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There are no immediate plans to ask Public Health Scotland (PHS) to expand the content within their Accident and Emergency publications.

Due to data quality and completeness issues, PHS do not publish information on the full list of data items in the A&E dataset, including patient triage category as it would not provide an accurate national picture or meaningful comparisons between NHS Boards.

We continue to work with PHS to ensure that A&E reporting guidance can be applied as consistently as possible across NHS Scotland and publication of data is subject to the necessary data quality and completeness standards being met.

The Scottish Government is willing to consider any steps that might usefully and proportionately allow us to improve the data collected about primary care services and which could be used to improve those services. Any consideration of steps would be done in collaboration with the representative bodies of our contractor groups.

The accounts are published and available for download on the Scottish Government website for the financial years 2015-16 to 2023-24:

2023-24 (page 89) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2024/

2022-23 (page 109) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2023/

2021-22 (page 100) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2022/

2020-21 (page 95) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2021/

2019-20 (page 63) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-2019-2020/

2018-19 (page 55) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2019/

2017-18 (page 44) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2018/

2016-17 (page 41) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-year-ended-31-march-2017/

2015-16 (page 46) https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-consolidated-accounts-2015-16/

The accounts prior to 2015-16 are not published online, with information back to 2004-05 held within Scottish Government electronic records. Years prior to 2004-05 are not held.

Tables showing staff numbers by portfolio, in line with the published accounts, for the years 2004-05 to 2014-15 have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 65408).

The contracts for support services for the Small Vessel Replacement Programme commenced in 2019 and will conclude in 2027. The value of these contracts is commercially confidential.

The following public bodies are currently considered to be government advisory groups, in line with the National Public Bodies Directory:

• Boundaries Scotland
• Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
• Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland
• National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board (NSTAB)
• Poverty and Inequality Commission for Scotland
• Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards
• Scottish Commission on Social Security
• Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel
• Scottish Law Commission
• Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee

Information regarding advisory groups that previously existed is not held centrally, and this response is restricted to those advisory bodies currently in place.

Information regarding expenditure for several of these bodies can be found on their own websites:

Boundaries Scotland

https://boundaries.scot/corporate-documents

Judicial Appointments Board

https://www.judicialappointments.scot/publications

Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland

https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/accessible-transport/mobility-and-access-committee-for-scotland-macs/#42413

Poverty and Inequality Commission for Scotland

The Poverty and Inequality Commission for Scotland was established from 1 July 2019. Links to their accounts since this date are as follows:

2019-20 https://povertyinequality.scot/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Annual-Report-Poverty-and-Inequality-Commission-2019-20.pdf

2020-21 https://povertyinequality.scot/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Poverty-and-Inequality-Commission-Annual-Report-2020-21.pdf

2021-22 https://povertyinequality.scot/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Annual-Report-Poverty-and-Inequality-Commission-2021-2022.pdf

2022-23 https://povertyinequality.scot/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Poverty-and-Inequality-Commission-Annual-Report-2022-23-.pdf

2023-24 https://povertyinequality.scot/publication/the-poverty-and-inequality-commission-annual-report-2023-2024/

Scottish Commission on Social Security (SCoSS)

https://socialsecuritycommission.scot/publications/corporate-documents/

Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel

https://fuelpovertypanel.scot/our-publications/the-scottish-fuel-poverty-advisory-panel-annual-report/

Scottish Law Commission

https://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk/publications/annual-report/

The National Smart Ticketing Advisory Board was established in November 2023 and had incurred no expenditure up to 31 March 2024.

The Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards was provided Secretariat provision by the Common Services Agency, which is now known as NHS National Services Scotland (NSS). Information on expenditure for this public body is not held centrally.

The Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee was reconvened in April 2013 after it had previously been stepped down in 2013. Spend on this committee for the financial year 2023-24 was £90,985. Financial information on spend prior to 2013 is not available due to the age of this data and the changes in the finance system since this date.

The Scottish Government is progressing Equally Safe, Scotland's strategy to prevent and address all forms of violence against women and girls, specifically violence, abuse, and exploitation directed at them because of their gender.

The Equally Safe Delivery Plan underpins the wider strategy and outlines collaborative working between key partners across the public and third sectors. It sets out a wide range of deliverables and actions that reach across many areas, including education, health, and justice to ensure the aims of the Equally Safe strategy are achieved.

Social Security Scotland communicate the reasons why Funeral Support Payment applications are denied to applicants on an individual basis by letter. Applications can be denied if the client is not eligible or provides insufficient evidence to support their Funeral Support Payment application.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes information on Funeral Support Payment including applications received, application outcomes and payments.

The latest statistics publication for this benefit can be found at: Social Security Scotland - Funeral Support Payment Statistics.

The pay framework for the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is reserved to the UK Government. The level of the basic pay increase to be applied to SCS staff each year is set by the UK Government in response to recommendations made by the Senior Salaries Review Body, and which the Scottish Government are required to comply with.

From 2017 onwards, the Scottish Government has published details of Senior Civil Servants who are paid a salary of over £100,000. The Cabinet Office have also published the salaries of ‘high earners’, which are those who are paid a salary of £150,000 and higher, since 2010.

Unfortunately, the Scottish Government does not hold any information on senior staff salaries prior to 2009-10, as this information was published by neither Scottish Government nor Cabinet Office. Between 2009-10 and 2012-13, only information on those earning £150k and over is available, based on information published by Cabinet Office. The Scottish Government now has a rigorous publication schedule in place to ensure that senior salaries are published each year.

Decisions on future funding for third sector organisations dealing with domestic abuse will be confirmed on completion of the budget process later this year.

Our commitment relating to inclusive communication was part of our work considering improvements to the operation of the Public Sector Equality Duty (“PSED”) in Scotland, which is contained in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. The Scottish Government has limited competence to legislate in relation to equal opportunities including the PSED.

In relation to supporting public authorities to better comply with the PSED, the only available legislation making power Scottish Ministers have is to impose specific duties under the Equality Act 2010, therefore no other alternative legislative route is available.