish Government is committed to strengthening the resources available to all school staff to support the mental health and wellbeing of our children, young people and our teaching workforce.

In addition to the commitments contained in the 2018 Programme for Government, we are developing a comprehensive suite of mental health resources which will equip all school staff to support children and young people. This will enhance the strategies already available to schools and will be published by the end of 2020.

The recent pay agreement for teachers also commits the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers to addressing issues relating to teachers’ health and wellbeing. Our work with teachers and teacher organisations will continue to identify where there is action that we can take to improve the daily lives of teachers.

Health and Social Care

Mark McDonald (Aberdeen Donside) (Independent): To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any plans to improve the sharing of relevant patient information between primary and secondary care, beyond that which is covered by the Key Information Summary (KIS). (S5W-24490) Jeane Freeman: The Digital Health and Care strategy sets out the vision for a national digital platform through which relevant real-time data and information from health and care records, and the tools and services they use, is available to those who need it, when they need, wherever they are, in a secure and safe way. This work is being taken forward by the NES Digital Service (NDS). NDS will develop services such as ‘need to know’ services, which includes information summaries to better meet the needs of person- centred practice, with an overall aim to deliver the information professionals and citizens need at the point of care.

Daniel Johnson (Edinburgh Southern) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what the annual budget is for Autism Network Scotland. (S5W-24492) Jeane Freeman: The budget for Autism Network Scotland is provided by a grant, the following provides a breakdown of funding since March 2017:

• 2017-2018: £497,022 • 2018-2019: £450,000 • 2019-2020: £450,000 Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what the suicide rate within the veterinary profession has been in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018 and (d) 2019. (S5W-24523) Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government holds no information on the suicide rates within the veterinary profession for the years 2016 – 2019 as the annual published statistics do not include a breakdown by individual occupation. The Scottish Suicide Information Database publication shows that for the period 2011 - 2017 the total number of people aged 16-64 years old and in a professional occupation is 315 - this will include those in the veterinary profession.

Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what support is being provided to help identify and support school pupils with ADHD. (S5W-24558) John Swinney: We want all children and young people, including those with ADHD, to receive the support needed to reach their full learning potential.

Education authorities and other agencies have duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, which includes those with ADHD. Education authorities can ask other agencies (including social work services, health boards and skills development Scotland) for help in carrying out their duties under the Act.

Organisational Development and Operations

Michelle Ballantyne (South Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what the average waiting time is for responses by Social Security Scotland to queries on Universal Credit Scottish Choices. (S5W-24491) Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) delivers the Universal Credit (UC) Scottish choices on behalf of the Scottish Government. The DWP does not collect management information on waiting times relating specifically to UC Scottish choices as it is currently unable to disaggregate call waiting time data into individual topics.

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government what restructuring of Social Security Scotland (a) is planned and (b) has taken place, and what the reasons are for this. (S5W-24500) Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland has grown in scale since its launch in September 2018. It currently employs around 400 staff - mainly across its Dundee head office and second Glasgow site. Once fully operational, that will grow further to in excess of 1,900 people. The staffing and structure will continue to grow and change as new functions, local face- to-face delivery and further devolved benefits are launched.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has not published expanded accounts for 2017-18, which were due to be published by the end of March 2019. (S5W-24505) Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government complies with all financial reporting and auditing requirements and is developing its financial reporting to support transparency and the understanding of the increasingly complex financial picture. There have been improvements each year to the timing and presentation of the sets of accounts which make up the full reporting on the Scottish Budget. The Foreword to the Scottish Government Consolidated Accounts explained the 2018 developments: https://beta.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts- year-ended-31-march-2018/pages/1/ Although the target date for publishing this account by March 2019 was not achieved, considerable has been made and we are progressing a plan to achieve audit and publication of a 2017-18 product.

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government whether it has consulted on the development of expanded accounts for 2017-18, which it was due to do in early 2019. (S5W-24506) Derek Mackay: As referenced in the response to PQ S5W-24505 on 16 August 2019, the Scottish Government is developing a draft account which consolidates the wider public sector in Scotland. The Public Finance and Accountability Act 2000 requires consolidated public accounts to be audited before they can be laid and published Draft material has been shared for internal consultation within the Scottish Government and is with Audit Scotland for review. Further consultation and audit arrangements will be agreed, and the draft will be audited, finalised and published in due course.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government when it first committed to publishing the whole of its accounts, and for what reason it has not done so. (S5W-24507) Derek Mackay: All public bodies in Scotland produce and publish individual audited annual accounts. The Scottish Government produces all the accounts that are required. In a letter of 2 November 2016, the Permanent Secretary wrote to the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee, in advance of her attendance at the Committee on 10 November: http://www.parliament.scot/S5_Finance/PAPLS_Papers_10_November.pdf

Work has continued to develop this new output but it has been challenging to accommodate this additional project with existing and new priorities, alongside overcoming the many technical challenges associated with consolidating data from a significantly expanded number of organisations, some operating to different accounting standards. However, the work is now drawing to a conclusion. Draft material has been shared for internal consultation within the Scottish Government and is with Audit Scotland for review .

