Chamber and committees

The funding allocated for the 85 per cent funding floor from the introduction in 2012-13 up to and including 2023-24 is set out in a document that has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib number 64023

The Local Government Finance settlement also includes a main funding floor however that is self-funding which means that the 85 per cent funding floor is the only funding floor mechanism where the Scottish Government provides additional funding. The purpose of the main funding floor is to provide a degree of stability for all local authorities where the alignment of funding with relative need results in a lower-than-average change in the year-to-year funding. The main funding floor forms part of the needs based distribution formula that is discussed and agreed with COSLA on behalf of all their members each year.

The small grants will enable wide-scale public engagement across Scotland for the refreshed New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy. Arrangements for the distribution of the small grants associated are being developed by the strategy’s key partners, the Scottish Government, COSLA and Scottish Refugee Council. Further information will be available in due course.

The Scottish Government, as Sponsor, works closely with ILF Scotland on financial monitoring to ensure that funds are available to meet operational requirements whilst not being provided in advance of need or building up large reserves balances. This is consistent with the Scottish Public Finance Manual. In the current financial year, the Scottish Government has provided £47.72 million to ILF Scotland which covers the funding requirement for 2022-23. Financial reserves, held by ILF Scotland that are in excess of minimum requirements, have been used in addition to funds made available by the Scottish Government to meet operational demands.

The Scottish Government does not hold complete information on the expenditure of public money on town centre regeneration in local areas. Local authorities are responsible for delivering local economic development and local regeneration in their areas and public money from the wider public sector will contribute to regeneration of town centres.

While noting that many wider public sector budgets and funds contribute to town centre regeneration, the Scottish Government has provided targeted funding to support regeneration, including in town centres. This includes support available through the:

• Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) which includes the Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF).
• Town Centre Fund (TCF).
• Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP); and
• Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF).
  

Allocations to North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Falkirk from these funds are in the following tables:

Note: The above RCGF figures include investment awarded to support regeneration in close proximity to town centres.

Note: The VDLIP was launched in 2021. The table above includes projects that were awarded funding for regeneration in close proximity to town centres.

Note: The above table shows the full allocation of the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund for each local authority. Each local authority is responsible for developing proposals based on its local regeneration priorities and funding may have been allocated across the local authority.

The information you have requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Decisions around school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, are at the discretion of each individual local authority. Local authorities' approaches to school meal debt management, including all aspects of policy and practice, should be compassionate, proportionate, and seek to minimise as far as possible the stigmatisation of children, young people, and their families.

Despite the system wide pressures, health boards continue to deliver a primary care out of hours service for the provision of urgent care when GP Practices are closed. Although the 2022 OOH workforce survey showed a decrease of around 97 whole time equivalent GP’s working in the service, it should be noted that the data collection was incomplete with not all Health Boards providing full returns so this figure should be approached with caution as it is not directly comparable with data from previous surveys.

It is also important to note the increased number of other professions which reflects that this service is now provided using a multi-disciplinary model which includes nurses, advanced nurse practitioners and paramedics.

The Statutory Guidance for the Scottish Welfare Fund sets out the responsibilities for Local Authorities in their administration of the Fund, including promotion and raising awareness across all potentially eligible individuals. This includes providing information on the Fund and making clear guidance available on how to apply for a grant. Local Authorities are also required to ensure that other services which have contact with people in crisis have up to date information about the Fund, including promotional posters and leaflets.

As recently indicated by the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government in correspondence to the Committee for Social Justice and Social Security, the Independent Review of the Scottish Welfare Fund is due to publish soon and will inform next steps across a range of areas, including accessibility and promotion.

The Scottish Government, along with the other UK nations, takes advice on whether or not to introduce any new screening programmes from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group.  

The UK NSC conducts an Annual Call for Topics, which allows members of the public and stakeholders to submit new potential screening programmes for the Committee to consider and assess against internationally recognised criteria. In the 2021/22 Call, Metachromatic leukodystrophy was submitted and accepted for review.  

It is not yet possible to say when this review will be complete, but we continue to monitor the situation closely. Should the UK NSC recommend screening following this review, the National Screening Oversight (NSO) and Scottish Screening Committee (SSC) will then consider the best course of implementation for Scotland.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Information about Scottish Government funding since 2000 is not available from a single source or held in a single location. Records retention policy may also affect availability of records over this timescale.

The Scottish Government currently provides funding to the Scottish Refugee Council to support Refugee Festival Scotland.

The Independent Living Fund was transferred to ILF Scotland on 1st July 2015, and at that time:

(a) 2,812 people resident in Scotland were in receipt of the Fund.

(b) The total budget to continue financial awards for people resident in Scotland for the remainder of the financial year 2015-16 was £36.34 million (equivalent to a full year cost of £48.45 million).