The Scottish Government does not directly hold information on the research spend of other funders.

An interrogation of the NCRI (National Cancer Research Institute) database indicated that £17,631,882 was spent on brain tumour research in the UK in 20/21 by charity and public funders.

This breaks down to £6,290,512 on biology, £872,201 on aetiology, £67,606 on prevention, £2,846,401 on Early detection, diagnosis and prognosis, £6,690,871 on treatment and £864,290 on cancer control, survivorship and outcomes research.

The following tables present the estimated value of Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) relief awarded to self-catering units as at 1 July 2022, broken down in Table 1 by local authority, and in Table 2 by assessor, for properties (unit owners cannot be reliably identified from the information held) receiving 100% SBBS, 25% SBBS, and other proportions of SBBS (e.g. when combined with other reliefs), and no SBBS relief. These tables include all self-catering properties in receipt of SBBS relief.

The Scottish Government cannot reliably estimate the cumulative rateable value of each ratepayer’s non-domestic properties and can therefore not state the number of self-catering units with a combined rateable value of £35,000 in receipt of the Small Business Bonus Scheme relief. To note however, ratepayers with a combined rateable value of £35,000 may still be eligible for SBBS relief where the individual property has a rateable value of £18,000 or less. To note as well a property may receive an SBBS award other than 100% or 25% relief, e.g. if awarded in conjunction with another relief. Eligibility for non-domestic rates reliefs, including SBBS, is set out in legislation and it is for local authorities to administer reliefs to eligible properties in accordance with that legislation.

Figures are presented in £thousands, and those relating to more than zero but fewer than five units have been marked [x] to distinguish from actual zero values. The data sources for both tables are the Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 July 2022, and local authority reliefs information as at 1 July 2022. Final outturn data for 2022-23 may vary.

Table 1: Estimated value (£ thousands) of SBBS relief awarded to self-catering properties as at 1 July 2022, by local authority and SBBS percentage

725 additional training places have been created for trainee doctors since 2014. This includes 152 posts which were agreed to this year and will be recruited to in 2023. This represents the largest annual expansion to date, exceeding last year’s record by 13 places. An annual breakdown is included in the following table.

Data is not held for years prior to 2014.

The Scottish Government is not responsible for meeting the cost of conducting repairs for the MS Victoria or the MS Ambition. Any faults or repairs are handled by ship staff and owners.

The Scottish Government places great importance on leisure facilities and recognises the significant challenges that are facing operators such as leisure trusts, particularly with swimming pools, as increased operational costs continues to put pressure on their operations.

I recently met with members of Community Leisure UK to discuss the issues facing the leisure and culture trusts in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has increased the local government funding by over £1 billion in 2022-23, a real terms increase of 6.3 per cent, despite a 5.2 per cent real terms reduction in the overall Scottish Budget. It is the responsibility of the individual local authorities to provide leisure facilities, including swimming pools, and local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own power and responsibilities and are entirely separate from the Scottish Government. Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial recourses available to them, including on swimming pools, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The Scottish Government will continue to make the case for the UK Government to do more to protect our public services.

As of 1 December 2022, the total estimated cost for the MS Victoria until the contract ends in June 2023 is £37.9 million. The total estimated costs for the MS Ambition contract until February 2023 is £26.1 million. We cannot calculate the final costs until the contracts end.

Faults and repairs on board the M/S Victoria and M/S Ambition are an internal matter for the ships’ contractor and operators and therefore it is not normal practice for faults and repairs to be reported to the Scottish Government. However, Corporate Travel Management would inform the Scottish Government of any issues impacting guests’ experience; to date, this has not occurred.

The issue of body-worn cameras is a policy and operational decision for Police Scotland, acting under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority.

Police Scotland have advised they have developed an initial business case for Body Worn Video which has been considered and approved by the SPA Resources Committee. Police Scotland will undertake a full procurement exercise in 2023 which will provide more clarity on costs – both upfront purchase costs and ongoing costs.

The Scottish Government would expect Police Scotland to achieve best value through all its procurement activity.

47,156 dwellings had an unoccupied exemption based on a snapshot as at September 2022. Further breakdowns are not held centrally.

We have expanded our Single Building Assessment programme to more than 100 buildings which will be assessed as part of the expanded pilot programme. We are in contact with the representatives of those buildings to plan next steps. Twenty-one of those buildings currently have ongoing active assessments.