The Scottish Government does not currently provide direct funding to Legion Scotland’s Veterans Community Support Service. The Service does, however, receive Scottish Government grant funding indirectly through the Unforgotten Forces consortium, which the Scottish Government has funded since 2020. In 2023 the consortium’s Scottish Government funding was extended for a further three years on the condition that they develop and implement a long term sustainable funding model from 2026 onwards, and we are liaising with the consortium to support them in that transition.

The consortium independently allocates funding from the Scottish Government grant amongst their partners each financial year, in line with grant conditions. Therefore, if the consortium have other funds available once the Scottish Government funding has ceased then the decision on whether funding continues to be allocated to the Veterans Community Support Service beyond 2026 will be made by them.

A possible alternative source of funding for the Veterans Community Support Service is the Scottish Government’s Scottish Veterans Fund. The Fund provides a total of £500,000 per annum for projects that support the Armed Forces and veterans community. Details regarding the 2026-2027 funding round will be announced closer to the time.

The duty to prepare and publish guidance under section 23 of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 falls on VisitScotland. We anticipate they will send a draft of the guidance to Scottish Ministers in the next few weeks.

I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

NRS are currently publishing topic data from Scotland’s Census 2022. Later in 2024, we will publish multivariate data. This means we will publish tables which include more than one census topic variable.

An evaluation of Scotland’s Census 2022, with a focus on lessons learned for any future census and other complex programmes, will be laid before the Scottish Parliament by the end of 2024.

The Young Person’s Guarantee Implementation Progress Report highlights the progress made against the initial recommendations contained within the Young Person Guarantee- No-one Left Behind: initial report, as well as outlining the next steps against the commitments made in the supporting activity plan. The full report can be accessed here:

Young Person's Guarantee Implementation Progress Report (www.gov.scot)

On 10 August 2023, we published the implementation evaluation for No One Left Behind, which specifically included the employability activity delivered under the Young Person’s Guarantee. The study found that most employability staff thought the Young Person's Guarantee had made a positive difference to the way employability services were being delivered to young people in their area, that it was the right response to mitigating the impact of the pandemic on young people's progression, and supported employer engagement. The full report can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/implementation-evaluation-no-one-left-behind-young-persons-guarantee.

Specific area-based assessments are not held by the Scottish Government, therefore requests for this information would need to be directed towards Local Authorities. Employability contacts for each local authority can be found on the Employability in Scotland website which can be accessed here:https://www.employabilityinscotland.com/local-employability-services/

Employability support for young people is now delivered through the No One Left Behind approach across Scotland including Edinburgh, as part of the long-term ambition to simplify the employability landscape for service users. Assessments of No One Left Behind delivery can be assessed at: https://www.gov.scot/collections/scotlands-devolved-employment-services-statistics/

Launched in 2017, No Wrong Path is an initiative led by Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), designed to provide inspiration and reassurance to young people receiving their exam results. DYW facilitates the engagement between employers and schools to support young people transition into the world of work. 

In the decade since the DYW programme started we have seen a significant increase in the numbers of young people achieving vocational and technical qualifications, recognising the breadth of young people’s talents and skills.

We must ensure that people have the skills they need at every stage of life to have rewarding careers and meet the demands of an ever-changing economy. DYW and its no wrong path initiative is continuing to support this ambition, playing an important role in preparing young people for the world of work and working with industry to match the needs of employers with the needs of young people.

A local authority can introduce a visitor levy scheme where the statutory guidance produced under section 23 of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024 has not been published.

Yes. The First Minister will set out his priorities in the new Parliamentary term and these plans will be announced in due course.

The Scottish Budget set out the considerable financial challenges faced for 2024-25. The Scottish Government is committed to delivering vital public services and supporting households, but also has an obligation to balance the budget each year. This requires some difficult decisions and robust spending control.

Ministers made the difficult decision to reduce the ICF budget by 5% on 8 July 2024 and stakeholders were informed on 10 July 2024.

The Investing in Communities Fund (ICF) is a multiyear communities fund that targets our most disadvantaged communities to deliver projects, services and activities that address poverty and disadvantage on their own terms. The second round of the fund invited applications addressing four areas of action:

• tackling poverty and inequality, including child poverty#x200f
• developing and sustaining place based approaches#x200f
• community-led regeneration#x200f
• ensuring a just transition to net zero#x200f

One hundred and five community projects are currently in receipt of ICF round 2 support (2023-2026), receiving a total of £27 million funding.

Link to the projects being supported https://www.gov.scot/publications/investing-in-communities-fund-round-2-approved-awards-2023-2026