Chamber and committees

The UK Government took a decision, following the vote to leave the EU, to require EU/EEA citizens to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to maintain their right to live, work and study in the UK. The Scottish Government has always been clear that EU citizens should not had to apply to maintain rights they already had. However, given the decision by the UK Government the Scottish Government launched the Stay in Scotland campaign in 2019 to ensure that EU citizens had the advice and support that they needed to secure their right to stay in Scotland. The Scottish Government has provided over £2 million through the Stay in Scotland campaign to third sector and community groups working with EU citizens across Scotland.

International marketing activity undertaken by the Scottish Government as Brand Scotland, is measured by a comprehensive suite of metrics that determine whether the associated SMART objectives have been met. These objectives are set each year according to the purpose of the activity, the level of spend available and the tactics it will use.

They include digital reach through social and digital channels and audience engagement with the content but more importantly additionally consider the strategic outcomes and impact on these audiences, such as perception change or an increase in consideration or claimed action by target audiences.

In support of the Scottish Government’s broader aims to protect Scotland’s place in Europe following Brexit and mitigate any associated economic, social and reputational damage, an international marketing campaign was delivered by Brand Scotland in France, Germany, Ireland and Spain in 2019.

This ‘Scotland is Open’ campaign aimed to promote Scotland as a welcoming and open country to boost positive perceptions of Scotland as a place to live, work, study, visit and do business with in order to build and maintain strong relationships with the EU and member states.

The campaign included video on demand, paid social, OOH digital display and print advertising ran initially from 29 March until 11 April in 2019. The second burst ran from 31 January until 4 February in 2020 and added Belgium alongside France, Germany, Ireland and Spain.

As with all marketing campaigns delivered by the Scottish Government, a series of SMART objectives were set to evaluate the performance of the campaign and its impact on perceptions of Scotland, before it began.

Pre and post campaign research was undertaken by research agency BVA BDRC in France, Germany and Spain with four audience groups: potential relocators, students, holiday makers and senior business leaders who would consider doing business.

In just two weeks the campaign activity reached over 80 million people, generating 27% awareness in key markets (France, Germany and Spain) against a target of 10%. The video was viewed over 52 million times, with 25 million of these through to completion, and 8.8 million engagements.

The SMART objectives for the campaign were:

• To achieve 10% awareness of the campaign among live / work / study / visit / business target audiences in France / Germany / Spain by mid-April 2019 Among campaign recognisers in France / Germany / Spain achieve 30% agreement that Scotland is an (i) open and (ii) welcoming nation by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve 30% agreement that Scotland continues to extend a warm welcome even in uncertain times by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve 20% agreement that the Scotland of today is (i) inclusive (ii) innovative by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve a 10% consideration level of Scotland as a place to (i) live (ii) work (iii) study (iv) do business (v) visit by mid-April 2019
• Among campaign recognisers, achieve 3% claimed action as a result of seeing the campaign by mid-April 2019

The campaign significantly exceeded these targets, achieving the following results:

• 34% campaign awareness amongst live/work audiences, 49% awareness amongst study audiences, 30% awareness amongst visit audiences and 33% amongst business audience
• 70% agreement that Scotland is an open and welcoming nation 76% agreement that Scotland continues to extend a warm welcome even in uncertain times
• Among campaign recognisers, 56% considered Scotland to be innovative and 60% considered Scotland to be inclusive
• Among campaign recognisers, positive consideration of Scotland as a place to live and work achieved 39%, as an overseas study destination 44%, as a place to do business 40% and a place to visit 43%.
• 82% of all campaign recognisers claimed to have taken action as a result of the campaign

Scotland is Now was the creative platform that formally launched the Brand Scotland Partnership on 11 April 2018, seeking to establish a new narrative for positioning Scotland internationally that would more effectively challenge certain perceptions that could limit opportunities.

The Brand Scotland Partnership consists of the following organisations: VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise/SDI, Creative Scotland, Scotland Food and Drink, HIE, Universities Scotland and the Scottish Government.

