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The Scottish Government will not directly save money as a result of the reduction to employer contribution rates to the Strathclyde Pension Fund. Instead, it is the individual employers, including local authorities, who will save.

The amount each scheme employer will save will depend on their pensionable pay-bill and the employer pension contribution rate they are required to pay. These rates have not yet been set for employers outside of the Main Employer Group (MEG) (the 12 local authorities participating in the Fund and arm’s length external organisations).

In very broad terms, the Strathclyde Pension Fund has estimated the overall financial impact on employer contributions in the MEG, to be a £366m saving in years 1 and 2, and £51m p.a. thereafter.

As reflected in the answer to question S6W-22365 on 8 November 2023, the Scottish Bereavement Summit’s final report was published on 28 June 2023. The Report suggests 10 recommendations that the Scottish Government is considering how best to implement. The programme of bereavement work currently spans many Ministerial portfolios, reflecting the wide range of impacts bereavement has on people’s lives. The Scottish Government Bereavement cross-policy network continues to engage and listen to bereavement sector partners as we take forward & draw on the UK Commission’s findings.

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 welcomes The UK Commission on Bereavement’s report and the focus it brings to improving the experience of people affected by grief and loss. Bereavement affects many aspects of our lives, and we recognise that getting the right care and support following a bereavement is crucial for our health and wellbeing.

We are already taking forward a broad programme of work to improve the practical support, care and advice that is available for people who have been bereaved.

The Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention & Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (CYPFEI & ALEC) Fund has provided funding to 115 organisations - including Child Bereavement UK, Richmond's Hope and APEX Scotland who provide support to children and young people who have suffered a loss through bereavement. £14.5m core funding is prioritised annually, which is equivalent to £100m to date from these funds’ inception.

Officials will continue to engage and listen to bereavement sector partners as they take forward bereavement work, drawing on the UK Commissions findings.

The consultation on the Scottish Biodiversity Framework closes on 14 December 2023. We will consider the analysis of responses and publish the final Strategy and Delivery Plan in Spring 2024, and the Biodiversity Investment Plan will follow shortly thereafter. This follows a short delay in producing the consultation on the Delivery Plan.

The Scottish Government funded a national Childhood Bereavement Coordinator project, that concluded in September 2022 with the publication of the final report ‘Growing Up Grieving’. The Co-ordinator’s report included 7 recommendations which span a number of portfolios across Scottish Government. The publication of the report coincided with that of the UK Commission on Bereavement published in October 2022 and the Scottish Bereavement Summit which took place on 13 October 2022, which included delegates from a wide range of bereavement sectors. The summit looked at and summarised the UK Commission report and other recent bereavement reports - including Growing up Grieving , and asked delegates to vote on their priority areas. The final report was published on 28 June 2023, summarising the summit’s findings and compiling recommendations from the 5 recent bereavement reports with the views of summit delegates into one set of recommendations.

As the Scottish Government programme of bereavement work spans a range of Ministerial portfolios, the bereavement cross-policy network is continuing to engage with, and listen to, bereavement sector partners. Future bereavement work will draw on the UK Commission’s findings.

The transfrontier shipments of waste is a reserved policy and details of waste exports outside of the UK are not published or held by Scottish Government, but are held by SEPA.

The Scottish Government is considering all of the recommendations made as part of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland.

Although it is NHS Boards who are responsible for ensuring staff receive the appropriate training and ongoing development to be able to undertake their role safely and effectively, in response to the concerns highlighted by the Independent Review the Scottish Government has provided Health Boards with £26,000 to support further training in auditory brainstem response (ABR) assessment for staff working in paediatric audiology services.

The Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture was made aware in the week leading up to the announcement.

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.

However, I can confirm that the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance activated the Bellwin Scheme on 23 October 2023. The Bellwin Scheme is a discretionary scheme to give special financial assistance to local authorities as a result of providing relief and carrying out immediate work due to large-scale emergencies.

Argyll and Bute Council is one of six local authorities to have notified the Scottish Government of a potential claim relating to Storm Babet.

Ministers will take decisions about where the funding is allocated in 2024-25 and future years subject to the outcome of the Scottish Budget process and associated approval by the Scottish Parliament. The draft budget will be published later this year and will be the subject of Parliamentary scrutiny in early 2024. The Scottish Government intends to present the Draft Budget 2024-25 to Parliament on 19 December 2023.