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The review has now been completed and the report is currently being finalised. Following this, the report will be published later in 2023.

The recommendations of the Compliance and Enforcement Review Panel are being taken forward through the Building Standards Futures Board. The Board oversees a programme of seven work streams which collectively aim to improve the performance, expertise, resilience and sustainability of building standards verification services. Work has progressed across all work items, notably on a workforce strategy for building standards, a pilot building standards verification hub of expertise, a new compliance plan approach and a suite of digital tools to assist those using the building standards system.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme would be a major part of our efforts to reduce littering. The Scottish Government does not consider that section 67 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 is relevant to any bottles or cans which have been littered and therefore no assessment has been made of its impact on the scheme.

The R100 programme remains on track to meet its current contractual completion dates. The R100 contracts are currently delivering full fibre, gigabit capable connections at pace across the length and breadth of Scotland.

For any properties beyond the reach of the R100 contract build or commercial coverage plans, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme – offering vouchers worth up to £5,000 – remains available to help secure a superfast broadband connection.

Our address checker at https://www.scotlandsuperfast.com shows the most recent plans and timescales for residential and commercial properties across Scotland, allowing access to the most up-to-date information.

The Scottish Government will be undertaking an economic evaluation as part of our multi-year strategy for evaluating the impact of the expansion of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) to 1,140 hours on outcomes for children, parents and families. The purpose of an economic evaluation is to compare the value of the outcomes of a policy to the overall costs of that policy, in order to determine the value for money of the programme. Details of the economic evaluation approach were published in section 6 of our Evaluation Strategy published in October 2022. Work on the economic evaluation will begin in 2023 and the final phase of this work is due to be completed in late 2025 – to allow the information from the Scottish Study of Early Learning and Childcare (SSELC) to be used in the economic evaluation.

Routine spending information that councils report does not distinguish between spending on 600 hours of funded ELC and spending on the additional hours provided by the expansion. The Scottish Government has therefore gathered separate financial information on spending on the expansion from councils three times. However, despite best efforts, the information gathered does not provide a comprehensive picture of how much councils have spent specifically on the expansion at a national level. Measures are being taken by the Scottish Government to change reporting through local financial returns to produce more detailed information on how much councils have spent specifically on the provision of funded ELC.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18980 on 21 June 2023. 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

Working with our Monitoring and Evaluation Working Group, we have set out a multi-year strategy for evaluating the impact of the expansion of funded early learning and childcare to 1,140 hours on outcomes for children, parents and families. The bespoke Scottish Study of Early Learning and Childcare (SSELC) is the main vehicle for collecting evaluation evidence on child and parent outcomes. Baseline data for the SSELC was collected during 2018 and 2019 from children and their parents accessing 600 hours of funded early learning and childcare. During 2023 and 2024 data will be collectedfrom a sample of children and parents accessing 1,140 hours. The Final Early Learning and Childcare Expansion Evaluation Report is due to be published in late 2025. More information can be found in our Evaluation Strategy published in October 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18980 on 21 June 2023. 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

I am proud of what we have achieved with the expansion to 1140 hours, and I was pleased to see Audit Scotland recognising that the Scottish Government, local authorities and partners did well to deliver the expansion despite the challenges of a global pandemic. I was also pleased to see Audit Scotland conclude that most parents are happy with the flexibility available as part of the expanded Early Learning and Childcare offer. Providers in the private, third and childminding sector have an important role to play in continuing to offer this flexibility.

Recognising the need to support the sector the Scottish Government made more than £35 million of dedicated financial support available to private, third and childminding sector services during the pandemic; we have legislated to continue the Nursery Rates Relief Scheme, which provides 100 per cent relief on Non-Domestic Rates to eligible day nurseries beyond the previous end date of 30 June 2023; and we have funded pilot programmes of targeted Business Gateway support to enable childcare providers to access tailored, specialist advice on strengthening their businesses.

Childminders are a valued part of our ELC sector, providing a unique form of high quality childcare in a nurturing home-based environment. We continue to work closely with the Scottish Childminding Association to support a successful childminder recruitment pilot aiming to recruit and train 100 new childminders in remote and rural communities. We are also supporting a second phase which is trialling this recruitment model in urban communities within Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and East Renfrewshire.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting a diverse, sustainable and thriving childcare sector. However, I recognise there are real challenges facing the sector as a result of delivering an expansion in the face of the pandemic, Brexit and now the costs crisis. The Scottish Government is committed to working closely with every part of the childcare sector to understand and address these issues together. I hosted a round table with sector representatives on Tuesday 18 April to hear about challenges and opportunities for the sector, and I will be undertaking a programme of engagement over the next few months.