Chamber and committees

The public consultation on the revised relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) teaching guidance will be published shortly.

The Scottish Government does not routinely collect data on mothballed schools in Scotland. The Scottish Government does collect data from local authorities in order to collate a list of schools regarded as rural for the purposes of the Schools (Consultation)(Scotland) Act 2010. The most recent rural schools list was published on 25 October 2021 - Rural schools in Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The rural schools list includes those schools the relevant local authority has mothballed. The 2021 rural schools list shows that 21 schools were reported as being mothballed. The following table shows how many rural schools are mothballed by local authority area.

Conclusions drawn from the Health and Wellbeing Census are available on the Scottish Government's website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/health-and-wellbeing-census-scotland-2021-22/ .

It is essential that public services have a robust understanding of the issues affecting children and young people, so that appropriate support is put in place for them and their families. The Census data provides schools, education authorities, health and social care partners, as well as national Government, with the best source of evidence on children and young people’s health and wellbeing. The data collected in this first Census will provide a robust benchmark to measure future Census data collections against.

We will now work with local authorities to learn from their experiences of having undertaken the Census both to understand fully the benefit to them, and whether there are areas for improvement in the process.

As set out in the response to S6W-15482 on 16 March 2023, all projects are subject to review by NHS Scotland Assure prior to opening.

The Key Stage Assurance Review (KSAR) process examines projects at key points in their lifecycle. It does not remove any legal or contractual obligations from the NHS Health Board, their designers or contractors. It provides assurance to progress successfully to the next review point and the process will be mandated for projects requiring Scottish Government approval.

As part of the commissioning, completion, and handover part of the process, from February 2023, all building projects going through a KSAR, should not open to patients or the public until they have received a ‘supported status’ from NHS Scotland Assure.

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

Guidance for local authorities and schools on teaching relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education is available on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/conduct-relationships-sexual-health-parenthood-education-schools/.

A summary of resources available to schools and teachers to support delivery of RSHP education is available on Education Scotland's National Improvement Hub at https://education.gov.scot/improvement/learning-resources/a-summary-of-rshp-resources/. However it is for education authorities and schools to decide which resources they use in supporting their teaching, and it is recommended that schools involve parents and pupils in their consideration of resources .

The Scottish Government has not had correspondence with Scottish Water regarding The Baird Family Hospital and The ANCHOR Centre. Scottish Water's engagement on this project is directly with NHS Grampian, who are responsible for delivering the project.

All projects are subject to ongoing review and consideration. It is for NHS Grampian’s project team, in discussion with the contractor, to determine whether any client changes are actioned.

The Health and Wellbeing census provides a dataset of just over 25,000 records from S4 to S6 pupils on relationships and sexual health. For the 16 local authorities who collected data, 39.1% of S4 to S6 pupils responded.

Before the introduction of the Health and Wellbeing Census in 2021, local authorities used a variety of approaches to gather the evidence they need to meet their duties to support pupil wellbeing, such as commissioning surveys at their own cost. Data gathered continues to cover issues relating to food and nutrition, sleep, relationships, bullying, sexual health, substance use and physical activity, as well as social media use and mental and emotional health and wellbeing.

NHS Boards are each distinct Scottish public authorities for the purposes of FOI legislation and each one is responsible for its own compliance with its statutory obligations under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

The Section 60 Code of Practice, produced by the Scottish Ministers, provides guidance for all Scottish public authorities on discharging their functions under the legislation. Additionally, as the independent public official responsible for promoting and enforcing FOI law, the Scottish Information Commissioner encourages Scottish public authorities to develop good FOI practice, providing guidance and support materials on his website: https://www.itspublicknowledge.info/law-and-guidance .

The Scottish Government has been clear that we have no plans to introduce a three-mile fishing limit around the coast of Scotland.

Such blanket spatial restrictions are not consistent with an evidence-based approach, do not embrace the benefits of new technology and are inconsistent with the nuanced approach outlined in our 2020-2030 Fisheries Management Strategy.