Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government budget for 2023-24 for Active Travel is £189.2 million as follows. This is a step change increase from the 2022-23 budget, particularly in capital investment, as we progress towards the commitment to invest at least £320 million or 10% of the transport budget on active travel by 2024-25. This investment has a particular focus on improving the quality and range of active travel infrastructure where people can walk, wheel and cycle safely and confidently; and also funds access to bikes schemes and programmes to encourage more people to use active travel on day to day journeys. In turn these support key priorities in our second National Transport Strategy and second Strategic Transport Projects Review.

ScotRail advises that the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager (ED&I Manager) post ensures that its diversity, equality, inclusion, and engagement initiatives are a core element of its People Strategy and fully embedded across all areas of the organisation.

The ScotRail ED&I Adviser Reports directly to the ED&I Manager and supports the programme of work to ensure that ScotRail’s diversity, equality, inclusion, and engagement initiatives are delivered.

Full detail on roles and responsibilities are a matter for the employer. The Member may wish to contact Scottish Rail Holdings for further information, if required:-

[email protected]

In 2021, the Scottish Government reached a joint agreement with local authorities to increase the national minimum school clothing grant to £120 for each eligible primary school pupil, and £150 for each eligible secondary school pupil. This was an increase from the national minimum grant of £100 per eligible pupil which was agreed with local authorities in 2018.

The Scottish Government provided funding to local authorities of £11.8m in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 financial years to support eligible families to benefit from the minimum school clothing grant. In 2023-24, the Scottish Government has increased funding to £13m to support local authorities to maintain the school clothing grant in line with increased inflation costs.

It is for local authorities to determine their own eligibility criteria for school clothing grant and authorities have the option to set their grant level higher than the minimum if they wish.

Decisions about funding to local authorities in respect of the school clothing grant in future financial years will be made as part of wider considerations on the Scottish Budget, taking into account economic and other circumstances, including continued delivery of the Covid Recovery Strategy and its aim to increase support for low-income households.

This is an operational matter for Network Rail and ScotRail and as such Transport Scotland does not hold the information requested.

The range of drugs that exist for clinicians to prescribe to people in prison across all prison estates is the same as those available to NHS patients across the same geographical areas (Health Boards).

There may be some difference in what the first line and second line formulary recommendations are in each of the Boards, with these differences being attributable to local variation in assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) is responsible for approving all medicines for use in the NHS in Scotland. Once a medicine has been approved by the SMC it is then considered for addition to the local formulary by the Boards Area Drugs and Therapeutic Committee (ADTCC). The ADTCC is a statutory committee of the Board with responsibility for the safe and effective use of medicines in that Board.

All medicines approved for use in the NHS in Scotland are available to all people in prison regardless of location, through the same processes that are available to the non-custodial population.

The Scottish Government does not hold a central record of meetings held with suppliers so is therefore unable to confirm what meetings have been held with Deloitte LLP since May 2021.

Work on the FOI Improvement plan continues to be a priority for the Scottish Government. Progress has been made in a number of areas contained in the Improvement Plan to strengthen internal processes and delivery of this statutory function. In his evidence to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee on 23 March the Scottish Information Commissioner noted that unlike most other Scottish public authorities, the Scottish Government has seen a sustained increase in FOI request volumes since the pandemic. The Scottish Government is continuing to see persistent yearly increases in numbers of FOI requests. Efforts are therefore also underway to establish a sustainable case-handling model for the Scottish Government.

Revised guidance for case handlers is now live and this is complimented by increased case handler training, as well as a push on the mandatory FOI awareness training for all staff. Officials are also undertaking internal audits on cases ensuring that responses comply with our internal control and assurance procedures as agreed with the Commissioner. Lessons learned are being shared widely and several directorates are undertaking local improvement activity with advice and assistance from trained Quality Improvement practitioners.

FOI performance figures are published on a monthly basis on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/freedom-of-information-foi-reporting/ . The Scottish Government remains committed to the principles of open and transparent government.

The Scottish Government values the tertiary education sector, with each part making a crucial and unique contribution to Scotland. The 2023-24 budget allocates nearly £2 billion to colleges and universities, which continues the trend of a year-on-year increase of that budget in cash terms.

The Scottish Government recognises the essential role that colleges play across all learner pathways including their role in further and higher education provision and will further clarify that in the forthcoming Purpose and Principles. The Scottish Government is actively engaging with stakeholders on the interim Purpose and Principles that were published last December. The Scottish Government is focussing on developing the implementation plan, system level outcomes and metrics, evidence and insight papers and impact assessments to support a final publication in late Spring.

The Scottish Government recognises and celebrates the fact that everyone’s learner pathway is different and it is important that everyone has the opportunity to undertake the learner pathway that best matches their abilities and aspirations. The employer led DYW network and DYW School Coordinator role, currently operates in every secondary school. The programme has a key part to play in enabling the recommendations within the Ken Muir review by helping to create employer led experiences and parity of esteem between academic and vocational learning. The SCQF School Ambassador programme also offers schools the opportunity to learn more about the benefits of the SCQF levels and the wider ways in which it supports learners, including in demonstrating the diversity of provision on offer and the parity of these pathways.

Information about Ministerial engagements is proactively released on the Scottish Government website. The spreadsheets include a wide range of information including details of the organisation/individuals Ministers met with, as well as the subject discussed.

Scottish Government Ministers meet STUC regularly (list of meetings is available at the link above), reflecting the important role that unions play as key social partners in sustaining effective democracy in society, and contributing to economic competitiveness and social justice.

The First Minister meets STUC on a biannual basis, where current issues are discussed. Recent topics in this forum have included: Cost of Living Crisis, National Care Service Bill and Public Sector Pay disputes. The previous Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work engaged with STUC and affiliate unions regularly on workplace safety and other issues during the pandemic and initial recovery period. Other Ministers meet STUC regularly on issues relating to their own portfolios for example Budget, culture, transport, health etc.

The draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy reflects the interdependence of climate, biodiversity and the close linkages between climate change adaptation, mitigation, ecosystem health, human well-being and sustainable development in the same way as the IPCC’s 6 th Synthesis Report. We are currently reviewing the draft Strategy in light of the outcomes of COP15 and in doing so, we will take into account other significant developments such as the IPCC’s assessment report. A consultation on the Strategic Framework for Biodiversity in Scotland, comprising the Strategy and its first Delivery Plan, will take place in summer 2023, followed by publication of the final Strategy later in 2023.