I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20393 on 14 September 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

There are no additional or separately identifiable costs associated with the production and publication of Devolution since the Brexit Referendum paper.

The work to prepare the paper was carried out by officials as part of their normal duties. The Scottish Government does not have a centrally held record of the number of staff involved with this work because, in line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them, are not routinely recorded as there is no business need to do so.

The document was published directly on to the Scottish Government website (see Devolution since the Brexit Referendum - gov.scot ( www.gov.scot) ) as part of a standard central publishing function. It is not possible to provide information on the costs incurred to create and publish the document because in line with usual practice, details of costs to create and publish individual documents in-house published on the website are not routinely recorded as there is no business need to do so.

If a person believes someone has not obeyed a court order for child contact or residence, they can make the court aware of this and ask it either to vary the order or to have the person in question ordered to appear before the court. It would then be for the court to decide whether any failure to obey the order amounted to contempt of court. Individuals may be eligible for financial assistance to raise a court action through the Scottish Legal Aid Board .The Board is responsible for the administration of the legal aid system, independent of Scottish Ministers. The Scottish Government is not involved in the decision making process to grant or refuse legal assistance and it cannot intervene in or comment on legal aid decisions.

Section 22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 will, when commenced, place a duty on the court to investigate the reasons behind a failure to obey a court order for contact or residence.

Scottish Government does not currently directly fund projects which specifically promote freedom of religion or belief. Scottish Government funding of faith and belief organisations is now, and has for many years been focused on supporting interfaith engagement work, as well as supporting faith and belief partners to help build inclusive, resilient and cohesive communities across Scotland.

We provide funding to promote interfaith dialogue and support faith and belief communities across the country. The Scottish Government does not fund faith based organisations to promote or lead worship of a particular faith but does fund discrete faith led projects to meet a particular need, or overcome a barrier to equality of outcome or opportunity for a particular faith community. The organisations listed below deliver projects to enhance understanding of faith, interfaith dialogue and community cohesion.

In addition to this funded work, our new Hate Crime Strategy, published in March 2023, sets out our vision for a Scotland where everyone, including people of faith, live free from hatred and prejudice. The strategy was informed by those with lived experience of hate crime, including faith communities. A delivery plan setting out immediate and longer term activity in support of the strategy, including implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, will be published later this year.

Although we cannot provide a comprehensive breakdown of funding provided to faith and belief organisations across all of Scottish Government from 2007, the following is a breakdown of available figures for faith and belief organisations who received Scottish Government funding:

From 2021 until the present the following annual funding amounts have been provided through the Connected Communities Division:

Edinburgh interfaith Association £50,000

Faith in Community Dundee £40,000

Interfaith Glasgow £50,000

Interfaith Scotland £145,000

Scottish Council of Jewish Communities £50,000

In addition to this, in 2023 Interfaith Glasgow received an additional £20,000 for the year 23-24.

Prior to this funding was provided through the Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund between 2017 and 20 21. Details of this fundingcan be found at Equality funding: Promoting Equality and Cohesion Fund 2017-2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

For 2016-2017 funding was provided through the PECF funding and details can be found at Equality funding 2016 to 2017 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Funding for Interfaith Scotland as an intermediary organisation was provided between 2012 and 2015 with a total funding of £ 330,000.

In 2022 we published our consultation on Tightening rules on advertising and promoting vaping products . Evidence about the impact of e-cigarette use on health was included as a section.

Since then Electronic cigarettes and health outcomes: systematic review of evidence (anu.edu.au) and the UK Government commissioned Khan report have been published, adding further to the evidence base.

In May 2023 we published "Vaping – understanding the prevalence and trends among adults and children" ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/understanding-prevalence-trends-vaping-adults-children/pages/2/). This analysis of data on vaping from twelve surveys conducted at UK or regional level, with a focus on current use, ever tried and dual use of vaping products, and differences by socio-economic status.

We work with Public Health Consultants, Scottish Government analysts, and a range of academics and stakeholders to understand how this, and other evidence, informs current understanding. It is an ongoing process to ensure that the development of a refreshed Tobacco Action Plan is based on the latest evidence.

The available information is published on a monthly basis, as experimental statistics, by Public Health Scotland: Primary Care in-hours General Practice activity visualisation - as at 30 June 2023

This exploratory work aims to illustrate the type of activity information captured within General Practice clinical systems. Not all activity is currently recorded on the clinical systems and therefore the activity reported here does not represent all the work happening within a general practice setting. Work is ongoing to enhance this data. This collaborative effort between ourselves, the profession, National Services Scotland and Public Health Scotland, is a significant step on our journey to improving access to General Practice data.

The available information is published on a monthly basis, as experimental statistics, by Public Health Scotland: Primary Care in-hours General Practice activity visualisation - as at 30 June 2023

This exploratory work aims to illustrate the type of activity information captured within General Practice clinical systems. Not all activity is currently recorded on the clinical systems and therefore the activity reported here does not represent all the work happening within a general practice setting. Work is ongoing to enhance this data. This collaborative effort between ourselves, the profession, National Services Scotland and Public Health Scotland, is a significant step on our journey to improving access to General Practice data.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has a dedicated website, Apprenticeships | Apprenticeships.scot: Work, Learn & Earn , where Training Providers and/or employers can advertise their Apprenticeship opportunities. SDS holds data on the vacancies posted there including; total number of vacancies posted, number of applicants and employer location. SDS can provide specific information upon request.

It is worth noting that this information only relates to new vacancies advertised on Apprenticeships.scot and does not capture uptake of Apprenticeships by employers looking to upskill existing members of staff.

Some adverts on Apprenticeships.scot do not have a direct application route, as some employers post a link to their own recruitment portal for applicants. SDS are unable to track information of applications on websites other than their own. In addition, some employers may not advertise vacancies on Apprenticeships.scot and choose to advertise via their own websites, so SDS do not hold this information.

We have not had any direct discussions with Local Authorities to date regarding the potential banning of disposable vapes.

However, a stakeholder roundtable was held on 6 September 2023 by the Ministers for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity and for Public Health and Women's Health to discuss the findings of the Zero Waste Scotland report on the environmental impacts of single use vapes, which will include representation from local government.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on recreational vaping. However, the Scottish Government published a report earlier in 2023 which examined the extent of use of e-cigarette in adults and children. The numbers will include those using e-cigarettes to quit smoking tobacco, as well as recreational use - Vaping - understanding prevalence and trends among adults and children: research - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Although challenging to establish a precise estimate of use, key messages from the report include:

The percentage of adults in Scotland reporting current use (generally includes those who vape once a week or more and those who vape only occasionally) is likely to be somewhere between 5% according to the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS 2021) and 13.2% as shown by the Smoking Toolkit Study (STS 2022). The most recent data suggest that the percentage reporting current vaping has increased over time, despite the SHeS 2021 indicating a decrease since 2019.

Although based on different samples by age, surveys from across the UK show that the percentage of current young users (both regular and occasional) could be somewhere between 1.1% of 10-15 year olds ( Understanding Society 2020/21 ) and 7% of 11-17 year olds ( ASH GB Youth Survey 2022 ). Current use appears to be increasing.

Scottish Government commissioned Zero Waste Scotland to undertake a review of the environmental impacts of single use e-cigarettes, the report was published in June 2023. The report identifies several environmental impacts, including littering, wasteful use of resources and carbon emissions. Further detail is available in the report. The environmental impact of single-use vapes (zerowastescotland.org.uk) . The Scottish Government is considering the findings of the report and will set out next steps in the autumn.