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The stations in question, at Cockenzie and Longannet, were decommissioned in 2013 and 2017 respectively. The Scottish Government does not hold information on the source or quantities of coal used to generate electricity at these stations.

It is a normal and necessary market reaction for prices to rise in answer to system tightness, driving a receptive and flexible supply response. The expectation is that this short-term increase in wholesale prices would not feed through to household bills at this time – energy suppliers typically buy their energy over several months to help smooth out price fluctuations, thereby insulating consumers from price fluctuations.

The Scottish Government works closely with National Grid – as well as with the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Ofgem and Scotland’s gas and electricity network operators – to ensure that the supplies of energy to Scottish consumers remain resilient, and that Scottish circumstances and priorities are taken fully into account.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. You may wish to contact the Scottish Ambulance Service directly to request this data.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

In April 2012 the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) introduced the Patient Needs Assessment (PNA), a tool which ensures they provide the most appropriate assistance and advice to callers requesting access to Patient Transport Services (PTS).

In December 2017 SAS made improvements to the PNA for both patients and Health Boards. This was to provide a better understanding of the patient’s needs, ensuring they get the most appropriate response.

These improvements followed a review which included feedback from both patients and staff about what changes they would like to see to improve patient experience and in appropriately identifying patient needs. Between March and October 2017 a number of change ideas were tested, involving 300 patients.

The changes to the PNA itself focussed primarily on amendments to the order of the questions asked, whilst also reducing the frequency in which SAS take a patient through a PNA from 24 hours to 6 weeks. The eligibility criteria for patients requesting PTS did not change following the review.

Skills Development Scotland collects information on disability as part of the initial registration of a Modern Apprentice. Disclosure of disability is self- declared by Modern Apprentices through their response to a disability monitoring question which asks if individuals have impairment, health condition or learning difficulty. This is aligned to the question wording recommended by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) after extensive consultation with disability partners, modern apprentices, training providers and employers.

Skills Development Scotland also asks the question: ‘Do you have a social/communication impairment such as a speech and language impairment or Asperger’s syndrome/other autistic spectrum disorder, or cognitive impairment, which would include individuals with learning disability.

In 2016-2017 the number of Modern Apprentices self-declaring a learning disability was 92, which is 0.4% of the total Modern Apprenticeship starts for that year.

In addition 1,098 of the 2016-17 Modern Apprenticeship starts self-declared a learning difficulty such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD which is 4.3% of the total Modern Apprenticeship starts for that year.

Skills Development Scotland will publish 2017-18 Modern Apprenticeship Quarter 4 Statistics in June 2018.

The Scottish Government has committed to seek to reduce by at least half the employment gap between those with disabilities and those without. Helping more people with learning disabilities into work will be key to achieving this ambition.

Since the publication of A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People in December 2016, we have taken action to support more people with learning disabilities into work. This includes:

• improved MA funding for disabled people;
• a successful media campaign aimed at SMEs promoting the employment of disabled people, including promoting case studies (including people with learning disabilities), and sign posting information, support and advice for employers, which ran during the summer of 2017;
• implementing the transitional devolved employment service Work First Scotland and, from April this year, Fair Start Scotland – disabled people are priority group for access to these services, and
• delivering a disability internship programme together with Inclusion Scotland.

We have also committed to developing a Learning Disability Employment Programme. Skills, training and employability will be key themes in the next phase of The keys to Life strategy.

We recognise that we need to build on this work and since last Autumn we have engaged with key stakeholders, including disabled people to hear their views on further action Government can take. On 30 April, the Scottish Government will hold a major congress on disability, employment and the workplace where we will set out our findings and future plans.

The Scottish Commission for Learning Disability is a key partner in this work. Scottish Government officials are working with them as part of a short life task group on employment and they are supporting the development of the programme for congress.

Information on length of court orders that are applied to people with learning disabilities is not held centrally.

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Services are unable to differentiate between people with or without learning disabilities.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

SPS does not routinely screen prisoners for learning difficulties or disabilities (LDD).

As SPS fully recognises that LDD is a significant issue amongst the prisoner population, it is developing and piloting an assessment tool supported by specialist partners to determine the best care pathways for individuals within SPS care who require additional forms of support. It is anticipated this work will be completed by July 2018.

Thereafter, SPS will evaluate the outcomes from the pilots and work towards the implementation of a standard assessment approach across the prison estate.