Chamber and committees

Total budget allocations for Architecture and Design Scotland since it was established in 2005 are provided in the following table:

Architecture and Design Scotland operates in line with an agreed Framework Document which sets out the basis within which the organisation operates. The Framework Document requires the organisation to produce an Annual Report on its activities and submit accounts to the Scottish Parliament each year. The Framework Document for Architecture and Design Scotland and Annual Reports can be accessed at https://www.ads.org.uk/our-corporate-documents

The relevant Scottish Government Minister meets the Chair of Architecture and Design Scotland annually to discuss the efficacy and operations of the NDPB. Monitoring of the efficacy of the organisation also takes place via regular meetings between Scottish Government officials and the senior leadership of Architecture and Design Scotland. Scottish Government’s Chief Planner meets annually with the Chair and Chief Executive of Architecture and Design Scotland and the Scottish Government’s Chief Architect meets with the Chief Executive on a 6 weekly basis. Scottish Government officials conduct monitoring and liaison meetings with Architecture and Design Scotland on a monthly basis to discuss the operations and efficacy of the NDPB.

Architecture and Design Scotland provides non-chargeable advice and resources to all local authorities. Architecture and Design Scotland:

• provides advice on projects;
• connects people and organisations to create thriving places;
• shares insight to grow capacity across Scotland; and
• champions good design and collaboration.

Extensive support to local authorities has been provided via a wide range of programmes, events and initiatives since the organisation was established. A full breakdown of the instances local authorities have received planning advice from Architecture and Design Scotland, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) year to is not held centrally but examples are regularly reported in its Annual Reports.

Throughout the 1140 hours expansion the Scottish Government has sought to improve conditions across the private, third and childminding workforce delivering funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC). This includes our investment to support local authorities to set sustainable rates at a level that enables payment of the real Living Wage to those workers delivering funded ELC. Payment of the real Living Wage is a key measure in tackling in work poverty, and Scotland is the only part of the UK to apply this to the ELC sector.

Overview of Local Authority Funding and Support for Early Learning and Childcare Providers: 2022-23 , highlights that average rates paid to providers in the private and third sector to deliver funded ELC to 3-5 year olds have increased by 57% between 2017 and 2022, from £3.68 per hour in 2017-18 to £5.77 per hour in 2022-23.

The investment for the payment of sustainable rates has supported real progress in pay. For example, in 2016, before the ELC expansion to 1140 hours, the Financial Review of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland estimated that approximately 80% of practitioners delivering funded ELC in private and third sector providers were paid less than the real Living Wage.

The Financial Sustainability Health Check , published in August 2021, reported that 88% of private and third sector providers delivering funded ELC intended to pay the real Living Wage to all of their staff from August 2021.

However, public funding and Scottish Government policy can only effect a certain amount of change in pay. The childcare market is a mixed economy - the August 2021 Financial Sustainability Health Check reported that funding for the delivery of funded ELC accounted for, on average, around 33%-45% of overall income for private childcare services – and employers in the private and third sectors are responsible for making their own decisions about pay and conditions.

We are working with partners and sector representatives, including through our Real Living Wage and Fair Work Implementation Group, to understand any barriers to paying the real Living Wage and to ensuring all childcare staff perform their essential work under terms and conditions which meet Fair Work criteria.

The Climate Justice Fund aims to support communities facing the impacts of climate change under a justice-based approach. The decision to allocate £2m of it to address loss and damage was based on the scale of the need, the lack of funding from others, and the influence the additional funding would have on other governments and organisations to commit funding to address loss and damage.

The £2 million for loss and damage aims to increase ambition and accelerate global action and to influence the global agenda on the issues of loss and damage and climate justice. It has funded the programs outline in the response to question
‎ S6W-13351 on 10 January 2023 .

An additional £5 million on loss and damage was subsequently allocated on the basis that the initial £2m was effectively supporting communities (based on feedback from global stakeholders and evidence from ongoing quarterly monitoring of the programmes) and that a specific allocation on non-economic loss and damage would both support vulnerable communities and bring focus to an area that was under-researched and under-funded. The need for more to be done to both understand and address non-economic losses and damages, in particular as experience by women, was one of the key insights from the Scottish Government hosted October 2022 loss and damage conference as well as from ongoing consultations with our partners.

The £7 million on loss and damage does not meet the scale of the global need. But it does allow the funding of pilot projects that support communities and the building of an evidence base of what works that will strengthen both Scottish Government’s and global partners’ future work. It has also played a role in unlocking funding commitments from other governments and organisations. While Scotland was the first country to commit funding to loss and damage, the global commitments to fund loss and damage have grown to over $300m.

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

Transport Scotland, through its Trunk Road Operating Companies and Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Concessionaires, is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways. Repair of potholes on all other roads is the responsibility of the local authorities.

Despite the UK Government stepping back from COVID funding from 2022-23, there remain COVID related pressures and costs across the system. The 2022-23 health budget provides for test and protect, PPE and the ongoing vaccination programme, including costs relating to delivery of Covid-19 vaccinations and the extended seasonal flu vaccination as well as staff, venues and storage. The £147.471 million represents the net of these costs once partially offset by income related to dental and miscellaneous services which is also included in this budget line.

The 2023-24 budget confirms our ongoing commitment to invest in social care and increasing the sustainability of the sector ahead of implementation of the National Care Service.

The 2023-24 Stage 1 budget presented, at level 4, a total investment of £1.2 billion in Social Care support and National Care Service (NCS) delivery. This total represents a social care spending increase of over £800 million compared to 2021-22, demonstrating that we are well ahead of our trajectory to increase spending by 25% (£840 million) over the life of the Parliament.

The £1.1 billion expenditure line supports a number of areas including an additional £100 million for adult social care pay up to £10.90 per hour, £344 million of existing funding to support pay, £124 million for care at home investment, £60 million for the Carers Act and funding to support inflationary uplifts for Free Personal Nursing Care Rates. We note the Report on the Financial Memorandum published on 1 December by the Finance and Public Administration Committee and are currently revising the NCS Financial Memorandum. This will provide more detail on expected spend in 2023-24 and beyond.

Transport Scotland, through its Trunk Road Operating Companies and Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Concessionaires, is responsible for the management and maintenance of the strategic trunk road network, including motorways. Repair of potholes on all other roads is the responsibility of the local authorities.

An Accelerated National Innovation Pathway has been established to standardise and facilitate the adoption of health and care innovations. The Scottish Health Technology Group also supports standardisation by providing robust governance and advice. Digital technologies are required to meet clinical safety standards such as Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and compliance with MHRA regulations.

Scotland’s first Data Strategy for health and social care will articulate further national principles and deliverables around the ethical use of data. The strategy is due for publication this year