Chamber and committees

Forestry and Land Scotland provides the following guidance on its website:

Purchase or scavenge firewood for domestic use

Members of the public can obtain a permit to buy timber for the purpose of domestic heating.

A firewood permit is available where a set quantity of small unprocessed logs is available for collection. A scavenging permit allows the recovery of timber from a recent harvesting site using hand tools.

Please contact your local office for help with any enquiries about the availability of these licences, and how to buy them.

In the Financial year 2022-23, in the Dumfries and Galloway Area, 5 firewood permits and 12 Scavenging permits have been issued by Forestry and Land Scotland. The issue of permits is limited due to the inconsistency of the availability of suitable material, particularly on sites in convenient locations for public access. This type of collecting of firewood has had ongoing health, safety and welfare concerns as Forestry and Land Scotland have had a number of incidences of permit holders, getting lost in the forest and/or using chainsaws to cut up wood in the forest rather than collecting suitable lengths by hand or using hand tools as per the respective permit conditions.

All children and young people should receive the support they need to reach their full potential.

Education authorities are legally responsible for identifying and meeting the additional support needs of their pupils, including any additional support needs of pupils receiving Gaelic-medium education. The Scottish Government has supported education authorities in the delivery of these duties through the preparation and publication of statutory guidance.

We are also working closely with local government partners, through the Additional Support for Learning Project Board , to ensure we continue to see progress with the delivery of the recommendations from the 2020 additional support for learning review. In November 2022, we published an updated action plan and progress report to further support improvement in the implementation of additional support for learning, including within Gaelic-medium education.

As I set out in my answer to question S6W-12387, the Scottish Government has honoured the commitment I made during my visit on 3 November 2021 to provide financial support to Dumfries and Galloway Council. This included £25,000 of capital support, which represents half of the Council’s additional expenditure, in relation to the reinstatement of both the pedestrian river footbridges.

Despite telecoms legislation being wholly reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government continues to prioritise significant funding for digital connectivity. We are investing over £600 million in the R100 contracts that are currently delivering gigabit capable broadband connections across rural Scotland at pace. Through the Scottish 4G Infill programme, we are investing £28.75m to deliver 4G infrastructure and mobile services in up to 55 notspots across Scotland with 30 masts currently live in rural and island areas.

Comprehensive data on the number of people accessing alcohol treatment services are not available.

Scottish Government is working to make alcohol treatment services more accessible to those who need them. An important part of this is by tackling stigma, to that end we will be publishing a Stigma Action Plan in early 2023.

We recognise the importance of residential rehabilitation being available to everybody who wants it - and for whom it is deemed to be clinically appropriate - at the time that they ask for it in every part of the country. That is why we have made £100 million available towards residential rehabilitation services and associated aftercare over this parliamentary term.

Alcohol treatment targets are being developed alongside stage two of the drugs targets implementation in 2024. This will ensure that people with problematic alcohol use continue to receive the same quality of care as those with problematic drug use.

In 2012 a Speed Limit Review, in accordance with the Scottish Government issued guidance titled 'Setting Local Speed Limits: Guidance for Local Authorities ETLLD Circular 1/2006’, concluded that given the character, mean speed and accident rates, a 50 mph speed limit on the A76 is appropriate in Mennock. We are not aware of any change in the accident rate, mean speed, the number of junctions/accesses in the area, or other material change since the review was undertaken that would lead us to revisit the findings of the Speed Limit Review.

As part of the Road Safety Framework to 2030, we are undertaking a National Speed Management Review to support a range of policies supporting national outcomes. The multi-year review shall include public consultation and may possibly require legislative changes. Until this work is completed, the existing guidance will continue to be followed. Any speed limit changes will only be supported where these are evidenced as meeting the current guidance or through their likely contribution to the Scottish Government’s 2030 road safety targets.

There are no current plans to review public sector buildings specifically for the purpose of retro-fitting solar panels. However, the retrofitting of solar panels onto existing public sector buildings is supported through the Scottish Government’s Green Public Sector Estate Decarbonisation Scheme (GPSEDS).The Scottish Government is making £200 million available through this scheme from 2021-2026 to support the decarbonisation and increased energy efficiency of existing public sector buildings. For solar projects, there are two main support elements:

The Scottish Public Sector Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme, which offers zero interest loans to the public sector to enable them to undertake retrofit energy efficiency improvement projects.

The Scottish Central Government Energy Efficiency Grant scheme, which provides capital funding support to enable the delivery of decarbonisation projects across the public sector, including Solar PV. This operates under an open funding call, targeting Scottish central government organisations.

Novavax Nuvaxovid is currently available in all Health Boards as an alternative to the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines and is only to be used in exceptional circumstances. This means that when mRNA vaccines are not considered clinically suitable, the Novavax vaccine may be used for booster vaccination of adults over 18 years. Not clinically suitable means that you can only have Novavax if you have a specific history of allergies to the mRNA vaccines or its ingredients, or your condition makes it unsuitable.

To support the installation of solar panels on existing domestic and commercial premises, the Scottish Government has a number of funding schemes.

For domestic properties, Home Energy Scotland provides advice and funding for solar installations of up to £5,000 in interest-free loans. Warmer Homes Scotland, the Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme, provides funding for solar projects for homeowners or private tenants with consenting landlords.

Local authorities can obtain Scottish Government funding for solar installations through our Area Based Scheme. The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund also considers funding applications for solar PV within the zero emission heat solutions category.

For communities, our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) supports solar renewable projects through advice and loan and grant funding to community groups. Our SME Loan Scheme offers eligible businesses access to interest free loans of up to £100,000 towards the installation of solar PV, as well as free energy efficiency evaluation and advice on potential installations.