The pandemic and the subsequent pressures on the court system and justice partners arising from the backlog of cases it created, has impacted on the implementation timetable for the Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2019. We are working with partners and stakeholders through a cross sector implementation group to update the implementation plan and have committed to publish by the end of March 2024.

Local authorities are independent of the Scottish Government and responsible for their own delivery of pest control services. This information is not held centrally. General prevention advice for anyone who suspects an infestation can be found by contacting the relevant local authority.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18928 on 21 June 2023. 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 .

The £46 million funding was intended to support strategic change in the college and university sectors and was not part of the core teaching funding allocations. Despite a very challenging financial climate, the Scottish Government committed nearly £2 billion to Scotland’s universities and colleges in 2023-24. Part of the reason for withdrawing the £46 million funding was to allow the Scottish Government to fund public sector pay deals. Strategic change remains necessary and we will be taking this forward with the Scottish Funding Council, colleges and universities in the context of reform, building on the purpose and principles for post-school education published in June 2023. This can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/post-school-education-research-skills-purpose-principles/

The Scottish Government’s latest annual progress report on child poverty , published on 13 June 2023, sets out progress toward the meeting the child poverty targets and in implementing the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’.

Modelling published alongside this year’s progress report estimates that 90,000 fewer children will live in relative and absolute poverty in 2023-24 as a result of Scottish Government policies, with poverty levels 9% points lower that they would have otherwise been. This includes lifting an estimated 50,000 children out of relative poverty through our Scottish Child Payment. However, we will not know if the interim child poverty targets have been met until March 2025.

Our approach to tackling child poverty is in stark contrast to that of the UK Government. Scottish Government analysis, published in April 2022, estimated that reversing key UK Government welfare changes that have taken place just since 2015 could lift an estimated 70,000 people out of poverty in Scotland, including 30,000 children, and put £780 million in the pockets of Scottish households this year.

As official statistics on rates of relative poverty in Scotland come from the Family Resources Survey which is run by the Department for Work and Pensions, which is a sample survey. This therefore this does not allow a breakdown to be produced below the national figure for Scotland.

Given the different approaches to assessment the pandemic has necessitated since 2020, it is difficult to directly compare this year’s exam results with any other year. However, in 2023, 20% of Higher entries by candidates from the most deprived areas (SIMD quintile 1) resulted in a grade A. This is higher than in 2017 (18.1%).

We use a basket of measures (including the 13 NIF measures, ACEL data and school leaver attainment) to measure the attainment gap as different conclusions may be drawn depending upon the data under consideration. For example, the attainment gap at National 5 has narrowed between 2017 and 2023. It is therefore unrealistic to assess the performance of the education system via a single measure (such as Higher A grades).

This year’s exam results showed significant progress with overall pass rates for National 5, Highers and Advanced Highers being above those in 2019.

The proportion of A grades for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher were also above those in 2019.

It is testament to the resilience and hard work of our young people that overall, this is a strong set of results in an exam year.

I fully recognise that young people continue to be impacted by the disruption arising from COVID-19. The package of support in place has rightly evolved to reflect the latest circumstances, with decisions being matched to the assessment approaches taken each year.

SQA took a sensitive, evidence-based approach to grading for the 2023 results and continued the existing modifications to National Courses from 2022 – as part of the transition back to pre-pandemic standards - informed by evaluation of the assessment arrangements in places in 2022 and feedback from the National Qualifications 2023 Group, which includes representatives of teachers, parents and learners. SQA will also be undertaking an evaluation of their 2023 assessment arrangements to inform decisions going forward.

The Scottish Government and Education Scotland published the Equity Audit in January 2021 which involved an evidence review of local, national and international literature, along with a representative sample of 54 schools in Scotland. This helped our understanding of the impact that COVID-19 and school building closures had on children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and set clear areas of focus for accelerating recovery, including the refresh of the Scottish Attainment Challenge programme.

In addition, Officials have begun research and stakeholder engagement work to ensure that the Scottish Government fully understands the impact of COVID-19 in schools and continues to support ongoing education recovery. This follows on from the actions and next steps publication in October 2021.

We have laid before Parliament today an annual progress report against our Heat in Buildings Strategy, the second since its publication in 2021: https://www.gov.scot/publications/heat-in-buildings-progress-report-2023 .

We have made significant progress in key areas during the past year, including our broad package of delivery schemes, heat networks, building standards and new build regulations. The biggest challenge facing us now is in existing buildings, and therefore the report confirms our intention to consult later this year on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill.

One Parent Families Scotland is a national organisation which works with and on behalf of one parent families, with the aim and purpose to improve the lives of single parents and their families, enabling them to benefit from life’s opportunities and fulfil their potential.

In 2022-23 One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) received £371,700 in core funding via the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention & Adult Learning & Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) third sector fund. The agreed outcomes from this funding were:

• Build Single Parents’ Capacity & Resilience so they will be stronger and more confident in knowing their rights and controlling their lives and supporting their children.
• Single parent families will have improved their standard of living, so reducing child poverty
• OPFS will be a resilient and responsive organisation, ensuring government has an increased understanding of issues affecting single parents, resulting in the development of more effective policies and services for children, young people and their families.
• Single parent families will participate and take an active role in making positive change.

In addition, the Scottish Government allocated £393,096 in 2022-23 to OPFS for welfare and debt advice. This funding included £320,233 for OPFS’s National Advice and Information Service and £72,863 debt levy funding for debt advice. The funding objectives were;

• to provide holistic advice and information on welfare benefits and other issues that affect single parents and their families’ financial inclusion and wellbeing
• to enable single parents to maximise their income
• to increase OPFS capacity to provide debt advice to single parents.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on allocation of Community Link Worker posts and capacity at individual General Practice level. This data will be held by individual Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCP) alongside their local Primary Care Improvement Plans (PCIP).

At 31 st March 2023, there were over 308 WTE primary care Community Link Workers in post across Scotland. The following PCIP publication shows a breakdown of the Whole Time Equivalent by HSCP area:

Primary Care Improvement Plans: Summary of Implementation Progress at March 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)