Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

The Scottish Government does not hold the required level of information to assess levels of income that Scottish Universities derive from the enrolment of Chinese students.

In 2021-2022 Academic Year, the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) paid a total of £219.6m in higher education tuition fee awards for eligible Scottish domiciled students. In addition, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) allocated approximately £694m in block teaching grants to universities in respect of funded places.

The following table provides a breakdown of the spend from the main Rural and Islands Housing Fund in each year since the funds were launched in 2016-17, broken down by rural (mainland) and Islands. The Rural and Island Housing Fund plays an important role in offering support to community organisations and others while complementing the significant delivery through our mainstream programme by Councils and Registered Social Landlords in rural and island areas.

Statistics relating to the progress of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published quarterly on the Scottish Government website. These figures relate to the number of approvals, site starts, and completions of social and affordable homes, and can be accessed using the following link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters, including how many buildings in Scotland have been included on Historic Environment Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register in each year since 1999, are best answered by Historic Environment Scotland.

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a full reply to his question in writing.

The achievement of Fair Trade Nation status for Scotland, first in February 2013 and once more in March 2017, signals to the world that Scotland takes an active leadership role in challenging global poverty and recognising the dignity and rights of producers, through a commitment to fairness in international trading.

The Scottish Fair Trade Forum, which has received core funding from the Scottish Government since 2007 to take forward our work on Fair Trade, continues to engage across all sections of Scottish society from schools, colleges and universities to faith groups, businesses and charities, to raise awareness of the plight of farmers and producers in the developing world and build support for our status as a Fair Trade Nation.

This year sees the 10th Anniversary since Scotland first achieved the accolade of Fair Trade Nation status, and events are planned up and down the country during this year's Fairtrade Fortnight to mark the occasion.

The safety and wellbeing of all fire and rescue officers is of upmost importance to the Scottish Government.

We will continue to support SFRS as they continue to work in partnership with the FBU and Professor Anna Stec to build on the existing work of their dedicated Contaminants Group.

The Scottish Government will carefully consider any related proposals from the FBU or SFRS as a result of this important research.

The Scottish Government is aware of the Welsh publication. Similarly, we are keen to reduce, and where possible eliminate, the use of restraint in respect of children across all settings.

We are working with partners to explore definitions of restraint, along with the availability of data, guidance, training and support. We are keen that any work taken forward should focus on practice improvement and learning and development of how we support practitioners so that they are better equipped and informed.

We have reached an agreement with social landlords on below-inflation rent increases for the next financial year.

Organisations representing social landlords have announced their members’ plans for average rent increases for 2023-24, which will keep rents significantly below private market levels.

Under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act 2022, rents are effectively frozen in the social rented sectors until 31 March 2023. Decisions on future plans for the private sector rent freeze, as well as other measures contained in the Act, will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Scottish Government and COSLA published ‘ Creating Hope Together , Scotland’s ten year suicide prevention strategy’ in September 2022 alongside an initial three year action plan. The development of the strategy and action plan involved engagement with key stakeholders, including those working across the further and higher education sector, as well as people with lived experience of suicide. The action plan includes a focus on developing tailored approaches to suicide prevention to meet the needs of different groups, and students are identified as one such group.

The Government is also currently developing a Student Mental Health Plan, due to publish in Spring 2023, which will complement ‘ Creating Hope Together’ and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which is due to publish in Spring 2023. The Student Mental Health Plan will provide a framework for action by universities and colleges.

The Student Mental Health Plan will be informed by key research, such as the Mental Health Foundation’s Thriving Learners Surveys and Universities UK’s ‘Suicide-safer universities’ resource. The development of the Plan is being driven forward by the Student Mental Health and Well Being Working Group, which I chair. Membership includes NUS Scotland, Think Positive, Universities Scotland and Colleges Scotland.