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£25m digital inclusion funding was made available by Scottish Government in 2020-21 for local authorities to use to support learners, in line with their own local needs. This funding supported the provision of 14,000 internet connections and 72,000 tablets or laptops for learners across all local authorities.

A number of local authorities have also invested their own funding in technology and have distributed connections and devices to learners in line with their own digital strategies.

We continue to work with local authorities on plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a device and connectivity by the end of this parliamentary term.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally, however each NHS Board will hold information on dental practice registration capacity in their area.

We remain a position of relative strength in terms of workforce numbers and capacity in Scotland, with 59 dentists per 100,000 of the population providing NHS dental services, compared with 43 per 100,000 in England. Dental registrations project a similar picture, with a record number of people registered with a NHS dentist, more than 95% of the population of Scotland.

Further information on dental statistics, including NHS dental registration numbers broken down by NHS Board, can be found on the Public Health Scotland (PHS) website, at: Dental Statistics (publichealthscotland.scot) .

We are considering a wide range of information and evidence on rent controls, including a bespoke research briefing from experts in the field at the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence. This research included assessment and references to previous academic work on rent controls systems in both Berlin and Ireland. In addition, I met with members of Ireland’s Residential Tenancies Board on 9 August 2022. Consideration of international comparisons will help continue to inform our thinking as we progress policy development in this important area of work.

These are operational matters for Scottish Canals. Scottish Canals receives Grant in Aid for its core duties of operating and maintaining the waterways for which it is responsible as navigation authority .

Scottish Canals has benefitted from significant increases in grant in aid awards in recent years. Since 2019, the Organisation’s capital grant from the Scottish Government has increased by 87% and it has received an annual uplift in resource funding since 2020.

We continue to work with local authorities on plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a device and connectivity by the end of this parliamentary term. This will include consideration of processes and costs to update devices when necessary.

The Scottish Government and COSLA jointly developed and published the response to the independent report ‘A New future for Scotland’s Town Centres’. The ‘Town Centre Action Plan Review – Joint response from Scottish Government and COSLA’ sets out a new vision for town centres that ‘Towns and town centres are for the wellbeing of people, planet and economy’. The response outlines actions directed to better embed a ‘Town Centre First approach’ to ensure the economic, social and environmental health of town centres is at the heart of investment decision making. The response was agreed by all Council Leaders.

In addition, we have established the Place-Based Investment Programme to accelerate ambitions for place, 20-minute neighbourhoods, town centre action, community led regeneration and community wealth building. Investments are also expected to contribute to net zero, inclusive economic development, wellbeing, tackling inequality, and community involvement and ownership. Local government is a key partner in delivering this Programme and receive a funding allocation. All Council Leaders agreed to support the aims and objectives of the Programme.

The Scottish Government does not have policy control over the eligibility for rebated fuels, such as red diesel. This is a reserved policy. Changes introduced by the UK Government in April 2022 restricted the eligibility for use of rebated fuels.

An emergency budget review has been announced to assess any and all opportunities to redirect additional resources to those most in need, reduce the burdens on business and stimulate the Scottish economy. More than £4.7 billion in support has been provided to businesses since the beginning of the pandemic, including around £1.6 billion in rates relief.

Ultimately, the Scottish Government believes that all tax powers should be devolved to this parliament so that we can provide the support that Scottish businesses need.

The Scottish Government is committed to continue working closely with local authorities in tackling the global climate emergency. Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities and are entirely separate from the Scottish Government. As long as they act lawfully, it is up to each local authority how it manages its day-to-day business and decision making processes. This includes decision making around which carbon accounting tools to use.

The award of public contracts is regulated by law. Any future awarding of Scottish Government contracts for carbon accounting tools would be subject to open and genuine competition, including adequate publication of the contract opportunity, in line with the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

The contract notice with Corporate Travel Management (North) Ltd, was published on 9 August 2022. The contract is to source and provide travel-related services for displaced people from Ukraine including accommodation in hotels and on the M/S Victoria I and M/S Ambition.

The full contract has a value of up to £100 million with a start date of 8 July 2022 and an end date of 12 December 2024.

The new Scottish Government International Office in Copenhagen operates from within the local British Embassy and is co-located with Scottish Development International.

It comprises three members of staff. Two are employed directly by the Scottish Government, while the third team member is locally employed via the British Embassy.

The two Scottish Government officials are on A-C pay bands. Due to the small number of staff members in this office, we are unable to disclose their specific pay bands as it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

The locally employed team member is not on the Scottish Government’s pay bandings and their salary is based on location.

The total budget for the Copenhagen office in Financial Year 2022-2023 is £598,000. This covers staffing, running costs and all activities of the Scottish Government’s office in Copenhagen including a programme of policy, trade and cultural events to promote investment and economic opportunities between Scotland and the Nordic countries.