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Social Security Scotland is committed to giving people decisions as quickly as possible, while allowing time to make sure they have the information required to get decisions right first time.

Most recent statistics show that since the introduction of Adult Disability Payment, less than a year ago, most people have had a decision within four months. However we know others have waited longer. This is unacceptable, and work to make sure people get faster decisions is already underway.

This includes a comprehensive look at every step in the journey from people applying for a disability benefit to getting paid.

One of Social Security Scotland's key principles is making sure people can access and understand all the information relating to their benefits. Easy Read was identified as a solution to help clients to engage with materials in a format best suited to them, and ensure that the processes and ways of communicating could be adapted to meet the wide-ranging needs of clients.

In addition the Local Delivery service, provided by Social Security Scotland, has teams of specially trained Client Support Advisers based in every Local Authority across Scotland. The service offers a range of support to suit people’s needs, including appointments in clients’ homes, at local community venues, by video appointment or by telephone.

Fixed Penalty Notices are issued to individuals rather than businesses. There were 106 individuals offered a Fixed Penalty Notice between 26 May 2020 and 30 June 2022, a number of these individuals were offered more than one. The total value of fines paid was £224,000.

Scottish Government and UK Government officials are actively discussing a partnership approach to possible Investment Zones in Scotland. The Scottish Government has been clear in these discussions that any Investment Zones must be a good fit for Scotland's policy, economic and governance landscape; must build on, rather than cutting across, existing economic activity; and must be taken forward jointly by the two governments working closely with local authorities and their partners.

The Scottish Government and all of Scotland's local authorities are committed to the principles of Fair Work First. So we would expect to see fair work practice embedded from the outset in any Investment Zones in Scotland, just as we have done for Green Freeports.

Details are as follows:

In the lead up to the introduction of "Frank's Law" in 2019 there were a number of discussions between Scottish Government officials and stakeholders which covered all aspects of the legislation. At the time of its introduction the Scottish Government issued advice in the form of a Questions and Answers brief which can be found at:

Free personal and nursing care: questions and answers - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

In terms of funding, it was first distributed in the 2019-20 Local Government settlement and then baselined in 2019 it included £29.5 million is to support expansion of Free Personal and Nursing Care for under 65s. With effect from 1 April 2021 the £29.5 million funding was merged into the overall local government finance settlement block grant and as such individual local authority allocations are no longer separately identifiable.

The draft budget for this year is still under consideration while we respond to wider Health and Social Care budget pressures. The proposed allocation for the Technology Enabled Care programme in 2023-24 is circa £8m.

The Scottish Government is not a delivery partner on the Learn to Swim programme and as such, we do not hold this data . This programme is a partnership between Scottish Water and Scottish Swimming, to support a new generation of children to become safer, happier, and healthier through the delivery of the Learn to Swim lessons. Information relating to the programme is held by Scottish Swimming.

However, we are working with Scottish Swimming, Education Scotland, sportscotland and Scottish Water to develop interventions and approaches to provide opportunities for children to become confident, safer and competent swimmers. This includes the delivery of 4 small scale school swimming pilots to better understand how to provide opportunities for children across Scotland to experience the water in a fun, safe and inclusive approach.

Following the appearance of the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport at the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on 9 May, the Scottish Government intends to provide a further update to the Committee in early July. The Scottish Government has also agreed to provide an updated Financial Memorandum to the Finance and Public Administration Committee at least 4 weeks before the Stage 1 debate.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on electricity generation in a form that can be broken down into the spatial area occupied by each renewable generating station.

The Scottish Government receives data on electricity generation from the UK Government Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This data is not broken down to site level.