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Social Security Scotland does not hold contingency funding. The budget for Benefit Expenditure is set against the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s forecasts. Any volatility arising from demand-led benefit expenditure is managed at a consolidated level, utilising the Scottish Government’s limited borrowing powers, as set out in the Fiscal Framework, where required.

SQA delivered a priority appeals process for learners requiring the outcome of an appeal for immediate progression to university, college, training or employment this year. These appeals were completed on 5 September and students informed of the outcomes.

Further industrial action has been averted following SQA’s unions accepting a pay offer on 23 September, and SQA is currently reviewing the remaining appeals with the aim of completing these by the end of October.

The Scottish Government’s Social Enterprise Strategy was launched in 2016 and sets out a wide-ranging, ambitious and long-term programme to develop the potential of Scotland's social enterprise sector.

The latest Social Enterprise Action Plan was published on 24th March 2021 and covers the period 2021-24 and is available at: Social enterprise: action plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

In 2021-22 we spent over £7M in supporting social enterprise and expect to spend over £6M in 2022-23. £15M was distributed through COVID support funds in 2021-22.

Funding is provided to third sector organisations, including social enterprises, from across Scottish Government portfolios and is not collated centrally.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10987 on 27 September 2022. 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 information regarding the value of each local authority's reserves in real terms in 2022-23, and how this compares with the equivalent value in 2006-07 is set out in the following table.

As you will know our hospitals, particularly across the central belt, are under significant pressure due to the direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic which is impacting on A&E performance.

We recognise the good work underway in each of our Health Boards to implement performance improvement measures. Although NHS Tayside is of a comparable size to some of the other central belt Health Boards, there are substantial differences between the Boards, particularly in terms of geography and population demographics.

NHS Tayside is regularly one of the higher performing mainland Health Boards, with well-established processes and models of care. Through our new National Urgent and Unscheduled Care Collaborative we are actively encouraging the sharing of learning and good practice between Health Boards. To help facilitate this, we are hosting a learning event on 19 October where representatives from all of Scotland’s Health Boards will participate.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10578 on 27 September 2022. 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

Pulmonary rehabilitation services are made up of multidisciplinary teams which can include the following professions: physiotherapists, nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and doctors.

All healthcare students require practice placements in a number of settings, which can include pulmonary rehabilitation services, but the Scottish Government does not hold data on the distribution of students across these placements as they are managed by individual universities.

However, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) collects and analyses data relating to the provision of further and higher education in Scotland and a breakdown of the number of overall graduates from each profession over the past 5 years is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (BIB number 63608). This is broken down by domicile : Scottish, rUK, EU, international.

Pulmonary rehabilitation services are made up of multidisciplinary teams which can include the following professions: physiotherapists, nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and doctors.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of graduates from each profession who work in pulmonary rehabilitation services. However, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) collects and analyses data relating to the provision of further and higher education in Scotland and a breakdown of the number of overall graduates from each profession over the past five years is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (BIB number 63608). This is broken down by domicile: Scottish, rUK, EU, international.

The Scottish Government is taking the necessary steps to support NHS staffing capacity. The Scottish Government is continually in contact with all NHS Health Boards to ensure that services have sufficient support to deal with COVID-19, manage other risks and resume planned services as safely and effectively as possible.

Although Staffing levels across NHS Scotland have increased for ten consecutive years, we are fully aware of the challenges that Boards and frontline staff are experiencing. That is why we announced a £1 billion-backed NHS Recovery Plan and a record £300 million of investment last winter to support Health Boards and their staff.

This includes the 1,000 Health Care Support Workers brought in over the last winter and recent successes that has saw c230 nurses from overseas taken up roles within Boards in Scotland and our commitment to invest a record £11 million in the lifetime of this parliament in further domestic and international recruitment.

We are in the final stages of agreeing a stretching target for international recruitment of nurses, midwives and Allied Health Professionals with NHS Scotland Boards for 2022-23.