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This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) publishes statistics on accidental dwelling fires, broken down by local authority, however this data is not broken down into specific causes. These statistics are available on SFRS’s website, and can be found at this link http://www.firescotland.gov.uk/about-us/fire-and-rescue-statistics.aspx

The SFRS has a statutory duty to promote fire safety across Scotland. In the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2016, Scottish Ministers require SFRS to contribute fully to improving the safety and well-being of Scotland’s communities and to ensure that there is a clear process for working with partners to identify the risks faced by communities and individuals so that activity can be targeted using a risk-based approach.

The SFRS considers how best to reduce dwelling fires, including those caused by electricity, what the focus of its preventative action will be, and with which partner organisations it will work to achieve this.

In addition to a programme of fire safety awareness campaigns and community safety engagement events, the SFRS carried out 69,227 Home Fire Safety Visits in 2019-20. The SFRS website also carries safety information for householders on a range of issues, including home appliances and electrical safety.

Despite Scotland voting to remain in the European Union, EU citizens are being forced to apply to retain their basic rights. This Government is supporting EU citizens through the Stay in Scotland campaign . Our marketing campaign has relaunched and includes adverts on radio and in local newspapers, helping to reach those not online. Officials have engaged with a wide range of organisations, including religious organisations, parent groups, unions and prisons, to raise awareness. We have worked closely with local authorities and care providers, including funding a caseworker at COSLA and placed a particular focus on vulnerable groups such as the elderly, looked-after children and the homeless. We also deliver an advice service , with Citizens’ Advice Scotland, to support EU citizens applying for settlement.

I have asked SQA to respond. The charges per local authority are:

The budget agreed by Scottish Ministers for SQA for 2021-22 is based on the SQA levy to local authorities and entry fees charged separately remaining at the same level as has been the case since 2012-13.

These fees provide a contribution towards the cost of awarding, rather than covering the full cost for that individual local authority, school or college. The costs of awarding National Qualifications, even this year, are greater than the contribution made by local authorities in the form of a levy.

The governance applied to the Marine Fund Scotland will deliver on the Future of Fisheries Management policy document published last December. This will provide a clear framework to manage fisheries, balancing environmental, social and economic interests, adopting an ecosystems approach to fishing which follows the science.

This approach will ensure that all sea fisheries catching activity is in balance with the available opportunity in the exploitation of wild fisheries stocks. In addition, scallop dredge fishing activity is also controlled by other measures such as the limited availability of licence entitlements which have been capped following the removal by Marine Scotland of latent unused licences ensuring there is no increase in scallop dredge capacity.

The Scottish Government is keen to encourage wide-ranging and inclusive dialogue on this subject, particularly concerning how to best manage and present elements of our contested or hidden heritage. While local authorities are responsible for public statues, reflecting their accountability to local residents, the Scottish Government will continue to champion a fresh consideration of how we understand and present Scotland’s history to ensure the full story is told. We are aware of City of Edinburgh Council's ongoing review and would encourage all local authorities to consider similar action.

The Scottish Government recognises Scotland’s part in historic injustices like the transatlantic slave trade and Empire and is determined to acknowledge and learn from the our past. Recent activity includes our partnership with Museums Galleries Scotland alongside race equality and museum sector stakeholders to identify ways to reinterpret aspects of Scotland’s hidden or contested heritage to present a more accurate, complete picture of the past. This includes a commitment to establish a museum to address Scotland’s historical links to the slave trade, alongside celebrating the many and varied positive contributions that minority ethnic communities have made and continue to make to Scotland.

The Scottish Government has committed to promote and support the teaching of Black and Minority Ethnic history and the importance of tackling racism in society today. As part of a programme of work on Race Equality and Anti-Racism in Education, the teaching of Scotland’s colonial history in schools - and how it, and anti-racism education, can be better delivered as part of the curriculum - is a core focus. We are working with the race equality sector, education practitioners and young people to consider how best to address this commitment.

In addition, during the last year, we reviewed our approach to international development and announced the outcomes in March this year. Our new Principles – co-developed with input from civil society and academics in our partner countries and Scotland – will lie at the heart of how Scotland seeks to set an example in addressing the issue of systematic racism and inequality in international development. As part of this, discussions have focussed on how to support a shift in power to partner countries, towards increased localisation of development.

The aim of the Scottish Government’s annual £10 million International Development Fund (IDF) is to support and empower our partner countries: Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia, and Pakistan. The COVID-19 Pandemic has greatly impacted our programme over the past year. On 01 September 2020, the Programme for Government set out our intention to review our approach to International Development to ensure that we were focusing our work on areas where we could make the biggest contribution and difference in our partner countries against the backdrop of the Pandemic, further information on the Review can be found here ( International development: Coronavirus (COVID-19): review of international development programme - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ). In December 2020 the Scottish Government provided £2 million of funding to UNICEF for their response to the Pandemic in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia ( Aid for COVID-19 response in Africa - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ).

We have also tried to mitigate the effects of the Covid Pandemic on our project partners by making available total funding of £991,594 from the IDF and Humanitarian Emergency Fund where we were able to do so. In terms of other support, Scotland is sending life-saving oxygen and ventilation equipment to India ( 100 oxygen concentrators and 40 continuous positive airway pressure ((CPAP) ventilators ) as part of a UK-wide effort to support them in the fight against COVID-19.

We have also committed to not only maintain, but in fact increasing our International Development budget by 50%, to £15 million, which is intended to assist with Covid preparedness in our partner countries. This is in contrast to the UK Government's ODA funding being cut from 0.7% of GNI to 0.5% of GNI which will have such disastrous effects on the world's most marginalised and vulnerable communities at a time of great need.

Mairi McAllan: The Sea Eagle Management Scheme (SEMS) is part of the delivery mechanism for the White-tailed Eagle Action Plan. The Plan has run from 2017 and has recently been reviewed ( WTE Action Plan Review ) . NatureScot developed and published the White-tailed Eagle Action Plan Extension , which sets out objectives covering a further 3 years.

The public benefits and outcomes of the SEMS have included reducing the impacts of white-tailed eagles on farming and crofting interests, whilst developing the right conditions for the sustainable co-existence between sea eagles and sheep farming in ways that benefit the biodiversity, economic and social interests of Scotland.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work with Creative Scotland to ensure that further rounds of the Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund and the Performing Arts Venues Relief Fund can launch as soon as possible and that awards are made swiftly. The schemes launched on 10 June, with the first payments being made in early July. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy announced on 2 June that the budget for these funds will be £25 million.

No decisions have yet been made on the allocation of the remainder of the expected £40 million culture consequentials, because this funding has not yet been confirmed fully by the UK Government. However, the Scottish Government is continuing to engage with businesses within the Creative Industries and wider cultural sector, meeting regularly with stakeholders from all parts of the culture sector, to understand their challenges with a view to ensuring that further funding is as effective as possible.

The creative industries, culture and arts sectors have been among some of the hardest hit by the pandemic and will continue to face difficult issues as restrictions ease. The Scottish Government has provided more than £140 million of additional funding for culture and heritage since the start of the pandemic and we are absolutely committed to working with the sector to ensure we deliver a cultural recovery.

The Scottish Government has engaged with the UK Government throughout the Events Research Programme. We await the final report of Phase 1 of the Programme and will consider the evidence contained in it to help inform our route ahead, including for live music settings.

Meantime, the Scottish Government is reviewing physical distancing and an announcement of the outcome of this review is due shortly.