Chamber and committees

Decisions on non-domestic rates beyond 2022-23, including any reliefs, will be considered in the context of the Scottish Budget and in line with the Framework for Tax, prevailing economic conditions and other government priorities.

This information is not held centrally.

We made an additional £40 million available to improve Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) last year, with £4.25 million of that specifically dedicated to clearing waiting list backlogs by March 2023.

We are also targeting tailored support towards those Boards with the longest waits, providing access to professional advice, to ensure that they have robust improvement plans in place and are monitoring progress closely.

We have taken positive steps to increase and maximise the available Mental Health Workforce, at all levels across Scotland. We will continue to work with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to explore further potential recruitment and retention opportunities.

The Scottish Government is currently developing the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Plan which we will publish in 2023.

Ministerial engagements, overseas travel, car journeys, domestic travel and gifts received are published on the Scottish Government website in line with the terms of the Scottish Ministerial Code. The next publication is planned for the end of December 2022.

To support the installation of solar panels on existing domestic and commercial premises, the Scottish Government has a number of funding schemes.

For domestic properties, Home Energy Scotland provides advice and funding for solar installations of up to £5,000 in interest-free loans. Warmer Homes Scotland, the Scottish Government’s national fuel poverty scheme, provides funding for solar projects for homeowners or private tenants with consenting landlords.

Local authorities can obtain Scottish Government funding for solar installations through our Area Based Scheme. The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund also considers funding applications for solar PV within the zero emission heat solutions category.

For communities, our Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) supports solar renewable projects through advice and loan and grant funding to community groups. Our SME Loan Scheme offers eligible businesses access to interest free loans of up to £100,000 towards the installation of solar PV, as well as free energy efficiency evaluation and advice on potential installations.

Scottish Child Payment offers financial support to families with children, and is paid as a top-up of certain qualifying reserved benefits, such as Universal Credit. Applicants must also demonstrate child responsibility to meet the qualifying criteria in full.

The regulations for Scottish Child Payment specifically define kinship care as a way of meeting child responsibility and so low-income families that are also kinship carers may be eligible for Scottish Child Payment if they meet all the eligibility criteria. We recently amended the definition of kinship care to ensure more low income kinship carers are eligible now we have rolled out Scottish Child Payment to children under 16. These regulations can be found at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2022/336/contents/made ..

Low income families that are also foster carers are not eligible for Scottish Child Payment. This is because children in foster care are considered looked after by the local authority and, as such, foster carers do not satisfy the legal responsibilities or rights that entitle them to child responsibility benefits. Foster carers receive allowances from local authorities to cover the needs of children living with them.

Local councils are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of their staff. This includes providing a complement of teachers which best meets the needs of each of their schools and its pupils within the resources available.

During the pandemic, the Scottish Government provided an additional £240m to local authorities to support the recruitment of additional teachers and support staff. We have since committed further permanent funding of £145.5m a year to further support education staffing.

We are taking the capacity issues at Dargavel Primary School very seriously.

We are aware that Renfrewshire Council is currently working on a long-term solution for the school, and has committed to engaging with parents and carers on proposals. My officials will continue to engage with the Council throughout that process. To date, the Council has not requested any assistance from the Scottish Government.

NHS National Services Scotland is currently conducting a procurement process to robustly assess digital products available to support the assessment and screening of people with long COVID, and determine which one is best placed to meet the needs highlighted by NHS Boards.

This national procurement process is expected to identify a preferred supplier shortly, after which licences for the selected product would be procured.

The Scottish Government will not be represented at the World Cup in Qatar .