The Brand Scotland Strategic Partnership is a collaborative initiative that seeks to grow Scotland’s profile with international audiences and increase consideration as a place to live and work, study, visit and do business.

The Scottish Government routinely publishes marketing spend annually and figures for international marketing spend which would all have been delivered as Brand Scotland, can be accessed here: Marketing spend - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government does not collect information on how many children and young people have been placed in informal kinship care arrangements in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority. We do, however, hold figures for the number of children who are looked after in kinship care and these are included in the Children’s Social Work Statistics for Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to preventing and mitigating psychological trauma and adversity. We are taking a wide range of actions to support the health, wellbeing and resilience of all those who have been negatively impacted by trauma throughout their lives. This includes:

• Working to address poverty, tackle harmful drug and alcohol use, support mental health, and reduce inequalities;
• Working to support the development of trauma-informed and responsive approaches in a wide range of services and settings including in social work, healthcare, justice and education.

We are not aware of the Miracle Foundation’s calls for a bespoke service in NHS Lanarkshire. We are however working closely with partners in key sectors and services across Scotland to prevent psychological trauma and adversity, and mitigate their impacts. The Scottish Government and COSLA also have a joint ambition to develop trauma-informed and trauma-responsive workforces and services across Scotland. Since 2018, we have invested over £12 million in a National Trauma Transformation Programme (NTTP).

Through the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults, and the Children and Young People’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Supports and Services funding, the Scottish Government has, since 2020, provided more than £130 million to local authorities and the third sector to deliver community-based mental health support. This includes funding for the Miracle Foundation to deliver mental health, wellbeing and resilience workshops for children and young people in North Lanarkshire, as well as the following projects for adults: Encouraging Growth & Resilience Mental Health Workshops; Diverse Community Development & Engagement; and Living Well in North Lanarkshire Community Groups.

Additionally, Scottish Government has provided funding to North Lanarkshire Council through Bairns’ Hoose Development Fund (Phase 2) which aims to support partnerships at an earlier stage of development to work towards the establishment of Bairns’ Hoose services.

I am as committed as ever to meeting the waiting times standard for psychological therapies and to clearing waiting list backlogs as confirmed in our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

The total number of NHS patients that have been treated in private (independent) hospitals in each of the last five financial years and reported to PHS is presented in the following table.

In support of the Scottish Government’s broader aims to protect Scotland’s place in Europe following Brexit and mitigate any associated economic, social and reputational damage, an international marketing campaign called ‘Scotland is Open’ was delivered by Brand Scotland in France, Germany and Spain in 2019.

This ‘Scotland is Open’ campaign aimed to promote Scotland as a welcoming and open country to boost positive perceptions of Scotland as a place to live, work, study, visit and do business with in order to build and maintain strong relationships with the EU and member states.

The campaign included video on demand, paid social, OOH digital display and print advertising ran initially from 29 March until 11 April in 2019. The second burst ran from October until 5 November in 2020 and added Belgium to the international markets targeted.

The creative production and media costs for this two year campaign were funded by VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise/SDI.

The UK Government Apprenticeship Levy is a reserved tax on employers which was implemented by the UK Government. Scotland receives a proportionate share of tax revenues via the block grant as per the Fiscal Framework agreement with UK Treasury.

On 14 November 2016, the UK Government announced the Scottish Government’s settlement from the UK Apprenticeship Levy based on a population share of projected revenue for the first three years only.

Since 2020-21 the Scottish Government has not received a direct allocation of apprenticeship levy revenue. Scotland receives a share of funding calculated through the Barnett Formula as part of the block grant and has no direct control or responsibility for the operation of the apprenticeship levy, this means the Scottish Government has no direct control over levy funds or their distribution.

Prior to 2020-21, the notional funding for the levy was spent on a range of apprenticeships, workforce development and pre-employment support, meaning businesses had access to a range of both direct and indirect support. We do not hold information on the number of businesses who accessed funding from the Apprenticeship Levy.