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The Post-School Education and Skills Reform: Consultation on legislation was published today, 25 June 2024, with a closing date of 20 September 2024. The consultation seeks views on proposals for changes to simplify the funding body landscape in the post-school education and skills system. The consultation can be accessed here .

Due to the large number of consultation responses received, we now expect this report to be published in Autumn 2024.

The Scottish Government does not hold information centrally on the grants, contract and payments made by public bodies. Contracts let by public bodies are held on public record and can be found at Public Contracts Scotland ( www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ )

Highlands Rewilding received a payment of £5,000 plus VAT on 24 February 2023 for their participation in the CivTech 8 cohort Exploration Stage after applying with a solution for CivTech Challenge 8.6. Highlands Rewilding did not progress further than the Exploration Stage and as such only received the Exploration payment of £5,000 plus VAT. This money was not grant funding and was for work carried out during the exploration stage to develop their proposal as per the contract.

Participants are selected for the Exploration Stage after an open procurement process followed by a thorough sift, selection and interview process. There is no specific financial due diligence required at this stage of the process due to the nature of the procurement.

More information on the CivTech process can be found here:

www.civtech.scot/process

More information on the CivTech Challenge 8.6 can be found here:

www.civtech.scot/civtech-8-challenge-6-simplifying-and-enabling-investment-in-scotlands-nature

Highlands Rewilding was offered a grant of £81,517 through the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) for a project entitled Beldorney Pond Creation for Biodiversity and Resilience to Climate Change. The Scottish Government does not hold information on payments made further to that offer, which would be administered by NatureScot.

Further details about the NRF, including eligibility and other criteria for applicants, can be found here: www.nature.scot/funding-and-projects/scottish-government-nature-restoration-fund-nrf

Highlands Rewilding was offered a grant of £97,350 through the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) in September 2023, administered by NatureScot, with match funding of £97,350 also provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The project is titled Joint Ventures for Scalable Community Benefits from Rewilding. The Scottish Government does not hold information on payments made further to that offer.

Further details about FIRNS, including eligibility and information on successful applications, can be found here: https://www.nature.scot/funding-and-projects/firns-facility-investment-ready-nature-scotland

The NRF and FIRNS conform to the conditions for such schemes set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM). The SPFM is issued by Scottish Ministers and provides guidance to the Scottish Government and relevant bodies on the proper handling and reporting of public funds. It covers the relevant statutory, parliamentary and administrative requirements and promotes good practice and high standards of propriety.

Further information on the SPFM can be found here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-public-finance-manual/

NHS National Services Scotland as commissioner of hyperbaric services and NHS Grampian who provide and co-ordinate the Hyperbaric Medical Unit in Scotland completed a full risk assessment exercise. Within this they reviewed the impact of the service level agreement with the NHS hyperbaric facility in Oban coming to an end.

This assessment is a matter for NHS National Services Scotland and NHS Grampian and information regarding it is not held centrally by Scottish Government.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission’s December 2023 publication forecast that a total of 98,000 people in Scotland will receive payments for Carer’s Allowance/Carer’s Support Payment in the financial year 2024-25.

Statistics on the number of people receiving Carer’s Allowance in each local authority and constituency area in Scotland can be found on the DWP’s statxplore tool: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml .

Carer Support Payment is replacing Carer’s Allowance in Scotland and is only currently available for new applications in Dundee City, Perth and Kinross and Na h-Eileanan Siar. Carer Support Payment will be open to new applicants in South Lanarkshire from 24 June 2024. Everyone in Scotland already receiving Carer’s Allowance will automatically have their awards moved safely and securely to Carer Support Payment. We are writing to carers to let them know when their award has been selected for transfer and what to expect.

Carer Support Payment statistics are published on a quarterly basis. The latest published statistics are available at https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics .The next publication of Official Statistics is due to be released on 13 August 2024.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has not taken any formal action as a result of a college failing to meet Fair Work criteria since the Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act 2013 came into force.

Fair Work requirements are a condition of SFC funding. SFC will monitor compliance through reporting requirements in colleges' annual reports.

Since 2019-2020, the Scottish Government has given the following funding per financial year to support organisations and charities that support people with epilepsy.

The following Scottish Government-led national policy delivery projects received a total funding of £5.3 million as follows:

Provision for bereavement support within maternity wards is outside of the scope of specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services, which support women with complex mental health presentations.

The Scottish Government committed through the Programme for Government 2023 – 24 to improve miscarriage care. Part of this work includes the provision of separate spaces in maternity wards in hospitals for those experiencing a pregnancy or baby loss.

The Scottish Government is committed to developing services and support structures which facilitate good Perinatal and Infant mental health across Scotland, investing over £36 million since 2019. This includes funding for the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) third sector fund which has supported a range projects, including Held In Our Hearts which provide counselling and mental health support to parents and families who are pregnant after having experienced baby loss.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with all three of these stakeholder groups, as well as with other bodies, to discuss a range of issues related to ensuring a just energy transition, including rates of employment and other workforce considerations.

The Scottish Government routinely meets with the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) and other stakeholders to discuss a range of issues including skills and workforce. The last SOWEC meeting was held on 20 June 2024.

In relation to oil and gas industry, I met with Offshore Energies UK on 20 March 2024. The First Minister also met with representatives from a number of individual businesses in Aberdeen, including oil and gas companies, to discuss the energy transition on 17 May 2024.

In relation to trade unions, I met with representatives from the Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC), UNISON, Unite, RMT and GMB on 29 February 2024. Ministers have also subsequently met with trade unions on matters related to transition in Scotland’s onshore energy system. Scottish Government officials also meet monthly, most recently on 3 June 2024, with representatives of STUC to discuss issues relevant to ensuring a just transition. Previous engagement with trade unions has been fundamental to our policy thinking about a just transition to date, including through the creation of the Just Transition Commission. The Scottish Government has committed to providing annual funding of £100k to support just transition capacity within the trade union movement, which will ensure this vital input continues, as we get on with delivering good, green jobs and a truly just transition.