Chamber and committees

The Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade met the Chief Executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce on 18 April. The First Minister and the I had a call with the main business organisations on 20 April and the Chief Executive took part in that call. The Director General for Economy, Gregor Irwin also met the Chief Executive on 21 April. Details of all Ministerial engagements and expenses are proactively published by the Scottish Government, including the costs of travel and accommodation. The information can be accessed in the followng link: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/.

Information prior to 2017-18 is unavailable as it was deleted in accordance with our standard records management practice, before the date of your request.

Funding at the local level is distributed through alcohol and drug partnerships and many of the projects and organisations we support at the national level also work in both alcohol and drugs, therefore it is not possible to disaggregate funding allocated specifically for drug services rather than drug and alcohol services.

Alcohol and Drug Partnerships commission services from both statutory and third sector providers. Data on how this funding is broken down is not held centrally. Financial accounts are published annually by Health Boards and Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships (ADPs) and accessible via each areas website.

Scottish Government funding for drug and alcohol services is allocated to various organisations these are grouped below as:

• Core Funded Organisations (CFOs)
• Other third sector organisations
• Distributed via the Corra Foundation to third sector and grass roots organisations

Details of how funding was allocated by the Corra Foundation can be found in their published annual grants released from 2017 to 2021 at Publications - Corra

Table 1: funding for drug and alcohol services to third sector organisations. 2017-18 to 2022-23

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website . The spreadsheets include a wide range of information including details of the organisation/individuals Ministers met along with the subject discussed.

Scottish Government officials work closely with the Scottish Women's Rights Centre (SWRC) to help progress Equally Safe (Scotland’s strategy to eradicate and prevent violence against women and girls), and through the grant monitoring process for the Victim Centred Approach Fund, for which SWRC are a beneficiary.

To encourage families to consider the use of reusable alternatives to disposable nappies, a Nappy Voucher is included within the Baby Box which can be used to redeem 1 waterproof nappy wrap, with 5 stay dry nappy pads.

The Nappy Voucher also signposts families to our ParentClub website which highlights the benefits of using reusable nappies as well as signposting families on where to seek advice and support with using them. Ready Steady Baby , which is given out at antenatal appointments, also highlights the benefits of reusable nappies.

The total amount of waste going to landfill in Scotland has dropped by nearly a third over the past decade. We are working to accelerate progress which includes introducing a ban on landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste. Additionally, we are supporting local authorities in improving recycling infrastructure through our Recycling Improvement Fund. This fund provides scope for local authorities to improve collection of problematic materials.

Scottish Government officials and Ministers meet with NUS on a regular basis to discuss ongoing policy development and issues impacting Scotland’s student population. Meetings are typically scheduled as part of an ongoing series of engagements, however ad hoc meetings may occur to discuss specific issues or concerns. There are not typically clear ‘agreed outcomes’, rather a continued discussion.

Meetings as part of steering groups, working groups and forums which NUS were members/in attendance:

Purpose Built Student Accommodation Steering Group, met on 6 July 2021, 6 August 2021, 14 October 2021, 5 May 2022, 6 June 2022, 3 March 2023, 24 March 2023.

Student Accommodation Group, met on 24 February 2021, 25 March 2021, 13 May 2021, 3 June 2021, 24 June 2021, 26 August 2021, 23 September 2021, 4 November 2021, 25 July 2022, 6 October 2022

Disability Related Student Support Review Steering Group, met on 1 June 2021

Student Support Stakeholder Engagement Group, met on 10 August 2021, 16 September 2021, 28 October 2021, 2 December 2021, 24 January 2022, 23 February 2022, 29 April 2022, 15 June 2022, 25 August 2022, 10 November 2022

Covid Recovery Group, as a full Covid Recovery Group member, NUS representatives attended meetings over the period of June 2021 – Oct 2022. The purpose of these meetings was to discuss covid response measures and the development and implementation of guidance for the FE/HE sector. Stakeholder attendance was optional.

