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Based on the existing cost estimates, the Scottish Government will have provided £2,104,833 of grant funding to support the development of the new SEEMiS Early Years system. As is standard procedure, a contingency value of £91,043 has been retained by Scottish Ministers and will only be made available under extenuating circumstances.

I am proud of what we have achieved with the expansion to 1140 hours, and I was pleased to see Audit Scotland recognising that the Scottish Government, local authorities and partners did well to deliver the expansion despite the challenges of a global pandemic. I was also pleased to see Audit Scotland conclude that most parents are happy with the flexibility available as part of the expanded Early Learning and Childcare offer. Providers in the private, third and childminding sector have an important role to play in continuing to offer this flexibility.

Recognising the need to support the sector the Scottish Government made more than £35 million of dedicated financial support available to private, third and childminding sector services during the pandemic; we have legislated to continue the Nursery Rates Relief Scheme, which provides 100 per cent relief on Non-Domestic Rates to eligible day nurseries beyond the previous end date of 30 June 2023; and we have funded pilot programmes of targeted Business Gateway support to enable childcare providers to access tailored, specialist advice on strengthening their businesses.

Childminders are a valued part of our ELC sector, providing a unique form of high quality childcare in a nurturing home-based environment. We continue to work closely with the Scottish Childminding Association to support a successful childminder recruitment pilot aiming to recruit and train 100 new childminders in remote and rural communities. We are also supporting a second phase which is trialling this recruitment model in urban communities within Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and East Renfrewshire.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a diverse, sustainable and thriving childcare sector. However, I recognise there are real challenges facing the sector as a result of delivering an expansion in the face of the pandemic, Brexit and now the costs crisis. The Scottish Government is committed to working closely with every part of the childcare sector to understand and address these issues together. I hosted a round table with sector representatives on Tuesday 18 April to hear about challenges and opportunities for the sector, and I will be undertaking a programme of engagement over the next few months.

According to the latest Scottish Government Early Learning and Childcare census data from September 2022, 99% of 3- and 4-year-olds, and 14% of 2-year-olds, are estimated to be registered for funded early learning and childcare (ELC), and 18% of these child registrations are of children with additional support needs. The 2022 Parents’ Survey found that 85% of parents with children with additional support needs were satisfied that funded ELC meets their child’s needs.

Although we do not have data on how many hours of funded ELC these children are accessing, given these overall figures we envisage that a significant proportion of eligible children with additional support needs are currently accessing their entitlement to 1,140 hours of funded childcare. We are currently developing the ELC census and are looking to collect more information on the characteristics of children accessing funded ELC, and the hours they are registered for.

The Scottish Government does not yet have complete data for the Young Patients Family Fund for the period 2022-23 and are committed to working with Health Boards to achieve this.

For the latest data I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17130 on
‎ 17 May 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

The University of Strathclyde, through a PhD project co-supervised with Marine Directorate staff, is involved in data collation and stock assessment modelling for demersal fish stocks in the Clyde. The project uses fisheries-dependent data (from logbooks for landings), routine Marine Directorate on-board observer sampling data (for fish not officially landed), and fisheries-independent data from the Scottish West Coast groundfish survey. The PhD project is in the writing-up phase, aiming to submit at the end of the summer 2023.

As 7 June, over 670 producers responsible for more than 2 billion drinks containers, representing 95% of products sold in Scotland had registered with Circularity Scotland.

This represented the full range of drink producers from global brands to small craft breweries and distilleries.

The University of Strathclyde, through a PhD project co-supervised with Marine Directorate staff, is involved in data collation and stock assessment modelling for demersal fish stocks in the Clyde. The project uses fisheries-dependent data (from logbooks for landings), routine Marine Directorate on-board observer sampling data (for fish not officially landed), and fisheries-independent data from the Scottish West Coast groundfish survey. The PhD project is in the writing-up phase, aiming to submit at the end of the summer 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18944 on 21 June 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

Childminding Development Officers (CDOs) are employees of the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) who work with Local Authorities where contracts exist between the relevant Local Authority and the SCMA.

The SCMA currently employ 9 CDOs, two of whom are Senior CDOs, spanning 9 Local Authority areas, including; Aberdeen, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, Stirling and West Lothian.

The review has now been completed and the report is currently being finalised. Following this, the report will be published later in 2023.