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The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme was launched in December 2022 as an update to the Home Energy Scotland Loan and Cashback scheme.

Across these schemes, since May 2017 to August 2023, a total of £135,595,244.31 has been allocated in funding for renewable measures.

Prior to the launch of the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Landlord Loan in May 2021, PRS landlords could access funding through the HES Loan and Cashback scheme. This means that the total funding allocated may include funding for PRS landlords as well as owner-occupiers.

The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme was launched in December 2022 as an update to the Home Energy Scotland Loan and Cashback scheme.

Across these schemes, since May 2017 to August 2023, a total of 8315 applications for energy efficiency funding have been received and 5908 have been successful.

Officials have met with the International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement, who direct PIRLS and TIMSS, to begin the process of rejoining the studies.

The next cycles of PIRLS and TIMSS will be in 2026 and 2027 respectively.

The non-legislative changes delivered to date and as a result of Dame Elish Angiolini’s review are bringing greater transparency, fairness and accessibility to systems, policies and processes that underpin the police complaints and misconduct processes. These improvements are helping to make the police complaints system easier to navigate for members of the public, as well as increasing consistency, efficiency and swifter resolution for all those involved in complaints, investigations or misconduct procedures. They provide a firm foundation on which to deliver legislative improvements and enhance scrutiny by giving more powers to the PIRC.

The Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill continues that process for improvement. It provides the framework for, and helps focus attention on, the cultural and behavioural changes that are necessary at all levels of policing. Recommendations 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57 and 58, relating to Police Conduct regulations and enhancing the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner’s scrutiny role, are able to be delivered in Secondary legislation from powers already held by Scottish Ministers under the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 and the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012.

Recommendations requiring secondary legislation in the Bill are detailed in the Delegated Powers Memorandum , and will be developed in conjunction with policing partners, dependent on the expected parliamentary passage of the Bill.

The Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill is part of a programme of work to respond to the recommendations made in the Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issue in Relation to Policing. The Bill addresses recommendations that require primary legislation, and continues to build on improvements made through the delivery of a number of non-legislative improvements (set out in the most recent Thematic Progress Report ).

However, in Scottish Ministers commitment to broadly accepting the majority of the recommendations from the Review, they also made clear that the Scottish Government would explore options where other routes or mechanisms may achieve the desired outcome. Following the Scottish Government’s engagement with stakeholders, and due to improvements already made by policing partners, the following recommendations are not being implemented at this stage:

• Recommendation 35. This is because current provisions within the Police Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006 already provide appropriate and proportionate lines of accountability to Scottish Ministers, and in turn to the Scottish Parliament. This is in line with the governance and accountability arrangements in place for other office-holders the Parliament oversees.

Other recommendations, taken forward in secondary legislation, may also need to be taken forward in a manner that best takes account of circumstances at the time, therefore we are committed to working with policing partners and stakeholders as we develop secondary legislation and the written guidance that will underpin delivery of legislation.

Recommendation 52, the holding of gross misconduct proceedings in public, will be addressed through secondary legislation following the anticipated passing of the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill. The relevant section of the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill that relates to this is Section 8, Procedures for misconduct: senior officers which sets out the enabling power for a panel independent of the SPA to oversee hearings.

Both COSLA and the Scottish Government recognise the need for a review of councillor pay to ensure that terms and conditions truly reflect the responsibilities of a modern-day councillor and, to ensure remuneration does not act as a barrier to encouraging a diverse range of people from standing for elected office.

Councillor pay is currently being reviewed by the Scottish Local Authority Remuneration Committee (SLARC). SLARC is an independent committee appointed by Ministers to review Councillor pay. The Committee started its work in April this year and, has been gathering evidence in preparation to provide its advice to Ministers. Ministers anticipate the Committee’s final report to be submitted later this year.

Funding for energy efficiency and renewable schemes is not allocated on this basis. Local schemes to tackle fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency are delivered by councils and funded through our Area Based Schemes programme.

Details of the annual grant allocations and outturns for each council as part of our Area Based Schemes programme since 2013 are published on the Scottish Government website:  Area-based schemes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme includes a rural uplift of £1,500 for both the zero emission heating and energy efficiency grants for rural and island homes, meaning rural households can claim up to £18,000 in grant funding.

The Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan scheme was launched in December 2022 as an update to the Home Energy Scotland Loan and Cashback scheme.

Across these schemes, since May 2017 to August 2023, a total of £32,506,654.69 has been allocated in funding for energy efficiency measures.

Prior to the launch of the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Landlord Loan in May 2021, PRS landlords could access funding through the HES Loan and Cashback scheme. This means that the total funding allocated may include funding for PRS landlords as well as owner-occupiers.

Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) “Achievement of a Level” (ACEL) data shows that attainment at CfE Third Level or better by S3 pupils has been over 85 per cent for both literacy and numeracy since 2016-17. In 2021-22, 86 per cent of S3 pupils achieved this level in literacy, with 89 per cent in numeracy which is slightly less than in 2018-19, demonstrating the ongoing recovery from the pandemic.

ACEL data is one of a range of measures captured in the National Improvement Framework. It is important to be able to measure the impact of the education system as a whole, rather than looking at individual measures. That is why the National Improvement Framework includes the ACEL data for P1, P4, P7 and S3 as part of a broader basket of key measures of attainment. This avoids, as far as possible, a situation where looking at a single measure generates perverse behaviours by becoming the single focus of activity in schools.

Local education authorities have the statutory responsibility to provide school education. To support continuous improvement in literacy and numeracy nationally in our schools, the Scottish Government is:

• Focusing on literacy and numeracy within the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) which has allocated over £550m in Pupil Equity Funding directly to primary schools up until 2022-23 and is investing a total of £1bn over this parliamentary term, including direct funding for all 32 local authorities.
• Has agreed clear stretch aims within each local authority as part of the SAC which, if achieved, would narrow the poverty related attainment gap by over 7 percentage points in both primary school literacy and numeracy by 2022-23 compared to 2020-21.
• Rejoining the “PIRLS” and “TIMSS” surveys, thereby further improving the evidence base on literacy and numeracy performance.
• Taking forward the National Response to Improving Literacy (NRIL) and the National Response to Improving Mathematics (NRIM) alongside Education Scotland and ADES, drawing on the available evidence to develop focused, “teacher-relevant” packages of professional learning, guidance and support.
• Ensuring that Education Scotland provides a tailored local and school-level support offer via attainment advisers and Regional Improvement Collaboratives.
• Funding and promoting Maths Week Scotland every year since 2017, transforming public attitudes to maths and promoting the value of maths as an essential skill for every career.
• Funding additional national programmes which support high quality learning and teaching, including “Read Write Count with the First Minister”, Reading Schools and the School Library Improvement Fund.