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The Scottish Government is considering the benefits and drawbacks of a deposit return scheme. Such a scheme has the potential to reduce litter and improve recycling, but other factors must be taken into consideration. These include the impact on small stores with limited space, costs to retailers, and the impact on local authority kerbside collections.

Information on the number of specialist nurses who are responsible for the delivery of Multiple Sclerosis care is published by ISD Scotland and is available at the following link:-

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2016-12-06/Clinical_Nurse_Specialists_S2016.xls

From our additional investment of £2.5 million in specialist nursing and care, NHS Boards were asked to employ additional clinical nurse specialists by 31 December 2015. NHS Boards are responsible for determining how best to target this general investment and specialisms have included Rheumatology, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s Disease and Paediatric Allergy. NHS Lanarkshire also elected to recruit specialist nurses in the fields of Perinatal Mental Health and Care of Older People.

There is no single list of all the research on the health effects of electronic cigarettes that has been, and continues to be, conducted all around the world. The Scottish Ministers have established a research and evaluation group on tobacco control which helps identify the most significant research and consider what is relevant for Scotland.

87% of the 2015/16 teacher probationer cohort were employed as teachers in publically funded schools in Scotland in September 2016.

This compares to 66% of the 2006-07 teacher probationer cohort that were employed as teachers in publically funded schools in Scotland in September 2007.

Territorial Boards have been given a general allocation increase of £186 million for 2017-18, an overall average increase over 2016-17 total allocations of 2.1 per cent. This supports additional investment of over £100 million to be directed to Integration Authorities, which will deliver our commitment on the Living Wage and support sustainability in the care sector.

In addition to the figures outlined below, further in-year investment of £128 million will support delivery of service reform.

Special Boards have been given a general allocation increase of 1.1 per cent.

Details of Boards’ revenue resource and capital allocations for 2017-18 are provided in the following tables:

Revenue Resource:

Capital Resource:

In addition to the resource allocations, there will be recurring allocations of
£3.3 million which will be applied to Boards’ baseline budgets in 2017-18.

Further to the capital allocations above, a further £265.7 million held centrally will be used to support infrastructure investment across the sector. This includes the non-profit distributing programme to support the new Edinburgh Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary and the replacement Balfour Hospital in Orkney.

All forms of hate crime and prejudice are completely unacceptable. In schools, we want all children and young people to learn tolerance, respect, equality and good citizenship to address and prevent prejudice. Whilst not specifically about tackling hate crime, promoting positive attitudes amongst children and young people is key to long term prevention.

The Scottish Government takes bullying very seriously, and we are currently refreshing our national approach to anti-bullying (including prejudice based bullying). ’Respect for All’ will help everyone involved in the lives of children and young people to identify and address bullying, including racist, homophobic and abusive behaviour whether it happens online or offline. Teachers, schools, local authorities, youth organisations and sports organisations will be able to draw on this advice when refreshing their anti-bullying policies. The guidance will be published later this year.

In addition, Relationships sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) education is an integral part of the health and wellbeing area of the curriculum in Scotland. In 2014 we published guidance on RSHP education in schools that clearly states how important it is that RSHP education addresses diversity and reflects issues relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex young people or children with LGBTI parents, such as same sex marriage and hate crime.

Further to the range of activities set out in my answer to S5W-04629, I announced an independent review of hate crime legislation in Scotland which will consider whether all existing hate crime law, including that which tackles sectarianism, represents the most effective approach for the justice system to deal with criminal conduct motivated by hatred, malice, ill-will or prejudice.

Dr Duncan Morrow's Review of the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland will be published shortly and this will be instrumental in helping to shape funding decisions going forward, which I will announce in due course.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the average lifetime increase in wages for a degree level graduate in Scotland and what the resulting increase in expected tax contribution is.

The percentage of school leavers attaining at least one qualification at SCQF 6 (Higher and equivalents) or better from 1998-99 to 2014-15 is shown in the following table.

Percentage of school leavers with one or more qualification at SCQF level six or better

Prison officers in Scotland are members of the UK-wide Civil Service Pension Scheme. I wrote to the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 8 July 2015 to express my concerns that prison officers are expected to continue working to State Pension Age whilst carrying out frontline operational duties.

Officials from the Scottish Government's Justice Directorate have contacted Ministry of Justice officials to seek an update following the Prison Officers Association’s recent decision in England and Wales to reject the UK Government's offer to lower the retirement age for certain prison officer grades.