No changes have been made, or are currently being considered, to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NatureScot, Hampden & Co, Lombard Odier Investment Managers and Palladium.

The Scottish Government is committed to adopting fairer funding principles within its management of third sector grants. This approach aims to provide security and certainty, allowing organisations to build resilience, capacity and effective relationships across the public, third and private sectors. The application of these Fairer Funding principles include a commitment to embed a multi-year grant approach on all third sector grants by 2026, and the First Minister committed to increasing the number of two-year grants at The Gathering in 2023.

Additionally, we are reviewing grant management practice across the Scottish Government with a view to ensure proportional and consistent reporting methods across Scottish Government third sector grant management, and are committed to ensuring early notification of funding arrangements by the end of the financial year.

The Scottish Government has no functions in relation to biosafety in virology laboratories, this is a matter for the UK Government. Under COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) legislation, employers must minimise the risk to laboratory staff working with biological agents. COSHH is enforced by the UK HSE (Health and Safety Executive) and police counter-terror / NaCTSO (National Counter Terrorism Security Office) partners. Strict risk assessments and robust safety controls in medical and biological laboratories, in line with COSHH and HSE biosafety laboratory guidance, guarantee safe and secure working practices including preventing unintentional release of biological agents.

Building on the recent passage of the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023, the Scottish Government has committed to work with the third sector and partners to develop the scope for a wider review of charity regulation.

No decisions have yet been taken on how the review will be conducted. The approach will depend on the agreed scope, timescales and outcomes and all options, including an independent review, will be considered.

My officials are currently working on proposals for engaging stakeholders which will ensure that all interested parties have the opportunity to contribute their views on the purpose and scope of the review. I will update parliament on our plans in due course.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The management of custody facilities is a matter for Police Scotland. However, I will ask the Chief Constable if the service is able to provide the member with this information directly.

The level of custody facilities required on a local and divisional basis is very much a consideration within Police Scotland's Estates Strategy and the ongoing consultation around a number of properties.

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-24676 on 30 January 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 .

I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of the National Records of Scotland (NRS) to respond. Her response is:

National Records of Scotland (NRS) publish migration flows as part of their mid-year population estimates. Estimates for in, out and net migration between Scotland and the rest of the UK (RUK), as well as net migration as a percentage of the population, can be seen in the following table.

In, out and net migration between Scotland and the rest of the UK (RUK), mid-2000 to mid-2021

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16291 on‎ 12 April 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

For the financial year 2023-24, so far there have been 818 first time buyers who have purchased through the Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE) scheme.

The Draft Budget continues to recognise the critical role that the third sector plays in supporting the delivery of key services in Scotland’s communities. We are keenly aware of the pressures on the third sector at this time. The financial environment is extremely difficult while demand for services is increasing. Additionally, Fairer Funding is part of a series of steps to address this difficult financial environment within Scottish Government funding for third sector organisations.

(a) Regarding Fair Work First conditionality, the Scottish Government has sought to implement these principles across all government portfolios, updating grant obligations to meet the new conditionality requirements from July 2023. Monitoring compliance with Fair Work First principles, including the requirements to pay workers at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective voice, is the responsibility of individual grant managers across government and of relevant funders across the wider public sector. It takes place within existing grant assurance and monitoring processes, as with any other condition of grant, such as agreed outcomes.

Where exceptions to the mandatory grant requirements are applied, grant managers are asked to record these. This information will be requested and collated at the end of the financial year.

(b) It is for individual grant-makers and funders to determine the value of individual grants within their overall budget limitations. Real Living Wage conditionality is concerned with uplifting low pay workers to at least the real Living Wage. Any further pay increases an employer wishes to introduce above and beyond this will be a matter for the employer concerned.

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities. It is up to each local authority how it manages its day-to-day business and decision making processes, including the allocation of staff resources and the level of services that are provided.

Addressing the biodiversity crisis needs action across the whole of government and wider society. Through the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and Delivery Plan we are working with local authorities to ensure they have the right tools and guidance for nature restoration, and to empower the development of partnerships that include the right skills and knowledge to deliver local nature restoration projects.

Since 2021-22, we have directly allocated £17 million to Local Authorities through the Nature Restoration Fund for them to deliver such projects in partnership with other organisations. In 2023-24, we allocated an additional £5 million to support initial work to develop local nature networks.