The UK has a long history of onshore gas exploration and the range of techniques used in both conventional and unconventional gas extraction, including hydraulic fracturing, are understood by the relevant regulators. There is a robust regulatory, safety and environmental regime in place to ensure that potential risks to safety, the environment or the community are properly managed. Given the new dimension of hydraulic fracturing being applied to unconventional gas extraction the statutory regulators will continue to monitor hydraulic fracturing closely.

Scottish ministers have not, in the past five years, agreed to pay the legal expenses of any party with which it is in dispute where it considers it to be in the public interest that the matter is determined by a court or tribunal.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting survivors of childhood abuse. The In Care Survivors Service Scotland (ICSSS) provides a specialist service to a group of people who have suffered trauma of a very specific nature which is tailored to their needs. In particular, the service uniquely offers support accessing records relating to individuals’ care experiences.

We have asked Open Secret to submit a renewed business case for further funding, which we will take into consideration in combination with the external evaluation of the service currently being carried out. We therefore do not anticipate the need for alternative arrangements.

As part of the grant conditions, the In Care Survivors Service Scotland (ICSSS) is required to monitor the quality and effectiveness of its service provision and provide quarterly updates to the Scottish Government. Furthermore, ICSSS is also required and has now commissioned an external evaluation.

The Scottish Government’s action to meet statutory emissions reduction targets is a collective responsibility across all ministerial portfolios, and all Cabinet Secretaries are currently engaged in discussions in preparation for the Spending Review.

The Scottish Government’s action to meet statutory emissions reduction targets is a collective responsibility across all ministerial portfolios, and all Cabinet Secretaries are involved in regular and ongoing discussion on the implementation of the Report on Proposals and Policies.

The Scottish Government published guidance in February 2011 to assist all public bodies in complying with the duties placed upon them by Part 4 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. Officials located within the Energy and Climate Change Directorate lead work to co-ordinate the Scottish Government’s own compliance with the duties through a range of actions reflecting the suggested areas of activity set out in the guidance, including governance, target setting, reporting, public engagement and acting sustainably.

The Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 (the 2010 Act) sets out the process to be followed if a local authority decides to close a school. This includes the Ministerial call in procedure, which is set out at section 15 of the 2010 Act. Under section 17 of the 2010 Act, the Scottish Ministers may issue a call-in notice only where it appears to them that the education authority have failed (a) in a significant regard to comply with the requirements imposed on it by (or under) this Act so far as they are relevant in relation to the closure proposal, or (b) to take proper account of a material consideration relevant to its decision to implement the proposal.

The Scottish Government believe the differences in interpreting the 2010 Act have resulted in its original intentions - that the educational, not financial, benefits should be the main consideration - not always being followed. The voluntary moratorium and the creation of the Commission on Rural Education recognises the very specific challenges that can face Scotland’s rural communities and the role of many rural schools in providing the focal point for a whole community and ensuring better life chances.

A summary of the 2010 Act, the Ministerial Call In process and associated guidance:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/Buildings/changestoschoolestate

Scottish Ministers and officials meet local authorities on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues relating to the school estate.

The social wage is the pact between the politicians, public services and the people of Scotland to deliver the social and economic circumstances for everyone to flourish. This is a social wage that looks beyond salary to the range of services provided by the Scottish Government at a time of financial difficulty for many people.

As a result of the UK Government coalition cuts that are too fast and too deep there will be many across society that will feel the effects of this fall in public spending. Through the social wage the Scottish Government will work to protect those in society that are most vulnerable to the effects of these cuts including job-seekers, students, pupils, parents, carers and patients.

This is a social wage in an age of austerity, designed to deliver a more caring society that protects those most in need, nurturing community endeavour to the benefit of all living in Scotland.