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On behalf of the Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) plays an active role in managing information relating to the performance of apprenticeships and regularly engages with training providers and employers to continue to adapt and improve apprenticeship provision and delivery in Scotland.

SDS’ Skills Investment Advisers provide support on an individual basis to training providers, working with them to ensure they can support learners and overcome any challenges they are facing. This support is also provided as part of ‘Community of Practice’ events which SDS host to provide valuable information and best practice for all training providers.

In relation to engagement with employers, SDS and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), as members of the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board , engage directly with the employers who are responsible for overseeing the end-to-end delivery of apprenticeships on behalf of employers, ensuring they are fit for purpose and reflect the needs of business, learners and the Scottish economy.

SDS regularly seeks out the views of employers on apprenticeship delivery and one of the key mechanisms for doing this is the Apprenticeship Employer Survey , with the most recent survey from 2020 highlighting 88% employer satisfaction with Modern Apprenticeships overall.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19549 on 9 August 2023. 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

There is no time limit for accessing Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) in Scotland. Any individual over the age of 16 can start an MA at any point in their career. Skills Development Scotland provide funding contributions which depend on the type of apprenticeship, the qualification level and the age of the apprentice, however there is no specific time limit on funding available.

Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) are available to anyone in Scotland aged 16 or over.

Skills Development Scotland funding contributions depend on the type of apprenticeship, the qualification level and the age of the apprentice, however there is no specific age cap on funding available. Learning providers can ask employers for an additional contribution to fund the apprenticeship or employers can also choose to self-fund these programmes.

Apprentices aged 16-24 are eligible for higher contribution rates to reflect that they may have less experience of the workplace and therefore may require more support to complete their apprenticeship.

Funding for apprentices aged 25+ is restricted to key and supporting sectors for MAs. For certain key sectors and for individuals who are disabled and care-experienced, there's an enhanced funding contribution up to and including the age of 29.

Statistics for 2022/23 detail a particularly high uptake in MAs for those aged 25 and over, with 41.1% of apprentices being from this age category.

Apprenticeships in Scotland are demand-led, and our apprenticeship system aims to be as responsive to industry demand as it can be. Any new Modern Apprenticeship (MA) frameworks created would be as a result of sufficient demand from employers for a new MA and a clear indication that an MA is the right training route. Skills Development Scotland (SDS) work with industry to assess the level of demand and can support the development of new apprenticeship frameworks where required.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19549 on 9 August 2023. 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

The Scottish Government provides funding to both homeowners and landlords of properties through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) Grant and Loan Scheme and the Private Rented Sector Landlord (PRS) Loan Scheme respectively.

For homeowners who already have a heat pump installed in their property, the HES Grant and Loan Scheme currently offers up to £6,000 (£4,750 interest free loan and £1,250 grant) funding for solar PV and up to £6,000 (£4,750 interest free loan and £1,250 grant) for battery storage as part of a package.

For landlords who already have a heat pump installed in their property, the PRS Loan Scheme offers funding of up to £5,000 loan for solar PV and up to £6,000 for battery storage. Loans to landlords with five or fewer properties are interest free whereas loans to landlords with six or more properties in their portfolio will attract an interest rate of 2.5%APR.

At the start of the pandemic Scottish Government set up opinion polling research to help understand knowledge, attitudes and claimed behaviour in relation to coronavirus, and motivations and barriers to adopting desired behaviours.

This ran weekly from end of March 2020 to June 2021 when it moved to fortnightly and then approximately monthly from April 2022. The public opinion research company YouGov carried out fieldwork on their online omnibus, with a sample each wave of c.1,000 adults 18+ representative of the online population of Scotland.

Questions were included at various times on the perceived importance of a number of protective behaviours (including face coverings) and how well people felt they were doing these to allow us to monitor these measures over time.

COVID-specific polling ended at the end of March 2023.

The latest Experimental Statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on the Index of Private Housing Rental Prices (IPHRP) were published on 24 May 2023, available at Index of Private Housing Rental Prices, UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) . There are methodological limitations with the Scotland level results being presented given the influence of the restrictions on in-tenancy rent increases introduced through the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection)(Scotland) Act 2022 which has been in force since 28 October 2022. Users of the results are advised to bear this in mind when interpreting the estimates for Scotland and comparing with other UK countries. The following cautionary text is included in this ONS publication:

“The rise in annual rental price inflation for Scotland since this (Cost of Living Tenants Protection Scotland) bill was passed will largely reflect increasing rental prices from new lets as they continue to feed into the Scotland IPHRP stock measure. There are also compositional differences between the Scotland rental data and Scotland's rental sector. Measures for Scotland are mainly based on advertised rental data, along with assumptions on average periods between rent price increases, so changes in rents for existing tenants are largely estimated. The IPHRP methodology assumes that rental price remains constant for up to 14 months if updated rental data for that property is not available. The Cost of Living (Tenants Protection) Scotland Bill could lead to an increase in the average length of time that rental price remains unchanged. If the average time between rental price changes is above the assumed 14 months, then IPHRP methodology will present higher estimates of rising rental costs in the overall market in Scotland. This is because only a small proportion of the sample is based on updated rental data from existing lets, and replacement data will be predominantly based on uncapped newly advertised rents. Users are advised to bear this in mind when interpreting the estimates for Scotland and comparing with other UK countries.”

The Scottish Government does not therefore consider that these experimental statistics are sufficiently nuanced to draw valid comparisons between Scotland and England and Wales.

As set out in our 2021 manifesto and confirmed in the Framework for Tax 2021, we are committed to reducing the Higher Property Rate, ensuring that the largest businesses pay the same combined poundage in Scotland as in England by the end of this parliamentary session.

Since the Barclay Review made this recommendation, we have introduced the Intermediate Property Rate on 1 April 2020. On 1 April 2023, we increased the rateable value threshold at which the Higher Property Rate applies, from £95,000 to £100,000. As a result, over 95% of properties are liable for a lower poundage rate in Scotland than in anywhere else in the UK.

Budget decisions are made annually in light of affordability.