Chamber and committees

Monitoring and analysis work will commence shortly after the launch of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). This work was originally scheduled to begin in early 2024.

Following the decision to move the scheme’s launch to 1 March 2024, this work will be rescheduled accordingly.

It was good to see the UK Government finally recognising the importance of investing in childcare in their recent Budget. However, overall this was another missed opportunity to take meaningful action to lift families out of poverty, invest in our public services and help businesses so that our economy can grow.

Scotland already has the most generous childcare offer anywhere in the UK. We offer 1140 hours of high quality funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) to all 3 and 4-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds, regardless of the working status their parents.

New Leadership: A Fresh Start ( Supporting documents - Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership - A fresh start - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ) sets out our ambition to go further by building a system of school age childcare and developing a funded early learning and childcare offer for 1 and 2 year olds, focusing on those who need it most.

Ministers are considering carefully the financial implications of the UK Budget for Scotland but we need to be clear that the total additional funding made available falls far short of the costs of delivering a significant expansion to our funded childcare offers.

In response to question (a) There were a total of 44 deaths in SPS custody during 2022.

In response to question (b) There have been a total of 4 deaths in SPS custody during the first quarter of 2023.

The SPS publishes information regarding all deaths in our custody in calendar years on the SPS website. This information is updated on a quarterly basis and can be accessed using the following link: Prisoner Deaths (sps.gov.uk) .

The next quarterly update will be published on the SPS website in April 2023 which will provide information on deaths in custody up to and including 31 March 202

Colleges operate independently of government, it is for them to decide on the shape of their curriculum, taking into account the needs of the region and communities they serve.

In terms of the delivery of national courses (such as national 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers), schools select topics from the relevant SQA units. Within the context of a history course framework, schools may opt to include topics that examine Scotland's role in the British Empire or the Atlantic Slave Trade.

For more information on how this topic might be covered in the school curriculum, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16999 on 2 May 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

Veterans are assets to our society and my ambition remains to make Scotland the destination of choice for Service leavers and their families, offering high living standards, great educational opportunities and a society that respects and values their contribution.

The work of Armed Forces and Veterans Champions throughout Scotland is crucial to ensuring veterans can access the right support, guidance and services. The Scottish Government supports fully the work of the Champions in public sector organisations including Police Scotland, Local Authorities, the NHS, Department for Work and Pensions and Higher and Further Education institutions.

The ADVANCE Network was established by the Veterans Group to provide a single point of contact in each of Scotland's colleges and universities for veterans, ex-armed forces and their families. While the Network is not specifically designed to provide educational opportunities to the armed forces community, it does have a role in promoting Higher Education and Further Education to those from within the armed forces community, and many institutions have educational options available for the armed forces community. The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of veterans who use the Network to access educational opportunities.

The Scottish Government has clear commitments to improve education, and those include more teachers in our schools.

During the pandemic we provided £240 million of additional investment to local authorities to support the recruitment of additional education staff to support education recovery. We recently set out measures to Parliament making it clear that we will provide £145.5 million in next year’s budget to protect increased teacher numbers and support staff. Where this is not being delivered by a local authority, we will withhold or recoup funding that has been given for this purpose.

Community Link Workers are generalists who support people with a range of social and economic issues which can include mental health. The Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) funds Community Link Workers (CLWs) as part of primary care multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs). At March 2022, 249 WTE CLWs had been recruited to support GP practices.

The following table shows the percentage of primary schools delivering Level 2 Bikeability training for each year broken down by local authority. The entries showing "no return" reflect that Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire delivered alternative training. Argyll and Bute and East Ayrshire started delivering Bikeability training in 2020-21.

During 2021-2022 there was a 20% increase in the number of pupils participating in Bikeability Scotland. A record 52,604 pupils received training.

59% of primary schools are timetabling cycle training and delivering at least one level of Bikeability Scotland. 50% of schools delivered the national standard, level 2 on-road programme shown to have the greatest impact.

The Scottish Government has not specifically discussed the issue of education on the history of the British Empire with other devolved governments, the UK Government or international governments. However, there are opportunities to engage on curriculum design and delivery more broadly with the other nations of the UK, and in January 2023 the Scottish Government engaged with the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent during their visit to the UK, and this engagement included reference to opportunities within the curriculum to embed Black history - including the impact of colonialism, racism and society today.

For more information on opportunities to learn about the British Empire within the Curriculum for Excellence, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16999 on 2 May 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

We plan to publish the proposed new cancer strategy in Spring 2023. We do not have a specific date.