The Gaelic and Scots Team has a sponsorship role for Bòrd na Gidhlig and meets with officers in the body regularly and consistently. The nature of the sponsorship duties combined with the Gaelic and Scots Team’s policy role requires close working at different levels and on a range of subjects. The Gaelic and Scots Team is in contact with Bòrd na Gidhlig every week and this pattern of working has been in place for the last five years and before. In addition, Bòrd na Gidhlig Chair and CEO meet with ministers at least twice a year; with Scottish Government directors at least twice a year and officials from the Gaelic and Scots Division support these meetings. Gaelic and Scots officials arrange quarterly meetings and regular media meetings with the senior team at Bòrd na Gidhlig.

The Scottish Government continues to support measures to reduce the number of dogs per vehicle which can be transported non-commercially into the UK, having obtained legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for this to be taken forward under the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill before this was withdrawn by the UK Government in May 2023, and having agreed in principle to seek legislative consent for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill before this fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament in May 2024.

The Scottish Government maintains that to ensure consistency of approach and the most effective outcomes, these measures would best be delivered by a UK Parliament bill. To this end, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with DEFRA on the possibility of legislation in the UK parliament to reduce the number of dogs per vehicle which can be transported non-commercially into the UK, along with other animal welfare measures relating to the transport of pets.

To date, £174,000 of the Scottish Government's £1.5 million investment in the Outer Hebrides Food and Drink Programme has been allocated to Acarsaid Harbour Redevelopment on the Isle of Eriskay and a gear storage facility at Vatersay Pier on the Isle of Vatersay. This will be followed by the release of further funds once we are in receipt of the remaining project business cases from the Island Growth Deal's Programme Management Office and these have been reviewed and endorsed.

Through this package of support, multiple investments will preserve and enhance local markets for traditional fishing industries, enable the sustainable development of the primary food production industries in the Outer Hebrides in a socio-economic context by developing local food and drink markets and respond to sectoral opportunities linked to product diversification. This will build economic resilience, community wealth and well-being by supporting communities and businesses across the Outer Hebrides throughout the Island Growth Deal's ten-year lifespan and beyond.

The Scottish Government continues to support measures to restrict the transport of pregnant dogs into the UK, having obtained legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for this to be taken forward under the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill before this was withdrawn by the UK Government in May 2023, and having agreed in principle to seek legislative consent for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill before this fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament in May 2024.

The Scottish Government maintains that to ensure consistency of approach and the most effective outcomes, these measures would best be delivered by a UK Parliament bill. To this end, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with DEFRA on the possibility of legislation in the UK parliament to restrict the transport of pregnant dogs into the UK, along with other animal welfare measures relating to the transport of pets.

We continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding a year to ensure all school pupils aged 10 and above have access to counselling services across Scotland.

Prior to delivering the commitment, the Scottish Government published a set of aims and principles, agreed in partnership with COSLA. These principles require school counselling services to be delivered within an agreed definition of counselling by qualified counsellors registered with an appropriate registration body, such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA).

Since the announcement of the freeze on marketing expenditure, the following public health campaigns have subsequently been assessed and approved to run in 2024-25 in line with the process set out in the answer to question S6W-30726 on 20 November 2024, and the desired health outcomes and aims that need to be achieved for each.

• Early Cancer Detection – Detect Cancer Earlier

• Dementia Stigma

• Appropriate Use of NHS Services - Right Care Right Place

• Adult Mental Health

• Organ Donation & Tissue

• Winter Vaccines (delivered by Public Health Scotland)

• The Importance of Home Recovery - Home First

• Sexual Assault Referral Centres

• Abortion Safe Access Zones

All activity is developed and evaluated against SMART objectives to help deliver policy outcomes, which includes actions that contribute to improving or saving lives. Where there is substantial spend on paid-for media, quantitative evaluation is carried out by an independent research agency to assess campaign performance. Return on investment is considered to assess the number of people in a target audience who can be reached, and how frequently, via a particular media channel to ensure campaigns are delivered cost-effectively.

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.

As part of the process to assess essential marketing expenditure for 2024-25, the use of paid-for-media activity is considered where it is required to help achieve specific policy outcomes. This can include a requirement to reach specific audiences or to ensure audiences are presented with messages a number of times to achieve the desired impact.

Marketing activity and campaigns that are without expenditure, such as no-cost approaches that have no external production, service or media costs, continue to support delivery of policy outcomes as part of the communications mix.

The freeze on public sector marketing expenditure was part of a wider exercise to introduce the necessary emergency spending controls to achieve a balanced budget. Cabinet Secretaries were given a directive to freeze all marketing expenditure with immediate effect, with any spend deemed essential then requiring to be assessed accordingly in line with individual policy priorities and outcomes, and approved by the First Minister before proceeding. Many campaigns have gone ahead.

Further details on this process are set out in the answer to question S6W-30726 on 20 November 2024, alongside the now approved public health campaigns listed in the answer to question S6W-30729 on 20 November 2024. 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.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on the type of employee as part of the Public Sector Employment data collection.

Some of the trend information on headcount can be obtained from the data sources below:

NHS Scotland Workforce data: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

Scottish Government Workforce data: Scottish Government workforce information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Police Officer numbers: Police officer quarterly strength statistics: 30 June 2024 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Please note that the statistics on Police Officer numbers are provided in terms of Full-Time Equivalent, not headcount.

This is a matter between the University and UK Government, and general UK Government budgeting is continuing to be reviewed. However, the Scottish Government recognises the University’s unique track record and further potential as the UK’s foremost supercomputing centre, and we will continue to work to influence UK Government public finance discussions to positively benefit our economy and key sectors, including computing and AI.