Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has met with the Hometown Foundation on two occasions since May 2016, to hear about their proposals for state-funded autonomous schools. I met the Director of the Hometown Foundation on 25 October 2016. Officials were also present. The second meeting, between the Director of the Foundation and Special Advisers, took place on 21 November 2016. No future meetings are planned at present.

The National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Young People already provides discounts on bus and rail travel within Scotland for all young people living in Scotland aged 16 to 18. Using the Young Scot smart card, the Scheme offers a one-third discount off the adult single fare on any registered bus service in Scotland, one third off most rail journeys in Scotland and a 50% discount on rail season tickets. Eligible Island residents also receive vouchers for 4 free ferry journeys a year.

In addition, the Scottish Government will introduce free bus travel for Modern Apprentices aged under 21 in 2018. We will also be providing three months free bus travel for recipients of the Job Grant aged between 16 and 24 once this benefit comes into force.

The Scottish Government has no plans to extend eligibility to the National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People to people aged 18 and under.

The Scottish Government is committed to rail electrification recognising the key benefits it brings in terms of improved journey times and connectivity, environmental benefits and reduced industry costs.

Future electrification schemes, such as Glasgow to Kilmarnock and East Kilbride will be considered as part of the broader rail infrastructure strategy and investment priorities beyond 2019. Any investment decisions will be subject to business case and affordability.

The Scottish Government does not have any plans to review the charitable status of independent schools at present.

The Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator (“OSCR”) is responsible for determining charitable status in Scotland in accordance with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. To be granted charitable status an organisation must meet the ‘charity test’; this means that a body must have wholly charitable purposes and be able to demonstrate that it will provide public benefit in furtherance of those purposes. Independent schools must meet OSCR requirements in order to obtain charitable status.

As part of its role, OSCR also has a duty to ensure that charities entered in the Scottish Charity Register continue to meet the charity test and since 2007 have reviewed the charitable status of 52 schools.

The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (‘the 2005 Act’) is reviewed regularly as part of the Scottish Government’s formal and informal engagement with OSCR.

The Scottish Government is aware of the capacity issues associated with the increasing demand for Gaelic education. The question of capacity generally focuses on staffing, accommodation and resources. Information is collected on pupil and teacher numbers by the Scottish Government and Bòrd na Gidhlig and the uptake of Gaelic at the Early Learning and Childcare stage is also a good indication of future numbers at primary. New routes have been created, and are being promoted, to attract increasing numbers of Gaelic teachers into the profession or to transfer to Gaelic teaching. The Scottish Government has a Gaelic schools capital fund which has assisted a number of authorities with future Gaelic education accommodation needs and with the establishment of the e-Sgoil. In addition, both the Scottish Government and Bòrd na Gidhlig will maintain their support for resources and support for pupils and teachers in Gaelic education. The Scottish Government is continuing to work closely with local authorities to plan for future demand and thus to address capacity issues in Gaelic education.

Part five of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 (ASBA) was designed to provide a swift effective deterrent to the problem of antisocial neighbour noise. The decision to use dB(A) was based on the research report commissioned to inform the legislation. The report can be found at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Research/About/EBAR/19670. Principally, environmental noise levels are generally described in terms of an A-weighting which simulates the response of the ear. The dB(A) weighting network is the most widely used. dB(C) weightings do not correlate well with human subjective tests. In addition a dB(C) weighting protocol would involve a much more complex measurement regime and thus negate the principle of a swift deterrent.

If the permitted noise levels are not exceeded, local authority officers or the police can still use other powers to abate the noise nuisance, for example, under the statutory nuisance regime. There is no statutorily defined limit for the volume of noise, including low frequencies, which constitutes a statutory nuisance. Each case is for investigation by an environmental health officer (or equivalent) who is trained to decide whether the law is being breached according to the specific circumstances.

Nuclear safety is a reserved matter, however, the Scottish Government continues to work closely with the UK Government, Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and all relevant emergency responders on contingency planning and keeps its arrangements under continual review.

The scope and structure of a Periodic Safety Review is a matter for the licensee.

As defined in ONR’s annual plan, the decision on the Hunterston B periodic safety review will be issued, we understand, by 31 January 2017.

The scope of this work has yet to be agreed, but will be subject to engagement with a range of public, private and third sector stakeholders.

Guidance on Pre-school Teacher Deployment was last published in May 2009.

The Scottish Government believes that children must have access to highly qualified staff with expertise in early childhood learning and development – and that this is particularly vital for those facing particular disadvantages. That is why we are committed to ensuring that nurseries in the most deprived areas will have an additional teacher or graduate from 2018 and we will set out more details as to how this commitment will be delivered later this month.

We have also sought views on a wide range of policy areas as part of our consultation on the expansion of early learning and childcare in Scotland, A Blueprint for 2020. The consultation closed on 9 January 2017 and the Scottish Government will set out its response in the Spring.

Scotland's Road Safety Framework envisages a future where no one is killed on Scotland's roads, and the injury rate is much reduced. We remain committed to implementing the Framework and a mid-term review in 2016 identified cyclists and pedestrians as priorities for further consideration.

The Scottish Government funds a number of road safety initiatives for cyclists, including:

• Cycling Scotland's "Give Everyone Cycle Space" campaign, which is run annually and nationally both on TV and radio, which asks all drivers to be aware of cyclists on the roads at all times and to give cyclists as much space as you would another vehicle;

• adult cycle training sessions, which are available across the country from cycle retailers, and a downloadable APP from Cycling Scotland, which take you through various road safety exercises, including road positioning;

• the Big Bike Revival run by Cycling UK, which has held over 500 community-led sessions since September 2016 and will continue in 2017, together with free Dr Bike maintenance checks, cycle training and community led rides;

• Sustrans' Workplace Champions' programme, which is currently delivered in Edinburgh and Glasgow and engages with workplaces to deliver cycle training to those who wish to cycle to work;

• funding support to local authorities to deliver the three levels of the UK national standard Bikeability Scotland cycle training in schools;

• support for the implementation of 20mph streets/zones in communities across Scotland to improve road safety; and

• Sustrans' Community Links and Community Links PLUS programmes, which offer matched funding for on-road and fully segregated cycle paths to improve safety for cyclists.