The Scottish Government welcomes the commitment to transparency evidenced in Redress Scotland’s Progress Report and accompanying Facts and Figures Report, both of which were published on 5 December 2022.

The Progress Report details the first six months of the body’s existence (December 2021 – June 2022). Further progress has been made in the period since - on governance, staffing and processing capacity as Redress Scotland matures. A further update on activity will be given in Redress Scotland’s first annual report, due next year.

The Facts and Figures Report is the first of a regular series, sharing information about completed redress applications, types of applications, timescales for decision making and levels of redress awards. The reports will give up-to-date data on the work that Redress Scotland delivers. The Scottish Government welcomes Redress Scotland’s continuing plans to consult with the Survivor Forum about the information they publish and how they should develop their work in this area.

The Scottish Government is supportive of the reintroduction of ferry services from Scotland to Europe.

My officials in Transport Scotland have engaged with a number of interested parties proposing such services and we will continue to engage with potential operators and Scotland’s main ports to provide information and advice on what the Scottish Government can offer in support of a viable commercial proposition. The Scottish Government and Transport Scotland have also been engaging with port and haulage stakeholders to explore options to increase trade moved through Scottish ports and we continue to work with Scotland’s main ports to explore the possibility of new ferry services to the Continent.

The numbers of entrants to first degree pre-clinical medicine courses, by university, have been provided in the following table.

The tables only cover those entering ‘pre-clinical medicine’ and do not include other students entering medical schools on ‘clinical medicine’ or students in continuing years of study.

Data has been provided in two tables due to a change in the subject classification coding used by universities in 2019-20.

In his 2019 letter to the Education and Skills Committee, the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science proposed to undertake the introducing of the ability for the SFC to attend the board meetings of assigned colleges.

Given the recent resumption of work around the Good College Governance Task Group’s recommendations, following a pause due to the pandemic, the Scottish Government has no immediate plans to implement direct observation of college board meetings. However, Scottish Government officials will work with the SFC, Colleges Scotland, regional strategic boards, trade unions, student associations, and the College Development network through the Good Governance Steering Group to implement changes to college governance in the best possible way.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12954 on 20 December 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx' .

The Scottish Government undertakes monitoring and evaluation of all funded programmes once they are live. Monitoring and evaluation is used to assess progress against agreed targets so can only be done once a project has started and there is progress to assess.

For the £1.7 million worth of funded projects, and in line with standard Scottish Government grant-management practice, we hold monthly update conversations and formally assess progress on a quarterly basis based on formal progress reports. Project specific monitoring and evaluation plans are developed based on each individual grant’s objectives to determine indicators that will accurately measure progress.

Our programmes seek to empower communities to identify the priorities to be addressed through climate justice support and to build resilience to the local material and social impacts of climate change that they have identified. Fundamental in achieving that resilience is through our future programmes mainstreaming communities participation in programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation. This means communities, including the most marginalised within communities, participate in determining and monitoring the metrics and baselines by which a programme is deemed a success.

Our future programmes seek to mainstream communities participation in programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Our upcoming £24m Climate Just Communities programme will ensure that communities, including the most marginalised within communities, participate in determining and monitoring the metrics and baselines by which a programme is deemed a success.

A total of £1,892,440 in private water supply grants has been awarded by Highland Council from financial years 2007-08 to 2021-22. Yearly totals are set out in the following table. The Scottish Government does not hold information regarding the breakdown of amounts awarded to (a) homes and (b) commercial premises.

The Enterprise and Skills Strategic Board (ESSB) has met once over the past year, on 25 March 2022. As set out in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET), published in March 2022, the ESSB has been restructured to become the new NSET Delivery Board which was announced in May 2022: https://www.gov.scot/groups/national-strategy-for-economic-transformation-delivery- board/ .

There is no application process for an area seeking recognition as a National Scenic Area (NSA).

NSAs were first designated by Scottish Ministers in 1980, the areas having been identified by the Countryside Commission for Scotland (Scotland’s Scenic Heritage, 1978). In December 2010 under the Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006, NSAs were given a statutory basis. Section 50 of the act sets out the criteria for designation:

(a) whether the area is of outstanding natural beauty,

(b) the amenity of the area, including (i) whether it is of historical, cultural or environmental importance; and (ii) the nature of any buildings or other structures within it, and

(c) any flora, fauna or physiographical features of the area, whether or not to any extent the product of human intervention in the landscape.

The following table shows the number of communities which have registered an interest in acquiring land, and the number of communities which have acquired land, under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 (the Act) only, each year since 2003. Communities may receive funding from a variety of sources, including the Scottish Land Fund (SLF). The Scottish Government has funded the SLF since 2012.

The table also shows the amount of funding granted by the SLF each year to communities who acquired land under the Act. Note that not all communities which acquired land under the Act may have received funding from the SLF, and communities which acquired land through other means may have received SLF funding.

We have always prioritised a fair and progressive approach to Income Tax policy, one which protects those on lower incomes, while raising additional revenue for the Scottish Budget. This year, we have enhanced the progressivity of the tax system by asking those who can, to contribute more.

We have carefully balanced the need to raise revenue, with the impact on households and the wider economy at this challenging economic time. Our policy changes will allow us to continue honouring the unique social contract between government and people in Scotland and maintain our vital public services through this challenging time. We estimate that the Income Tax policy announced for 2023-24 alone will add £519 million to the Scottish Budget, that’s additional money to spend on public services: supporting individuals, households and the economy