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The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that legal assistance continues to be available to all those facing legal concerns. In our Programme for Government we committed to engage with the legal professionals and other stakeholders to review the Legal Aid system, and to introduce a Legal Aid Reform Bill in this Parliament, to deliver a system that is flexible, easy to access and that meets the needs of those who use it.

The Scottish Government consulted on legal aid reform in 2019 and has stated its willingness to take forward supported recommendations that will deliver an enhanced system of legal aid across Scotland and reiterated its commitment to retaining a demand led Fund to support a wide scope of actions. Particular consideration will be given, during the development of the Bill, to how more targeted and planned interventions can support user need and align with identified government priorities. There is real value for both users and providers in achieving a user-focused and diverse delivery model; users can access appropriate interventions at the right time, and providers can better target their expertise to those who require it.

The scope of legal aid will be considered as part of the development of a Bill, and I refer to my response to S6W-04609 on 8 December 2021 which provides information on the Scottish Government’s plans to reform legal aid. The Scottish Government has previously committed, in its response to the Independent Review on Legal Aid by Martyn Evan, that legal aid will continue to be available for a wide range of cases and proceedings.

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

Business births, deaths and survival rates - based on VAT/PAYE registrations and de-registrations - are produced by the Office for National Statistics within their Business Demography publications. Data are not published for parliamentary regions, however data are available by local authority area. Data are not available on a monthly basis, only on a calendar year basis. Tables 2.1(a), (b) and (c) at the link below provide the business deaths by local authority areas, in Scotland, for 2015 to 2020.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable

Legal aid is currently available to meet the costs of mediation where appropriate. Again, interaction between mediation and legal aid is a matter that will be considered a part of development of a Bill and I refer to my response to
‎ S6W-04609 on 8 December 2021. In the meantime, the Scottish Government is actively working with stakeholders to expand the availability of mediation and arbitration services within the civil justice system to give our citizens, businesses and organisations access to flexible, affordable and less stressful means of settling disputes, benefitting them and saving time in courts.

The Scottish Government is making available £2.332 million to the Scottish Legal Aid Board in 2021-22 to support projects offering in court expert advice and representation to help people tackle and resolve a wide range of problems including debt, housing, homelessness and small claims court actions.

The Scottish Government is also making available £100k to Scottish Mediation and £115k to the Scottish Arbitration Centre in 2021-22 to promote and expand the provision of Mediation and Arbitration services in Scotland.

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

EventScotland aims to support the Scottish events industry by developing programmes which focus on supporting an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events. EventScotland has previously supported a number of motor events including the Scottish Classic Speed Fair, Jim Clark Rally and Bo’Ness Speed Hill Climb. Funding is aligned to specific programme criteria and is subject to a thorough assessment process.

Between 24 February 2020 and 31 October 2021 there have been 6,348 COVID-19 cases that were probable or definite hospital onset.

1,973 were reported as probable hospital onset (first positive specimen on days 8 to 14 of admission to NHS board).

4,375 were reported as definite hospital onset (first positive specimen date was 15 or more days after admission to NHS board).

The rate of COVID-19 transmission in hospitals has followed a similar rate in the community. When community prevalence reduces, a general reduction in hospital onset COVID cases follows approximately two to three weeks later.

However, while community prevalence has recently increased, nosocomial cases of COVID-19 were observed to rise at a slower pace, which may be largely due to the vaccination programme.

While patients with COVID continue to be admitted to hospitals, the risk of transmission remains. We cannot be complacent and we must continue to ensure that all infection prevention precautions are strictly followed.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh have provided a full list of 2021 RSE Saltire Research Awards on their website. This includes 13 Scottish higher education institutions, across the 93 awardees:

• Edinburgh College of Art
• Glasgow Caledonian University
• Heriot Watt University
• Queen Margaret University
• University of Aberdeen
• University of Dundee
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Glasgow
• University of St Andrews
• University of Stirling
• University of Strathclyde
• University of the Highlands and Islands
• University of the West of Scotland
  

The Scottish Funding Council Saltire Emerging Researcher Scheme awarded 9 Scottish university consortia funding to promote mobility between Scotland and European research partners:

• EaSI-CAT (East of Scotland Industrial Catalysis) Doctoral Training Programme
• Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities
• Scottish Graduate School of Social Science
• SAGES – Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment & Society
• SICSA – Scottish Informatics & Computer Science Alliance
• ScotCHEM – Scottish Universities Chemistry Research Pool
• SULSA – Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance
• SUPA – Scottish Universities Physics Alliance
• MASTS – Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland

Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking children are able to access GP and NHS dental services on the same basis as domiciled residents.

GP practices receive a share of overall general practice funding from the Scottish Government based upon their estimated workload. This would reflect any unaccompanied asylum-seeking children registering with a GP practice.

Dentists are paid a range of fees and other payments by the Scottish Government for providing care and treatment to NHS patients.

Our enterprise and skills agencies provide funding and specialist advice and support for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) to help them better transition to a low carbon economy, with the majority of services advertised through the Find Business Support website. Tailored support includes advice on the low carbon opportunities available to SMEs in the net zero supply chain.

The Scottish Government has committed over £2 billion of capital funding over the next parliament to deliver low carbon and natural infrastructure. This includes our Green Jobs Fund, which is a five year, £100 million fund offering capital investment to businesses to help them create green employment through investment in improved green products and services and related research and development.

Although final figures are not yet confirmed, we know up to 9,000 people have benefited from NTTF skills support in year one. Many year one courses were delivered by colleges and universities over the academic year from September 2020 to July 2021 so it is not possible to disaggregate figures to the end of March. Final figures for year one training will be published early in 2022 following verification of data.

Training opportunities were managed and delivered by a wide range of partners, including the Scottish Tourism Alliance, Creative Scotland and the National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland, alongside Scotland’s colleges and universities. Courses and placements were of varying length and cost but no direct award of funds to meet the cost of training courses were made to individuals.