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish a consolidated account for the Scottish public sector. (S5W-24508) Derek Mackay: On 23 November 2018, Leslie Evans, Permanent Secretary, wrote to Jenny Marra, Convenor of PAPLS, laying out progress https://www.parliament.scot/S5_Public_Audit/Meeting %20Papers/PAPLS_Meeting_papers_PUBLIC_29_Nov_2018.pdf

In this letter, target dates were set out for sharing information for internal consultation by the end of December 2018, and for audit and publication by end March 2019. Information has been shared for internal consultation, and audit colleagues have been invited to engage. Final format, plans and dates for publication have not yet been agreed.

Neil Bibby (West Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government how often it meets its target to pay suppliers of public contracts within 30 working days. (S5W-24532) Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government’s prompt payment policy requires that all supplier invoices not in dispute are paid within the terms of the relevant contract. The Scottish Government aims to pay 100% of invoices, including disputed invoices once the dispute has been settled, on time in these terms. In addition to this commitment, in 2008 the Scottish Government introduced a 10- day target for paying bills to businesses in Scotland. This measure goes above and beyond our contractual commitment to pay suppliers within 30 days. Paying supplier bills within 10 working days is seen as a key objective, and an important expression of the Scottish Government's commitment to supporting business.

We do not hold payment performance information relating to public contracts only. We have however provided in the following table, combined figures for all payments made in 30 and 10 days by The Scottish Government and bodies who share its finance system, for the last 5 years.

Payment performance statistics can also be found in the SG Annual Accounts. The most recently published accounts can be found via the following link: (page 20). https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year- ended-31-march-2018/pages/2/

Financial Year Percentage of undisputed invoices paid within 30 days 2014-15 99.4% 2015-16 99.7% 2016-17 99.8% 2017-18 99.5% 2018-19 99.7%

Financial Year Percentage of undisputed invoices paid within 10 days 2014-15 98.5% 2015-16 98.4% 2016-17 98.6% 2017-18 98.2% 2018-19 99.0%

Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on ministerial photographers in each year since 2007. (S5W-24554) Derek Mackay: Due to the scope and timeframe of the question, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as this data is not available from a single source. Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government how many journeys have been made by ministerial car in each year since 1999, and at what cost. (S5W-24555) Derek Mackay: The following table details the total number of jobs completed and yearly cost of the Government Car Service since 1999.

Year Total number of journeys Total cost See note below(1) 99-00 See note below(3) £388,607 See note below (2) 00-01 See note below (3) £532,389 See note below (2) 01-02 See note below (3) £589,412 See note below (2) 02-03 See note below (3) £705,933 See note below (2) 03-04 See note below (3) £636,882 See note below (2) 04-05 See note below (3) £47,298 See note below (2) 05-06 See note below (3) - See note below (2) 06-07 See note below (3) £854,571 07-08 See note below (3) £962,142 08-09 9,417 £980,985 09-10 9,437 £995,658 10-11 8,159 £974,678 11-12 9,201 £1,074,714 12-13 10,389 £1,204,864 13-14 9,543 £1,156,208 14-15 10,039 £1,184,851 15-16 10,619 £1,145,521 16-17 9,527 £1,092,375 17-18 10,050 £1,177,398 18-19 10,755 £1,323,131

Notes

1. Total costs include staff salaries, employer’s contributions, fuel, vehicle maintenance, private hire and travel and subsistence.

2. Partial costs; no complete data available.

3. No records held.

Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve broadband in Kingholm Quay, Dumfries. (S5W-24606) Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government has committed £600 million to the Reaching 100% (R100) broadband programme, which will ensure that every home and business in Scotland can access superfast broadband.

In line with state aid rules, the R100 programme will focus exclusively on so- called ‘white’ areas (defined at postcode level) – where suppliers have told us that they won’t deliver superfast access commercially.

Areas of Kingholm Quay already have commercial coverage as well as coverage provided through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme. The remaining areas will be included in the R100 intervention area.

Transport Scotland

Lewis Macdonald (North East Scotland) (Scottish Labour): To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the trading update that was issued in July 2019 by the consortium member, Galliford Try, which referred to continuing negotiations on “the significant claim with the client” in relation to the AWPR, whether it will provide an update on these negotiations. (S5W-24517) Michael Matheson: I will of course continue to keep Parliament and the REC Committee updated in terms of any new developments, as I have done throughout the process.

The cost of the project remains at £745 million. While it is not appropriate to comment in detail on the contractor’s claim due to the commercially confidential nature of the discussions regarding it, I can confirm that, to date, Aberdeen Roads Limited has yet to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate its claim.