A budget of £9m has been committed to reopening the Independent Living Fund in 2024-25. Funding for 2025-26 will be agreed through the annual budget process.

The Scottish Government has not given any consideration to developing qualifications for those wishing to train to become pet groomers as we do not consider it to be the role of Government to develop such courses.

There are already various organisations and individuals that offer specific training in dog grooming, with more formal providers delivering training which leads to the award of SQA or City and Guilds recognised qualifications in dog grooming. Other training of relevance to those offering dog grooming services is available through a number of colleges covering animal care, animal husbandry etc.

The Expert Advisory Group on Migration and Population was established in October 2018, in order to provide independent expert advice and analysis to Scottish Ministers on matters relating to migration and population. The Group meets around 4 times per year, with the next meeting due to take place in April 2024.

The Population Programme Board was established in 2019 to support the Ministerial Population Taskforce, which is responsible for delivering Scotland’s national Population Strategy, published in 2021. Aligned to the Ministerial Taskforce, the Programme Board meets quarterly, with the next meeting due to take place in June 2024.

The Scottish Government has a commitment to provide an update to Parliament on the implementation of the MAT Standards every six months.

I will update Parliament on progress in June and this will coincide with the publication of the 2023-2024 National Benchmarking Report, which will be published by Public Health Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to the timelines previously agreed by Scottish Ministers and Public Health Scotland and for full implementation of all ten MAT standards by April 2025.

Individuals who are not healthcare professionals and provide such procedures are not currently regulated and there is no requirement to obtain public liability insurance for these procedures.

This information in relation to treatment in Scotland is not centrally collected. When NHS Scotland treats someone who has suffered harm from a non-surgical cosmetic procedure that has gone wrong, NHS Scotland will not necessarily record the cause as there is no specific code to record this. The Scottish Government does not hold information relating to treatments outside Scotland.

Individuals who are not healthcare professionals and provide such procedures are not currently regulated and therefore there are currently no regulated training requirements to work in the sector. Accreditation for training for the sector will also be considered as part of the work with stakeholders and the Scottish Cosmetics Interventions Expert Group.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken such a review however, this will be taken into consideration as officials continue to explore next steps in potential further regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures that pierce or penetrate the skin.

Individuals who are not healthcare professionals and provide such procedures are not currently regulated and therefore this information is not held by the Scottish Government.