Meetings with NUS and SG/SAAS/SFC officials specifically :

Meeting with NUS to discuss support for Ukrainian students and the establishment of the International Students Emergency Hardship Fund (meeting to raise awareness of support being offered), 14 April 2022

Introductory meeting between the NUS President and (then) interim Chief Executive of SAAS, 18 March 22

Meeting with NUS on the Scottish Government consultation on residency eligibility in Further and Higher Education. Officials met with a range of stakeholders who had a vested interest in the meeting. NUS were planning on submitting a formal response to the consultation, 8 March 2023

Introductory meeting between Director of ALS and NUS, 20 February 2023

Regular meetings between NUS, SG, SAAS and SFC, met on 10 May 21, 23 June 2021, 4 August 2021, 6 September 2021, 8 October 2021, 18 November 2021

Postgraduate Review - Stakeholder Consultation - NUS Feedback, 26 July 2022

Meeting with NUS on the outcomes of the SFC Review, 23 August 2021

Meetings between NUS and Minister:

Quarterly meeting, 18 February 2022

Attending NUS Scotland ‘BROKE’ event, 21 February 2022

Quarterly meeting, 19 May 2022

Spending review meeting, 31 May 2022

Introductory meeting with new NUS Scotland President, Ellie Gomersall, 21 September 2022

Quarterly meeting, 28 September 2022

Quarterly meeting, 6 December 2022

Meeting to discuss NUS Scotland ‘Cost of Survival’ report findings, 22 March 2023

Between 1 January and 31 December 2022, 360,525 new outpatients were removed from NHS waiting lists, for reasons ‘referred back to GP’, ‘transferred’, ‘treatment no longer required’, and ‘other reasons’. Similarly, for inpatients and day cases, 53,585 patients were removed for these reasons. Please see Table 1 for a description of the reasons for removal.

Table 1. Removal reasons for reasons other than ‘patient seen’ and their associated description.

Scotland has universities that are not only world leaders in education and research but also key drivers of the Scottish economy and we recognise as part of that modern language provision plays an important role

Scottish universities are autonomous institutions and as such the Scottish Government does not intervene in internal institutional matters. With the exception of controlled subjects, the Scottish Government does not direct individual universities on the number of funded places made available for eligible Scottish and EU domicile students. Universities are allocated a finite amount of money. It is then for the universities themselves to decide: how to distribute these places between faculties; the courses they offer; and how many of the total funded places will be available on each course. When looking at modern language provision it is important to recognise that the university sector is not homogeneous, with different institutions providing different types of courses addressing different learner needs.

The 2023-24 Budget allocated nearly £2 billion to Scotland’s universities and colleges through the Scottish Funding Council, demonstrating our commitment to supporting our learners and institutions.

The Building (Scotland) Act 2003 gives powers to local authorities to take enforcement action where the building is defective or dangerous. When a local authority considers a building to be dangerous it has a duty to act and it is expected that it will respond immediately. This might include taking urgent action to carry out work, including demolition, as it considers necessary to reduce or remove the danger.

Where buildings are defective local authorities will consider what action is appropriate. The range of actions include serving a notice calling for work to be carried out to improve the quality of properties that are in disrepair, or doing the work in default of the owner complying with the notice.

There is no accreditation for contractors carrying out masonry repairs in Scotland. Each local authority will have its own methodology for selecting appropriate contractors to undertake the work required on a case by case basis.

The National Endoscopy Training Programme, launched in 2022, has supported 99 trainee endoscopists for basic courses to date. The programme has also supported 102 independent endoscopists with upskilling, and a further 24 senior trainee endoscopists with training and procedure numbers to support independent endoscopy certification.

There are also currently 222 trainee doctors within NHS Scotland across three training specialities who can perform, or are in training to perform, endoscopy; 32 in Urology, 47 in Gastroenterology and 147 in General Surgery.

The Scottish Government is committed to funding the expansion of free school meals to all pupils in primary and special schools, as well as introducing free year round breakfast and lunch provision to support eligible children and young people outside of the school term.

Currently, all primary school pupils in primaries one to five, all children in special schools, and eligible pupils in Primary 6 through to S6 can benefit from free school lunches in Scotland – the most generous provision anywhere in the UK, saving parents £400 per eligible child per year.

We have also provided £21.75m of funding for free school meal alternatives to eligible families during the school holidays. This is administered by local authorities as a cash payment directly to families.

There is a currently a mixed delivery of breakfast provision across Scotland with a range of service providers including public, private and third sector. We have begun work with local authorities and key stakeholders to better understand and map that provision. That process is ongoing and will feed into future plans as they develop.

In addition, we have committed to building a system of school age childcare, providing care before and after school and in the holidays, which will be funded for those on lowest incomes. As we design a system of school age childcare, we will integrate food and childcare provision wherever possible recognising the benefit to children and families of coordinating food, childcare and activities.