Chamber and committees

There are 7 commissioners and ombudsmen. The following table with commissioners and ombudsmen contains year of establishment, funding and staff numbers.

In the case of Commissioners and Ombudsmen they are classed as Parliamentary Bodies and as such, are accountable directly to the Scottish Parliament with the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body conducting a sponsorship function.

From Scottish Government’s (SG) perspective, there are four organisations that aim to safeguard, maintain and improve the quality of care provision.

The specific details you have requested in relation to these organisations for the year 2022-23 are listed in the following table:

It is worth highlighting that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) and Scottish Police Authority (SPA) are not included in the above table because these organisations conduct reviews of health care in custody settings in partnership with the inspectorates above.

* HIS was established by the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, taking over the work of QIS and the regulatory functions in regard to independent healthcare provision. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) was established on 1 January 2003 as a special health board with a remit to improve the quality of healthcare in Scotland.

Network Rail is ultimately accountable to the UK Government, however, Scottish Ministers have made it clear that any decisions it makes in relation to staffing and staffing levels must be in line with the Scottish Government’s Fair Work principles.

The security offered by the Scottish Government’s continued funding of Scotland’s Railway will assist with Network Rail’s future planning and work-banks for the supply sector.

There are 18 other significant public bodies. The following table for other significant public bodies contains year of establishment, funding and staff numbers.

I welcome these positive achievements on air quality, which show that our actions to tackle air pollution are delivering for the people of Scotland.

The modelling undertaken by each of the cities shows that the Scottish LEZs are capable of delivering significant improvements in air quality. LEZ enforcement will begin in June 2023 in Glasgow, it is therefore too early to say with any certainty what the impact of Low Emission Zones has been.

The four cities introducing LEZs are required to report on air quality annually, and specifically on the performance of the LEZs one year after enforcement starts. I look forward to reviewing these reports when available.

My officials in Transport Scotland are working with ATCO and COSLA on the development of the Community Bus Fund for launch within the financial year 2023-24.

Through the Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF ), we are co-investing with a diverse range of Scottish manufacturers to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions through increased energy efficiency and deep decarbonisation projects. The requested information can be found in the following table:

Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund applications and awards (to date):

The consultation has been published today and is available on the Scottish Government’s Consultation Hub, Citizen Space https://consult.gov.scot/lifelong-learning-and-skills/rural-and-islands-college-merger-proposal

It seeks views on the proposals put forward by the boards of management of North Highland College (UHI North Highland), West Highland College (UHI West Highland) and Lews Castle College (UHI Outer Hebrides) to merge into a single, incorporated college.

The Scottish Government is in regular dialogue with the sector, most recently through holding a series of roundtable discussions. While we have had to make difficult choices to live within budgets, we have also listened to the concerns raised by the culture sector. In response, as announced on 21 February, the Scottish Government will provide an uplift of £6.6 million for Creative Scotland for 2023-24 to ensure their accumulated lottery funding reserves can supplement rather than replace grant funding.

This decision means there will be a substantial increase in the Scottish Government’s funding for culture and major events in the next financial year.

We expect Creative Scotland to set out quickly for the culture sector how it will use these additional resources to support organisations and help protect culture sector jobs at this difficult time.

We will continue to have close discussions with Creative Scotland and the wider culture sector to support workers and ensure our diverse and world-class cultural scene and rich heritage continue to thrive.

The number of individuals successfully completing the Maritime Occupations Modern Apprenticeship framework across each year since 2018/19 is detailed in the following table. All MA statistics are published on the SDS website at Modern Apprenticeships | Skills Development Scotland . Year-end statistics for‎ 2022-23 are expected to be published in May 2023.