Chamber and committees

(a) In 2014, the Deputy First Minister committed to re-opening the Fund and provided £5.5 million per annum to enable ILF to re-open to new applicants for the first time since 2010.Through an extensive process of co-production, the ILF Scotland Transition Fund was developed as an alternative to re-opening the 2015 Fund. The Transition Fund was designed to support young disabled people with the transition to adult life. This entirely new fund opened to applications in December 2017.

(b) The Cabinet Secretary wrote to the ILF Scotland Board on 16 December 2022, 26 January 2023 and 27 February 2023 stating his support for ILF Scotland but indicating that re-opening the 2015 Fund could only progress when affordability and sustainability could be assured.

The Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care wrote to the Chair of ILF Scotland’s Advisory Group on 23 January 2023 stating that he remains committed to re-opening the 2015 Fund but is unable to do so due to financial constraints.

There are 3 dental schools in Scotland at Aberdeen, Dundee, and Glasgow Universities. There are no plans for any new dental courses to be introduced at the current time.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Information about Scottish Government funding since 2000 is not available from a single source or held in a single location. Records retention policy may also affect availability of records over this timescale.

The Scottish Government currently provides funding to the Scottish Refugee Council to support Refugee Festival Scotland.

The funding allocated for the 85 per cent funding floor from the introduction in 2012-13 up to and including 2023-24 is set out in a document that has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib number 64023

The Local Government Finance settlement also includes a main funding floor however that is self-funding which means that the 85 per cent funding floor is the only funding floor mechanism where the Scottish Government provides additional funding. The purpose of the main funding floor is to provide a degree of stability for all local authorities where the alignment of funding with relative need results in a lower-than-average change in the year-to-year funding. The main funding floor forms part of the needs based distribution formula that is discussed and agreed with COSLA on behalf of all their members each year.

The Scottish Government does not have access to this information at this time. As set out in the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency will produce and maintain a list of registered producers prior to the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) already has a range of civil sanctions, such as fixed monetary penalties or enforcement undertakings, which it can impose as part of its enforcement of a wider range of existing environmental legislation.

Civil sanctions mean that SEPA has a flexible range of enforcement tools available to deal with any breach of environmental legislation. The Lord Advocate has issued guidance to SEPA on its use of civil sanctions which can be found at Lord Advocates guidelines to SEPA: use of enforcement measures under the regulatory reform (Scotland) act 2014.

In terms of criminal remedies, SEPA would refer such instances to Police Scotland or the relevant police service elsewhere in the UK.

To support delivery of the National Infrastructure Mission we established the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland to provide long term strategic advice on national infrastructure priorities. Our infrastructure plans build on these recommendations and work is ongoing to develop our infrastructure improvement programme, through developing a new method of appraisal and prioritisation to ensure our infrastructure commitments match long-term goals and in preparing a cross-sector infrastructure needs assessment. This will ensure we are making the best capital investment decisions possible across the public sector to deliver on our ambitious programme for Scotland.

The Infrastructure Investment Plan 2021-25 sets out a hierarchy for infrastructure investment which aids decision making and planning on investment choices by encouraging maintenance and enhancement of existing assets over new assets, where appropriate. This Infrastructure Investment Plan sets maintenance and enhancement as a Scottish Government infrastructure priority and all public bodies, including Local Authorities can draw on this when making investment decisions. The Scottish Futures Trust and Scottish Government have jointly developed an Asset Strategy Guidance note to support the application of the infrastructure hierarchy (link Here ) and have developed a Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard to support the whole public sector in making good investment decisions. More information on the Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard can be found here: Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard and on the Infrastructure Investment Plan, here: Infrastructure Investment Plan for Scotland .

The Scottish Government does not expect to receive Barnett consequential funding in connection with this UK Government scheme.

Scottish Government is a key partner in the Save a Life for Scotland partnership which delivers the Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy 2021 – 2026. A key aim of this strategy is to increase the percentage of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest incidents which have a defibrillator applied before the ambulance service arrives from 8% to 20%.

This is not only about increasing the number of defibrillators in public places but also about building the evidence base to support defibrillator guardians to make strategic decisions about the placement of their defibrillators, to encourage their registration with Scottish Ambulance Service and to increase public confidence and knowledge around defibrillation. We are working as part of the Save a Life Scotland partnership to deliver on these aims.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14838 on 9 March 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14838 on 9 March 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 .