Chamber and committees

Funding for Autism Understanding Scotland has been provided from the Mental Health budget, with a proportion of this being issued via Inspiring Scotland’s Increasing Understanding of Autism Programme.

In 2021-22 and 2022-23, the Scottish Government has invested £400,000 in this programme, which has provided support to around 2,000 people.

A grant of £15 million for the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults was distributed to Third Sector Interfaces across Scotland in August 2022, to support local, grassroots community organisation. £14,975,678.28 had been distributed by the end of March 2023. Third Sector Interfaces reported a total underspend of £24,321.72 for that year.

A grant of £1,136,695 was provided to support administration costs and the capacity building efforts of Third Sector Interfaces in 2022-2023. Third sector interfaces reported a total underspend on the administration grant of £4,948.63.

A total of 255 substantial refurbishment projects were completed between 2016-17 and 2021-22. These figures do not include new-build schools. Figures for 2022-23 are not yet available.

Table 1 shows the breakdown by local authority. Only refurbishments with a cost of £500,000 or more for primary and £1 million or more for secondary and special are included. School extensions meeting the cost thresholds are counted as substantial refurbishments.

A breakdown by individual year is available from Table 7.2 in the school estate statistics supplementary data tables https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-estate-statistics-2022/documents/ .

Table 1: Substantial refurbishments by local authority between 2016-17 and 2021-22.

Securing positive effects for biodiversity is one of six statutory outcomes for the National Planning Framework, as identified in section 3A(3)(c) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, as amended. National Planning Framework (NPF4) was adopted and published on 13 February 2023. Improving biodiversity is a cross-cutting theme which runs throughout NPF4. Our strategy and policies support development that helps to secure positive effects for biodiversity.

Current building regulations include a standard which promote sustainable development, including advice on how biodiversity can be well served as a topic in new school developments – this is published under Aspect 4 of our ‘statement of sustainability’, standard 7.1 in the Non-domestic Technical Handbook . We plan to revisit this topic, in the context of other ongoing activity, to understand further opportunities for building regulations to make a positive contribution to biodiversity within new developments.

National Planning Framework 4 Policy 3 (c), which relates to local developments, is underpinned by NatureScot’s Developing With Nature guidance published on 13 February 2023. This guidance includes 24 measures that development can incorporate to enhance biodiversity, one of which is Homes for Small Birds (measure 13).

The Swift Conservation website also provides guidance to the building industry on swift bricks and nest boxes Swift Conservation Homepage (swift-conservation.org) .

A total of 147 school builds were completed between 2016-17 and 2021-22. Figures for 2022-23 are not yet available.

Table 1 shows the breakdown by local authority. Only builds with a cost of £500,000 or more for primary and £1 million or more for secondary and special are included.

A breakdown by individual year is available from Table 7.1 in the school estate statistics supplementary data tables https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-estate-statistics-2022/documents/ .

Table 1: Schools built by local authority between 2016-17 and 2021-22.

I refer you to the answer to oral parliamentary question S6O-02452 on 29 June 2023 available on the Scottish Parliament website: Written question and answer: S6O-02452 | Scottish Parliament Website.

Inspiring Scotland will open applications for the new Autism Support Fund in the next couple of weeks. The application window will remain open for a period of 4 weeks and awards will be announced to recipients two to three weeks after applications close.

The Fair Work workstreams, including workstream 4, are independently chaired by ENABLE's Andy Kerr. I understand that workstream 4 is making progress in discussions with partners including local government, social care providers and trade unions. The Scottish Government is committed to putting in place appropriate collective bargaining arrangements within social care and that can only be delivered with the co-operation and agreement of all our partners.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people living with hypothyroidism and other thyroid diseases are able to access the best possible support and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

We expect clinicians to adhere to current guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment options from authoritative sources such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the British Thyroid Association (BTA) and have no plans at present to undertake a review of timescales for receiving a diagnosis.

While employment law is reserved to the UK Parliament, our Fair Work approach seeks to improve workers’ rights and conditions and aims to address women’s workplace inequalities by encouraging employers to take action to tackle gender pay gaps across the labour market in Scotland.

Our refreshed Fair Work Action Plan: Becoming a Leading Fair Work Nation by 2025 published in December 2022, reiterates our commitment to tackling Scotland’s gender pay gap and recognises that an intersectional approach is needed to address the overlapping labour market inequalities faced by women, disabled people, racially minoritized people and the over 50s workforce.

The Scottish Government are considering the timetable of the implementation of £12 an hour for social care staff.