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Based on registrations for November 2023 Computing Science week, the numbers provided in S6W-27321 are the accurate number of schools registered for each event during this week. It is difficult to be definitive on how many schools engaged as schools may also have participated by watching the recordings of sessions or by creating their own activities.

Yes, the Minimum Income Guarantee Expert Group's report will be published in due course.

The Scottish Government does not receive direct payments from the operator of the current Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract. Any financial transactions of this nature would be accounted for on completion of reconciliation at the end of each Contract Year.

Education Scotland will continue to work with local authorities and external partners to promote themed weeks. Dates will be promoted from August 2024, through our networks (Computing Science and Primary Computing Science networks on Glow, Local Authority National Technologies Network, professional networks such as ADICOS, Computing at Schools and CompEdnet), stakeholders and Education Scotland and Digilernscot social media.

Education Scotland will hold another Computing Science Event in November 2024. This year there will be 2 weeks – week 1 (4 to 8) will be targeted at computational thinking / no code/low code creative computing activities focusing on ELC and Primary and week 2 (11 to 15) will be focussed on coding activities for primary and secondary. Education Scotland will also be hosting 3 Computing Science Conferences (West, Central and North locations tbc) on 16 November 2024.

I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

National Records of Scotland have today published: ' Scotland’s Census 2022: Sexual Orientation and Trans Status or History' .

This is the first time Scotland’s Census has asked questions in relation to ‘Sexual Orientation’ and ‘Trans Status or History’. These questions were voluntary and asked of those aged 16 and over. The data contained in this publication will help charities, local authorities, businesses and government plan a range of public services, to improve the lives of those living and working in Scotland. The data will also support the equality monitoring responsibilities of public sector organisations, which in turn informs policies and practices.

Scotland’s Census results are designated as Accredited Official Statistics and form an integral part of the statistical system in the UK. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), the independent regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority , awards Accredited Official Statistics designation based on the quality, good practice and comprehensiveness of official statistics.

More detail about the schedule for future reports can be found here .

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

In 2024-25, Glasgow City Council will receive over £1.6 billion to fund local services, which equates to an extra £74.9 million to support vital day to day services or an additional 4.9% compared to the 2023-24 budget.

Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

Engagement on the Natural Capital Market Framework is taking place from March to September and is following Scottish Government’s approach to service design, using the expertise and insight from a diverse range of stakeholders to inform the development of the framework. This engagement has included UK Government officials leading their work on natural capital markets but there has been no direct engagement with UK Government Ministers. We have also engaged with a wide range of private businesses representing agricultural, land management, contractor and investment interests.

It should be noted that the Dental Workforce in Scotland 2021 report was published at the height of pandemic interruptions to dental training in Scotland, and we look forward to contemporary data in September 2024.

The Scottish Government has been clear that, as a result of its intervention in response to the pandemic, a full year of undergraduate and vocational training was lost with significant impact on the introduction of domestic workforce to the sector. This was not a decision taken lightly, but was made following recommendation from the Deans of the Scottish Dental Schools as a necessary action to preserve the competence and confidence of graduates impacted by the pandemic. Scottish Government has also been clear that it could take up to five years for repercussions to fully resolve, however vocational training has now resumed in full and dental school outputs are back to pre-pandemic levels.

Despite this interruption, the Scottish Government has maintained a strong track record in growing the NHS dental workforce in Scotland, with 57 dentists per 100,000 of the population, compared to 42 in England and 46 in Wales.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work on a range of initiatives to bolster the NHS dental workforce through consideration of both domestic and international pipelines, as well as of the shape and structure of the workforce required into the future. This work includes collaboration with its counterparts across the UK and devolved governments to improve workforce pathways for international dentists, in addition to harnessing skill mix to improve capacity within dental teams.

Funding was allocated to the Scottish Government by the European Commission at the beginning of the programme in 2014 and is not allocated on a yearly basis.