Chamber and committees

National Records of Scotland (NRS) has reviewed its asset information and has found no reference to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) having been used anywhere within its estate. NRS has not incurred cost for repairs associated with RAAC.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02330 on 7 June 2023. The answer to oral Parliamentary Question is available on the Parliament's website, the Official Report can be viewed at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-07-06-2023?meeting=15356&iob=130954

It is the responsibility of Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to plan and commission adult palliative and end of life care services for their areas using the integrated budgets under their control. My officials are therefore engaged with Health and Social Care Partnerships and Scottish hospice sector representatives in relation to issues around funding.

I am meeting with the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group and Hospice UK on 13 September, and my officials continue to communicate and engage with hospice representatives meantime.

The recommendations of the Compliance and Enforcement Review Panel are being taken forward through the Building Standards Futures Board. The Board oversees a programme of seven work streams which collectively aim to improve the performance, expertise, resilience and sustainability of building standards verification services. Work has progressed across all work items, notably on a workforce strategy for building standards, a pilot building standards verification hub of expertise, a new compliance plan approach and a suite of digital tools to assist those using the building standards system.

Scottish public authorities exercise their functions in accordance with all relevant legal requirements, including those set out in legislation passed by the UK Parliament relating to reserved matters.

The Scottish Government has no functions in connection with which it may be required to report persons to the Home Office on the grounds of immigration status. Other public authorities may, however, be subject to such requirements.

The sharing of personal information between public authorities must be considered in line with relevant data protection legislation, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and the GDPR.

Throughout the 1140 expansion we have sought to improve conditions across the private, third and childminding workforce delivering funded ELC, including through our investment to support sustainable rates to be set at a level to enable payment of the real Living Wage to those workers delivering funded ELC . Evidence from the Financial Review of the ELC Sector highlights that when the ELC expansion began around 80% of practitioners and 50% of supervisors in private and third sector settings delivering the funded ELC were paid an hourly rate below the real Living Wage. In contrast, our 2021 Financial Sustainability Health Check indicated that 88% of funded ELC providers in the private and third sectors intended to pay the real Living Wage to all their staff from August 2021.

As set out in the supporting Funding Follows the Child and National Standard Contracting Guidance it is expected that within the contract terms and conditions for funded providers local authorities will set out expectations regarding payment of at least the real Living Wage to all childcare workers delivering the funded hours.

In partnership with the sector and local authorities, we have taken important steps to improve our understanding of real Living Wage progress, and to support providers to deliver higher pay and Fair Work. To support this we have established a real Living Wage and Fair Work Implementation Group to explore implementation challenges and potential solutions to help all childcare providers become real living wage employers. The first meeting of the Group took place on 15 December 2022. The group is due to reconvene shortly.

We are also collecting further information regarding the payment of the real Living Wage as part of our update of the Financial Sustainability Health Check; and through the joint Scottish Government and COSLA Review of Sustainable Rates. Both of these reports will be published this Summer.

Routine spending information that councils report does not distinguish between spending on 600 hours of funded ELC and spending on the additional hours provided by the expansion. The Scottish Government has therefore gathered separate financial information on spending on the expansion from councils three times. However, despite best efforts, the information gathered does not provide a comprehensive picture of how much councils have spent specifically on the expansion at a national level. Measures are being taken by the Scottish Government to change reporting through local financial returns to produce more detailed information on how much councils have spent specifically on the provision of funded ELC.

The Scottish Household Survey 1 is published annually and contains statistics on internet access and use by a number of categories. The publication contains statistics covering internet access by household income, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile, tenure, and urban-rural classification, as well as internet usage by age, disability, household income, and SIMD quintile. Additionally, the publication contains information on access to smart appliances, methods of access (e.g. smartphone, tablet, personal computer, laptop etc.), and confidence in using the internet by age and tenure

Furthermore, the Scottish Government is taking forward evaluations of digital infrastructure projects which will enable understanding of the impacts of investment. We have published the Digital Appraisal Manual for Scotland 2 and, informed by this guidance, are taking forward evaluations of the Scottish 4G Infill Programme, and R100 Programme. Evaluations will involve research engaging with affected areas and communities, and allow for gathering of evidence on how people and businesses are using this infrastructure, the associated benefits (e.g. productivity, wellbeing, environmental), and barriers to access.

By embedding best practice in appraisal and evaluation in digital policy making in Scotland, we will not only be able to monitor the effectiveness of our investments as impacts materialise, but we will also be best placed to refine our evidence base and develop effective policies in future.

1. Scottish Household Survey: publications - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

2. Digital appraisal manual for Scotland: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) have recently changed their measurement of Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) expenditure which has led to significant uplift revisions to BERD expenditure estimates. Work is currently underway between the Scottish Government and the ONS to further quality assure the new methodology; once this work is complete the Scottish Government will consider target setting options. The Scottish Government's recently published National Innovation Strategy will monitor a range of metrics to track progress over the next decade through its Innovation Scorecard, including tracking Gross Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD), Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) spend and BERD spend.

We have committed to building a system of school age childcare, providing year-round childcare for families on low incomes. As announced by the First Minister on 3 April ( Expanding school age childcare - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ), in 2023-24 we are investing £15 million in delivering funded school age childcare through our early adopter communities and wider test of change projects.