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The Scottish Government has provided the Violence Reduction Unit with the following funding:

 *includes a one off payment for additional funding to VRU

The current cancer plan, “Recovery and Redesign: An Action Plan for Cancer Services”, comes to completion in March 2023. Early discussions are commencing on what shape a future strategy will take. We anticipate this work will occur over the 2022-23 financial year with a view to publishing a future strategy by April 2023.

The statutory responsibility for delivering and commissioning care home placements at a local level lies with local authorities and integrated health and social care partnerships. The agreement on the rates paid for care home placements is determined by the contractual relationships in place. Scottish Government provides funding through the local government settlement but is not a contractual party to these arrangements.

The Scottish Government has allocated £862 million to Health Boards to support with costs arising from the pandemic, this will include additional costs for the adult social care sector. The current arrangements for additional financial support for the sector are in place until 30 June 2022.

Special Advisers are appointed by the First Minister for the purpose of providing assistance to the Scottish Ministers. Part 1 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 obligates the Scottish Government to prepare and lay before the Scottish Parliament an annual report about Special Advisers, and additional updates to Special Advisers and their responsibilities are published as appropriate on the Scottish Government website.

This is a matter for each local authority. The information requested is not held centrally.

Scottish Ministers attended the 36 th British Irish Council (BIC) Summit hosted by the Welsh Government which had the theme of Indigenous Minority and Lesser-Used Languages. Shirley-Anne Somerville, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, attended a virtual work sector meeting on 17 November 2021, and Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister and Kate Forbes, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy attended the Summit on 19 November, when Ms Forbes gave her update on economic recovery to the pandemic in Gaelic.

Scottish Ministers have taken part in a number of ‘Exit Operations’ meetings with their counterparts across the UK. These meetings have focused on measures to prepare for and address the impacts of the UK’s exit from the EU. The meetings have dealt with a range of issues relevant to the culture and creative sectors, including the international mobility of artists, international trade and exports, and funding.

Scottish Ministers engage with their counterparts across the UK through Four Nations Ministerial Meetings, which have addressed issues of shared concern such as sectoral recovery from the pandemic and the challenges to the culture sector presented by Brexit.

Wales was the special partner nation at Showcase Scotland 2022 as part of Celtic Connections, with six Welsh acts featuring as part of the festival programme: Cynefin, Eve Goodman, N’Famady Kouyaté, No Good Boyo, Pedair and The Trials of Cato. There was increased collaboration in advance of the festival with meetings of cultural organisations between the two nations and a strong partnership between Feis Rois and Welsh group Avanc has resulted. As Showcase Scotland took place virtually in 2022, Wales will once again have a focus in 2023 alongside Brittany. The virtual launch was attended Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture and Dawn Bowden, Welsh Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport.

Focus Wales was a partner with the recent successful iteration of Global Music Match which saw Scottish and Welsh artists collaborating with other international artists, with many longstanding relationships resulting.

The Scottish Government has an office in Dublin which delivers an ambitious and exciting programme to engage local audiences with Scotland’s contemporary culture, in support of Scotland’s wider International Framework.

The office supports Scotland’s programme of cultural celebrations throughout the calendar year, and identifies opportunities to celebrate anniversaries of significant dates with local events. It also designs programmes of cultural activity that support Scottish artists and performers to develop markets in Ireland. It works closely with Scotland’s cultural institutions including Creative Scotland and the National Performing Companies.

The Ireland-Scotland Joint Bilateral Review, launched in 2021, highlights culture as one of its six key themes. In line with the recommendations of this report, the Scottish Government in Ireland is working alongside Irish Government colleagues with a continued focus on creating opportunities for our artists and performers, and for our creative and heritage sectors to flourish.

Through Colmcille 1500, there has been a partnership between Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland to celebrate St Columba’s legacy and 1500 years since his birth.

There have also been many projects supported through a Creative Scotland funding stream set up to encourage activity linking Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic language and culture projects.

As referred to in the answer to question S6W-06673 on 4 March 2022, the Scottish Government Office in Dublin, one of its external network of offices, delivers an ambitious and exciting programme to engage local audiences with Scotland’s contemporary culture, in support of Scotland’s wider International Framework.

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 .

We know that the pandemic has been exceptionally difficult for the mental health and wellbeing of many children, young people and their families, and that there has been increased pressure on mental health services as a result of this.

As part of our £120 million Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund, we have made an additional £40 million available this year to improve CAMHS and to clear waiting list backlogs by March 2023. Long waits are unacceptable and we remain committed to meet the standard that 90% of patients start treatment within 18 weeks of referral. We are directing support to those Boards with the longest waiting lists to clear backlogs by March 2023 and are monitoring progress closely.

Additionally, in our NHS Recovery Plan we have committed to provide sufficient funding for around 320 additional staff in CAMHS over the next 5 years. This will have the potential to increase capacity for CAMHS cases by over 10,000.

We have also provided an additional £15 million to local authorities this year to deliver locally based mental health and wellbeing support for 5-24 year olds in their communities, providing alternative treatment options and pathways to CAMHS and ensured access to counselling support services in all secondary schools.