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Scottish Government officials are in the process of providing advice to the new Ministerial team on community eyecare services work, including these short life working groups, and will update stakeholders immediately following the completion of this process.

The Scottish Government does not hold records for all mobile phones purchased in the last 5 years as they are purchased by individual business areas and agencies to meet their requirements. However, through our mobile voice & data contracts we have purchased various models of mobile phone including those from Apple, Motorola and Samsung.

For the past 5 years the Scottish Government has had a mobile voice and data contracts with Vodafone UK.

A contract was in place from 20 January 2016 to 20 September 2020. This was replaced with a new contract via https://www.gov.scot/publications/mobile-voice-and-data-services-framework-2020/ from 21 September 2020 to 20 September 2023.

A small number of connections have also been with EE over the last 5 years.

As introduced, Section 3 of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill requires Ministers to put and keep in place arrangements for the purpose of monitoring and improving the quality of the services that the NCS provides. Ministers intend to put in place arrangements for reporting on social care data nationally and locally.

In addition, Section 36 of the Bill as introduced, enables Scottish Ministers to set up a statutory scheme through regulations to permit data sharing for the efficient and effective provision of services by, or on behalf of, the NCS and the NHS. Section 37 of the Bill as introduced enables Scottish Ministers to produce information standards setting out how information is to be processed.

Section 3.5 of the Ministerial code sets out that when Parliament is meeting, Ministers should ensure that important announcements of Government policy are made, in the first instance, to the Parliament.

As Circularity Scotland is a private company, support arrangements they have with their members is a matter for them and it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to intervene in such commercial arrangements between private companies. We are grateful to all businesses for the investment they have made in preparing for the launch of the deposit return scheme and this investment will be important for the success of the scheme when it launches on 1 March.

The Scottish Government has clear standards for the quality of care across our health and social care services and the safety, protection and wellbeing of residents and staff in our care home sector is a priority. We have for each of the last three years provided NHS Highland with funding of £864,800 per year to support their enhanced oversight and support of local care homes to encourage quality improvement and sustainability, and we recently confirmed further funding for 2023-24.

Ultimately the commissioning and provisioning of care home services for local communities to meet needs rests with NHS Highland and the Highland Council. The Scottish Government is in regular contact with NHS Highland, the Highland Council, and providers of social care to understand the challenges they are facing which include the impact of care home closures across the system.

The Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults is distributed through by Third Sector Interfaces (TSI) across all regions of Scotland, who deliver the Fund locally to grassroots community organisations, in partnership with others including Health and Social Care Partnerships, local councils and people with lived experience. This ensures that the Fund, is able to respond to local needs and circumstances, whilst adhering to national guidance. This will continue to be the case in 2023-24.

The share of the fund that each TSI receives is calculated by using the National Resource Allocation Formula (NRAC) to ensure a fair distribution of the fund.

Timing of local fund processes including award decisions will vary across regions, with each TSI led partnership agreeing their own process and timetable. Information on how to apply for this year’s funding will be accessible in due course on the TSI Scotland website . All TSIs will have distributed funding no later than 31 March 2024.

The following table shows a time series for the number of registered private sector businesses in the construction of domestic buildings sector, split into Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. The construction of domestic buildings sector is defined as Standard Industrial Classification (“SIC”) code 41.202 and is a sub-category within the construction sector, Section F. A SME here is defined as a business with 0 – 249 employees, whilst registered businesses are businesses that are registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay As You Earn (PAYE). The data covers the period from 2010 to 2022, earlier data are not readily available and, also not comparable due to changes in SIC definitions and methodology over time.

The number of registered private sector businesses by employee size band in the construction of domestic buildings (SIC 41.202) in Scotland, March 2010 – March 2022.

The Deposit Return Scheme has already delivered hundreds of millions of pounds of investment across Scotland, and is creating over 500 new green jobs which includes those via third party operators. While some of these jobs may be filled already the majority will become operational as the scheme goes live on 1 March 2024 .

The average response time (in days) for the Office of the Public Guardian to process (a) Electronic Power of Attorney Registration (EPOAR) submissions and (b) postal power of attorney requests in 2022-23 now that the financial year is complete is as follows (the table also indicates average figures for previous years):