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Operational decisions on resourcing and staffing matters are for colleges to consider and decide but the Scottish Government expects colleges to align their staffing complement and skills with the needs of the economy and future skills. Colleges should work together with unions to make every effort to protect jobs where possible but colleges are not bound by Public Sector Pay Policy.

Public Health Scotland publish figures on how many 2C, 17C and 17J practices there are in each Health Board. The following information has been gathered from the GP Workforce and Practice List Sizes publication available at: General Practice - GP Workforce and practice list sizes 2012 - 2022 - General Practice - GP workforce and practice list sizes - Publications - Public Health Scotland .

Work on the FOI Improvement plan continues to be a priority for the Scottish Government. Progress has been made in a number of areas contained in the Improvement Plan to strengthen internal processes and delivery of this statutory function. In his evidence to the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee on 23 March the Scottish Information Commissioner noted that unlike most other Scottish public authorities, the Scottish Government has seen a sustained increase in FOI request volumes since the pandemic. The Scottish Government is continuing to see persistent yearly increases in numbers of FOI requests. Efforts are therefore also underway to establish a sustainable case-handling model for the Scottish Government.

Revised guidance for case handlers is now live and this is complimented by increased case handler training, as well as a push on the mandatory FOI awareness training for all staff. Officials are also undertaking internal audits on cases ensuring that responses comply with our internal control and assurance procedures as agreed with the Commissioner. Lessons learned are being shared widely and several directorates are undertaking local improvement activity with advice and assistance from trained Quality Improvement practitioners.

FOI performance figures are published on a monthly basis on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/freedom-of-information-foi-reporting/ . The Scottish Government remains committed to the principles of open and transparent government.

The draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy reflects the interdependence of climate, biodiversity and the close linkages between climate change adaptation, mitigation, ecosystem health, human well-being and sustainable development in the same way as the IPCC’s 6 th Synthesis Report. We are currently reviewing the draft Strategy in light of the outcomes of COP15 and in doing so, we will take into account other significant developments such as the IPCC’s assessment report. A consultation on the Strategic Framework for Biodiversity in Scotland, comprising the Strategy and its first Delivery Plan, will take place in summer 2023, followed by publication of the final Strategy later in 2023.

This Government firmly believes that every child growing up in Scotland, regardless of their background, should have an equal chance of attending university and participating in higher education.

Funding for widening access to colleges and universities is allocated to institutions via the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) through a number of mechanisms. For colleges, this includes the Access and Inclusion Fund and student support funding. For universities, this includes the Widening Access and Retention Fund, which is currently allocated to eight post-92 institutions with a higher proportion of widening access students; and embedded additional funding for widening access places. Monitoring is undertaken to focus on outcomes achieved in return for these funds.

The SFC also funds work to support the intake of widening access students, including the National Schools Programme and the Scottish Wider Access Programme, which use a range of eligibility criteria for participation.

Officials are working with stakeholders from the college and university sectors through a Short-Life Working Group on widening access data to ensure that we are best able to identify widening access students across Scotland. Recommendations are expected to be made by the group in Autumn 2023.

Officials are also actively engaging with stakeholders on the interim Purpose and Principles that were published last December which consider how we can deliver a post-school education, research and skills system that is supportive and equitable, which would include our approach to widening access. The final Purpose and Principles will be published later this year.

The Scottish Government values the tertiary education sector, with each part making a crucial and unique contribution to Scotland. The 2023-24 budget allocates nearly £2 billion to colleges and universities, which continues the trend of a year-on-year increase of that budget in cash terms.

The Scottish Government recognises the essential role that colleges play across all learner pathways including their role in further and higher education provision and will further clarify that in the forthcoming Purpose and Principles. The Scottish Government is actively engaging with stakeholders on the interim Purpose and Principles that were published last December. The Scottish Government is focussing on developing the implementation plan, system level outcomes and metrics, evidence and insight papers and impact assessments to support a final publication in late Spring.

The Scottish Government recognises and celebrates the fact that everyone’s learner pathway is different and it is important that everyone has the opportunity to undertake the learner pathway that best matches their abilities and aspirations. The employer led DYW network and DYW School Coordinator role, currently operates in every secondary school. The programme has a key part to play in enabling the recommendations within the Ken Muir review by helping to create employer led experiences and parity of esteem between academic and vocational learning. The SCQF School Ambassador programme also offers schools the opportunity to learn more about the benefits of the SCQF levels and the wider ways in which it supports learners, including in demonstrating the diversity of provision on offer and the parity of these pathways.

As set out in the Future Skills Action plan, the Scottish Government is committed to the important work that the DYW Groups do to improve the relationship between young people and employers. To support this commitment, allocations and grant letters were issued on 31 March to the DYW regional groups for the first 6 months of the financial year 2023-2024.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-02060 on
‎ 23 March 2023. All answers to oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the link to the Official Report can be found here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-23-03-2023?meeting=15218

Official statistics covering processing times for Adult Disability Payment are published as a part of the regularly scheduled quarterly publication. The latest Adult Disability Payment statistical publication was published on Tuesday 14 March 2023 and the next publication will be published in June 2023. Information on the average processing time by month is included in table 9. This publication is available from

https://www.gov.scot/collections/social-security-scotland-stats-publications/#benefitsforcarersanddisabilityassistance .

Although energy retail policy is reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government remains concerned at the disproportionate impact the high cost of energy prices combined with inflation is having on vulnerable consumers, including those living with disabilities.

We were disappointed that the UK Government did not answer our calls to extend the Energy Bills Support Scheme as part of its Spring Budget Statement. The removal of the support scheme means a typical household’s annual bill will increase by around 19%. That is why the First Minister recently announced that our Fuel Insecurity Fund will be increased to up to £30 million in the next financial year to support the most vulnerable households in Scotland. In addition, our new winter heating payment is providing a stable and reliable annual £50 payment to around 400,000 low-income individuals. This benefit is an investment of over £20m each year which is more than double the £8.3m provided on average by the UK Government in each of the last 7 years.

Following the progress made at the Scottish Government energy summits held last year, we continue to work with energy suppliers to explore ways to mitigate the impact of rising energy costs on those who are struggling to pay their bills and heat their homes.

I will of course be meeting with UK Government Ministers over issues concerning fuel poverty and mitigation of the cost of powering life-saving medical equipment will feature in those discussions.