Chamber and committees

Details of all Ministerial engagements and expenses are proactively published by the Scottish Government, including the costs of travel and accommodation. The information can be accessed at the below link: https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/.

While recruitment is an operational matter for ScotRail to manage, the Scottish Government is supportive of ScotRail’s target to increase apprenticeships.

ScotRail, working in partnership with Skills Development Scotland and the Train Drivers union ASLEF, is developing a new Modern Apprenticeship Framework in Train Driving.

Over the past 2 decades ScotRail has offered apprenticeships in engineering across all 4 of its depots. The 2023 cohort will see a 100% increase in apprenticeship numbers on the previous year’s intake. ScotRail will continue to identify apprenticeship opportunities as part of the workforce planning activity to support skills needs and employment opportunities.

Social Security Scotland does not routinely produce information on households claiming social security benefits.

Information on the characteristics of applicants, including gender, is published as part of Official Statistics publications on Social Security Scotland client diversity and equalities analysis.

These statistics were most recently published in September 2021 and are available at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/social-security-scotland-client-diversity-and-equalities-analysis-to-may-2021 .

There is currently work being undertaken to produce an update to this publication, which will be published by the end of summer 2023. This will cover the period from June 2021 to October 2022.

The Scottish Government works closely with key stakeholders to assess all factors that impact recruitment and retention for third sector providers in the adult social care sector.

The Scottish Government recognises the effect that wider pay settlements may have and that is why a further £100 million is being provided to Local Government to ensure a £10.90 per hour minimum wage for adult social care workers in commissioned services from April 2023. This includes workers in third sector providers and takes Scottish Government recurring funding for adult social care pay in commissioned services to £0.6 billion per year. It is worth noting that the £10.90 per hour rate is the minimum rate of pay for these workers and many providers choose to pay more than these minimums. The Scottish Government will continue to engage with third sector social care providers to understand how this funding is contributing toward supporting recruitment and retention.

We know that it is vital that we continue to support work to build capacity in primary care settings to respond to eating disorder presentations given the increasing demand, complexity of presentations and impact on secondary care services.

We continue to build on the investment we have already made by including outcomes to improve eating disorder services and Mental Health in Primary Care in our Mental Health Outcomes Framework investment in 2022-23, which gives NHS Boards and Integration Authorities flexibility to improve existing pathways.

Through the funding allocated to Beat in 2022-23, we have also introduced Beyond the Symptoms Training for GPs and Healthcare professionals training to support them to identify when a patient has an eating disorder, and to confidently intervene early.

In addition, we are currently developing Eating Disorder Quality Standards which are due to be consulted on in Spring 2023. The Standards cover areas such as service structure and governance arrangements, and aim to improve the care and treatment that people receive from primary care services.

Lastly, we are currently taking forward planning to establish a National Eating Disorder Network in 2023. Included within the Network’s remit will be to further develop specialist eating disorder services and to improve the links between primary and secondary services.

The Scottish Government eligibility criteria prevent SMEs that are more than 25% owned or have more than a 25% stake in another business to access funding through the SME Loan. This is to protect public finance, make certain that the economic benefit from investment is realised by the intended party and ensure that there is a clear route for loan repayments to be made.

Although some businesses have expressed their disappointment at not being able to access funding we consider that this protection is necessary and proportionate. Advisors will ask about the current ownership structure of businesses in order to assess their eligibility for the SME loan scheme. However, Business Energy Scotland do not provide advice to businesses about ownership or their organisational structure.

The Rail Trade Unions were consulted about the selection of an individual to sit as a Non-Executive Directoron the Scottish Rail Holdings Board. The individual currently selected is the General Secretary for the STUC.

The number of households, and particularly those with children, in temporary accommodation in some local authorities is unacceptably high. I have written to the Housing Conveners of the councils with temporary accommodation increases, requesting an urgent meeting to discuss how we can work together on potential solutions. The first meeting will take place later this week.

I have also asked an expert group, chaired by Shelter Scotland and ALACHO, for an action plan to reduce the numbers of people in temporary accommodation, with a strong focus on households with children. The group’s final report will be published at the end of March and will inform our approach to working with our local government and third sector partners to reduce the use of temporary accommodation.

Our strong homelessness legislation means that homeless households, including those with children, have a right to temporary accommodation. The majority of households in temporary accommodation are living in council or housing association homes.

The Scottish Government is aware that figures released by the Scottish Dairy Cattle Association (SDCA) in January reveal an annual reduction of the number of dairy herds in Scotland to 804 herds.

In their news release to accompany the publication of dairy herd statistics the SDCA however noted positively that there was considerable investment in new milking parlours and robots in South West Scotland.

We are continuing to support the Scottish dairy sector by funding the Scottish Dairy Hub, to provide dairy farmers with reliable, accurate and relevant information to inform decision making, as well as funding the Scottish Dairy Growth Board to champion growth of the Scottish Dairy sector in global markets.

As well as receiving farm payments through the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and other schemes, dairy farms have been eligible in recent years to receive support in purchasing farm equipment through the Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme (SACGS) and the Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme (AECS).

As part of the Agricultural Reform Programme the Scottish Government has stated the intention of reforming agricultural support with conditions which reduce emissions and improve farm performance. In February we published details on areas of interest for future farm support conditions which included dairy cattle nutrition, breeding and health. If adopted these measures will support dairy businesses and herd improvement.

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