Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how much has been paid to private social care providers by any of the bodies as referenced within the query.

Social Care services are commissioned by Local Authorities and information on their expenditure can be found in the annual publication of the Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics report.

Should the information requested not be available from this resource then a direct enquiry should be made with the relevant local authorities.

This information is not held centrally; it is a matter for the individual Health Boards.

Today, we have published the Interim Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Research and Skills.

This publication sets out and seeks views on the interim Purpose and Principles and the topics that have to be explored to develop a plan for implementation that will deliver against them. This has been developed on the basis of feedback from previous research, reviews, reports and engagement, including the SFC Review of Coherent Provision and Sustainability and the National Strategy for Economic Transformation , and sets out the priorities that must guide our decision making in the face of a challenging set of imperatives for reform. A stakeholder engagement plan for the next phase of work and a discussion guide to support people to hold their own sessions on the interim Purpose and Principles are also published today, which is available in Gaelic or easy read format.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has operational responsibility for the Modern Apprenticeship programme and administer funding, on behalf of the Scottish Government.

SDS have confirmed that no Modern Apprenticeship contracts have been terminated in line with clause (a) 22.1.2.1, (b) 22.1.2.2 and (c) 22.1.2.3, as set out under section 22, Termination for Reputational Damage in the Modern Apprenticeship Programme Conditions.

The Scottish Government will continue to protect free tuition for Scottish-domiciled students undertaking under-graduate courses in addition to stepping in to address specific workforce challenges directly related to government workforce policy ambitions . At present there are no plans to extend bursaries to those studying on allied health professions’ courses outside of Paramedic Science.

My officials in Transport Scotland are currently considering the most appropriate route for continuity of these services. I will consider this advice as soon as I receive it. The most important factor for passengers and staff will be seamless provision, irrespective of future models considered.

We are working closely with NatureScot and Scottish Forestry in exploring the best approach to developing a new National Register of Ancient Woodlands, which will be published when that work is complete. A new National Register of Ancient Woodlands is part of a suite of initiatives that will be underpinned by a new biodiversity strategy which we recently consulted on this summer.

The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of rural bus services and is committed, in conjunction with operators and local authorities, to looking at ways of improving services. I recently convened the first Bus Taskforce to bring key players in the sector together to make bus travel a more attractive choice for passengers through joint commitments to reform and improve bus services.

We are supporting bus use through the under 22s free bus travel scheme, which means that around half of Scotland’s population are now eligible for free bus travel. As of 21 November, 71.6% of eligible children and young people in Fife had an active National Entitlement Card allowing them to access the Young Persons' Free Bus Travel Scheme, and those cardholders have already made over 2.6 million journeys.

We continue to provide financial support for bus services to keep services more extensive and fares more affordable than would otherwise be the case. Payments are based on the distance buses are operated, which is a particular advantage in rural areas where the routes are generally longer. Funding is also provided to local authorities in their annual settlement to support services they consider socially necessary and for community transport services, which can play an important role in rural transport networks.

In addition, the Scottish Government is supporting a number of local projects within Fife. This includes: multi operator ticketing schemes such as the ABC scheme and OneTicket; investing in the the University of St Andrews “MaaSterplan” pilot which aims to increase the utilisation of the existing Go-Flexi Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) service; and the £1.6 million award from the Bus Partnership Fund to Fife Bus Partnership to appraise bus priority options along key corridors in Fife.

Information setting out the requested methodology is in the public domain: Heat in building strategy modelling: EIR release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

We are committed to delivering a just and fair transition to net zero, where the distribution of costs and impacts protects those in the most vulnerable circumstances while also optimising benefits for everyone. This means continuing to take account of changes in the external environment so that our modelling of funding and support remains appropriate. We are currently reviewing our cost estimates to deliver the heat transition on this basis, and will provide a further update in due course.

The majority ofthis budget is directly allocated to Health Boards to support international recruitment and domestic recruitment. All of this budget is earmarked for allocation by financial year end, with £4.5 million of this funding already allocated thus far. A further £0.3m supports other initiatives including refugee doctors and nurses, marketing of NHS Scotland, and employability programmes.