The Scottish Government revised it procedures for the distribution of European structural and investment funds eight times over the period between 2014 and December 2023.

At no time were payments to those Lead Partners who submitted a fully compliant and verifiable claims paused. All audit findings were resolved with both programmes being successfully lifted from suspension by the European Commission.

The Scottish Government was liable for paying all compliant claims submitted by Lead Partners. The figure at 31 December 2023 was £73.7m.

The final European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) expenditure figures and reimbursements will not be known until the second half of 2025 when the figures will be published.

We welcome the publication of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry’s Module 1 report on pre-pandemic preparedness and resilience. A copy of the report is available online at Module 1 Report - UK Covid-19 Inquiry (covid19.public-inquiry.uk) .

The Scottish Government will carefully consider the Module 1 report and provide detailed responses to its recommendations in due course, within the timescales set out by the Chair.

Families across the country lost loved ones to the Covid-19 pandemic, and we offer our deepest sympathies to all those who have experienced pain and grief as a result. It is with their loss in mind that we continue our efforts to make effective, practical and measurable improvements in pandemic planning and preparedness.

The implementation of recommendations will require collaborative action with our counterparts across the four nations, and the Scottish Government is committed to working together, at all levels, in a way which allows us to best prevent, prepare for and respond to future whole system civil emergencies.

In parallel to the UK and Scottish Covid inquires, we have sought to identify key actions needed for the future. For example, the Standing Committee on Pandemic Preparedness was commissioned to provide advice on threat intelligence, assessment and response, priorities for research, ways to strengthen response infrastructure and priorities in relation to the Pandemic UK Risk Assessment. The Standing Committee’s final report is due this year.

As a direct result of lessons learned during the pandemic, the Scottish Risk Assessment (SRA) now presents a more generic pandemic scenario, reflecting a broader range of possible manifestations than previous iterations. The purpose of the SRA, alongside the UK national risk assessment, is to help the resilience community, at all levels, to understand and plan for the possible civil contingencies risks which Scotland may face. This includes how we can prepare for, respond to and mitigate the potential impacts of these risks, and recover from these events.

We recognise however, as set out in the Inquiry’s report, that there is further work to be done. It is important that we work together with communities, households and businesses to understand how we can make Scotland more resilient and support the most vulnerable in our society.

The latest estimated take-up rate for Young Carer Grant in Scotland in 2022-23 is 75%. Social Security Scotland routinely publish Official Statistics on the number of carers receiving a payment for Young Career Grant. Whilst these statistics include information by local authority area, we do not currently include information by Scottish Parliament constituency.

The latest statistics show that, as of 31 March 2024, 875 Young Carer Grant payments with a total value of £285,143 had been issued to clients living in the Fife local authority since its launch in October 2019. Of these, 280 payments with a total value of £99,217 were made in the 2023-24 financial year.

The latest statistics publication for this benefit can be found at: Social Security Scotland - Young Carer Grant: high level statistics to 31 March 2024 and estimated take-up rates are available at: Analysis of Take-Up Rate Estimates - Take-up rates of Scottish benefits: November 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Since launching in October 2019, 12,305 Young Carer Grant payments worth £4.0 million have been made to young carers in Scotland.

Social Security Scotland promotes Young Carer Grant in a targeted way, including by working in partnership with local carers centres in each local authority, encouraging young carers to apply. Social Security Scotland have also delivered multiple marketing campaigns across digital channels that young people engage with most - including a joint campaign with Young Scot.

When designing marketing campaigns, Social Security Scotland carry out primary research with eligible people. A series of focus groups and interviews with young carers has ensured the campaigns resonate with and reach those eligible for the payment.

Social Security Scotland also attends the Scottish Young Carers Festival, organised by the Carers Trust, to promote Young Carer Grant, talk to young carers about their experiences and encourage them to apply. To mark this year’s Young Carer Action Day, Social Security Scotland re-ran their digital Young Carer Grant campaign, including sharing a stakeholder toolkit with carer organisations, and worked with STV and a young carer on a broadcast feature.

This latest campaign activity helped drive the highest number of applications in a month since the payment launched - with 790 applications received from young carers in March alone this year. In the last financial year, over 3,700 young people received Young Carer Grant payments worth £1.4 million, almost 60% more than the year before.

Social Security Scotland publishes official statistics for the number of payments for Young Carer Grant by Local Authority but not at constituency level. In the financial year 2023-24, Social Security Scotland made 280 payments totalling £99,217 to clients in the Fife Local Authority.

The Scottish Government published estimates of take-up rates for a number of devolved benefits in November 2023. Take-up rates are estimates of the number of people who are eligible for a benefit that receive it. The latest estimated take-up rate for Young Carer Grant in Scotland for 2022-23 is 75%. This figure is for Scotland nationally.

The latest take-up rate estimates and further detail on the methodology can be found at: Take-Up Rate Estimates - Take-up rates of Scottish benefits: November 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The latest statistics published for Young Carer Grant can be found at: Social Security Scotland - Young Carer Grant: high level statistics to 31 March 2024 .

The Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland made recommendations with regard to ensuring that audiologists are eligible for registration upon completion of training but did not include a recommendation for audiologists to be regulated by statute. At present, audiologists below the academic qualification threshold for statutory registration with the Health and Care Professions Council are expected to join the Professional Standards Authority-accredited voluntary register held by the Academy of Healthcare Science (AHCS). The review implementation group will be considering whether accreditation with the AHCS remains appropriate and sufficient. Discussions on the statutory regulation of audiologists would also need to take place on a four-country basis.

The Scottish National Investment Bank does not consider ‘applications for funding’. Rather, it makes commercial debt and equity investments to deliver on the three Missions set for it by Scottish Ministers. The Bank is operationally independent of Government and the Government does not hold the information sought.