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The reduction in the number of bursaries awarded in 2022-23 compared with 2018 is the result of a decrease in the number of applications received and as a result, less were approved. Information on the number of applications received and bursaries awarded is available in the Skills Development Scotland 2022-23 evaluation report. https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/50367/stem-bursary-evaluation-report-2022-23.pdf .

Between November 2020 and March 2023, awareness of the Young Person’s Guarantee among employability staff was achieved using existing networks and communication channels. There was no funding allocated to the specific promotion of the Young Person’s Guarantee aimed at employability staff.

The Scottish Government has provided a total of £4,367,590.00 of grant funding to the Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland between 1 April 2013-30 September 2023 to support a number of areas of their work. This is broken down per financial year as follows:

The Scottish Government announced the launch of the Young Person’s Guarantee in November 2020, with the aim of protecting young people against the immediate economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Guarantee aimed to ensure every young person between 16 and 24 had the opportunity of a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training or volunteering. Between November 2020 and March 2023 we invested over £175m in additional support from Covid-related funding.

We have now mainstreamed this work across Government and, through our championing of the payment of the real Living Wage (which has a higher hourly rate than the National Living Wage), we continue to promote increases in young people’s earnings.

The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill was introduced to Parliament on 5 October 2023 by Ms Gillian Mackay MSP. The Scottish Government has been working with Ms Mackay to draft and develop the Bill for the past 12 months, and I would like to congratulate her on reaching this important milestone.

The Scottish Government expects the outstanding responses by the end of the year.

In relation to both financial years, 2021-22 and 2022-23, the total number of individuals procured to provide specialist services under Service Level Agreements is set out in the following table:

As outlined in my letter of 6 September secure transport is a complex and long-standing issue. Initial discussions have taken place with key partners to consider the registration, regulation and inspection of secure transport provision, most recently on 2 October. Those discussions are on-going and I hope to be able to update Parliament further during the forthcoming stages of consideration of the Children (Care and Justice) Bill.

The Scottish Government holds only relevant information on Service Level Agreements, such as the names of the relevant individuals and organisations to which they belong, providing start and end dates for each Agreement. Whilst we cannot provide a complete picture of all Agreements that have been ended in the past 5 years, our records have indicated however, that from April 2022 to October 2023, 71 Service Level Agreements ended with each of the specialist advisors returning to their respective NHS Scotland health board.

Service Level Agreements (SLA) with other public bodies are a commonly used and effective way to procure specialist advisory services for a defined period. Underpinned in Scottish Procurement law by the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 Regulation 13, the SLA approach is used to deliver a specific service through an individuals’ existing specialist skills and experience and so are commonly used across Health and Social Care Directorates (HSCD) to bring in the specialist, clinical knowledge and experience to enhance our vital services.

An SLA is not, therefore, an employment arrangement as the individuals’ employment contract arrangements remain with their employer. In the case of those individuals brought into HSCD, the service level agreement is between the Scottish Government and the relevant NHS Scotland Board.