Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government welcomes Reform Scotland’s "Breaking the Languages Barrier” report. As the report itself notes, the Scottish Government is committed to language learning and the value it brings to both individuals and wider society. We will consider the report’s recommendations carefully as part of our ongoing work with partners to grow language learning at school.

Much of what the report recommends is already part of the Scottish Government’s 1 +2 policy, including our aim to increase language learning at all levels in schools, starting from P1 ,rather than focus solely on qualifications. The 2018 local authority languages survey shows that at least 91% of primary schools in Scotland now provide continuous learning in at least one other language from P1 onwards. and are providing a wide variety of second additional languages from P5 onwards, including Chinese and Urdu.

The report calls for an audit of language teaching capability in primary schools. This was carried out by local authorities in 2013. Since 2013, we have provided local authorities with an additional £27.2million to assist them with the implementation of the 1+2 policy.

The report also calls for a greater focus on community languages, including through the involvement of parents. We encourage schools to involve native speakers in language learning including parents, modern languages assistants and university students. Scotland’s National Centre for Languages actively promotes and supports parental and family engagement in language learning in schools.

Additionally, the Scottish Government provides updates on the implementation of our languages 1+2 policy to the Parliament’s Culture, Tourism, European and External Relations Committee every six months.

We understand the football authorities in the UK have yet to decide whether or not to prepare a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup and, if they did, which countries would be involved.

I know the Scottish FA has said it is “always open-minded” about hosting major tournaments, and we would consider seriously any costed proposal, which could involve some of our stadia.

The results of the census will provide a welcome update to national population statistics, and will provide important context to the proposed Seabird Conservation Strategy. The Strategy will seek to identify actions that address the pressures impacting on seabird populations.

The seabird breeding census is being led by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Therefore the Scottish Government is not currently taking any action with regard to the census.

Scotland’s third National Planning Framework (NPF3) states that a planned approach to development in the Edinburgh city region will be required to ensure that development needs are met, whilst taking into account existing and future infrastructure priorities. The Scottish Government will review this and produce NPF4 when the Planning Bill has been considered by the Scottish Parliament. The Planning Bill, together with the wider programme of planning reform, is also seeking to enhance the links between development planning and infrastructure.

The South East Scotland Strategic Development Planning Authority (SESplan) is responsible for planning the Edinburgh city region. National Records of Scotland (NRS) population figures provide the basis for the future planning of areas, including the Edinburgh and surrounding areas. The South East Scotland Strategic Development Planning Authority (SESplan) have prepared a plan looking 20 years ahead based on NRS 2012 population projections (SESplan 2). This is currently with Scottish Ministers for consideration and so it would be inappropriate to comment on it at this point in time.

Transport Scotland previously led a Working Group comprising SESplan, SEStran and the constituent Local Authorities to assess the cumulative impacts of development on the strategic transport network within the SESplan Strategic Development Plan area, with a particular focus on cross boundary travel. This work is now informing further work by the local partners on considering links with planning process, developer contributions and potential means of delivery.

The City of Edinburgh Council is also responsible for producing a local development plan for Edinburgh. Work is underway to prepare ‘City Plan 2030’ with a Main Issues Report expected in early 2019.

I would refer the member to my answer to S5W-16110 on 1 May 2018 for further information on Scottish Government infrastructure commitments in the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal and the work currently progressing on national transport reviews.

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 .

The information requested is not held centrally, however data from the industry suggests that the main export markets for Scottish wild and farm venison are Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Whilst details of the initiative are currently under development it is important that participating companies, mentors and mentees, are either actively exporting or are at a stage where exporting is an immediate and practical option for sustainable business growth. This could include social enterprises if they meet these criteria.

Scotland’s approach to securing events is set out in our National Events Strategy, Scotland the Perfect Stage. The EventScotland team in VisitScotland leads on the delivery of the Strategy, working in partnership with local authorities, sports and venues to attract and secure events of all types.

The success of the approach is evident through our signature events such as Edinburgh’s Festivals and The Open golf championship, as well as high profile international events such as the very successful, new and innovative European Championships hosted by Glasgow and Berlin. Upcoming major events, including the European Athletics Indoor Championships, the Solheim Cup and UEFA EURO 2020, will further enhance our reputation for world-class delivery.

Currency fluctuations provide both an opportunity and a challenge to companies. The Scottish Government–CBI Scotland First Minister’s Export Challenge mentoring partnership will equip companies with the skillsets to address the changing conditions of the global marketplace.

The focus of the Scottish Government–CBI Scotland First Minister’s Export Challenge mentoring partnership is to provide companies with practical advice and skills around the opportunity and challenge of exporting, from companies with real world experience of trading in overseas markets.

The work being undertaken to develop our export plan 'A Trading Nation' due to be published in spring 2019 will consider which international markets and domestic industries offer most scope for potential export growth.