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In the lead-up to Scottish Canals’ formal recognition as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) in April 2020 and continuing since then, the Scottish Government has sought to provide as much assistance as possible to assist the Organisation in familiarising itself with the financial reporting processes and accountancy practices that all NDPBs have to follow. In addition to providing advice on a number of related areas, Transport Scotland officials facilitated meetings with the Office for National Statistics, Audit Scotland and Scottish Government finance colleagues to assist in this process.

Support was mainly provided around how NDPB status would impact on Scottish Canals preparing its annual accounts, the authority delegated to its Accountable Officer, the change in the Organisation’s ability to carry across reserves from one year to the next and its investment strategy. Officials also highlighted the need for Scottish Canals to familiarise itself with the requirements of the Scottish Public Finance Manual, the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) and the HM Treasury Consolidated Budgeting guidance.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10433 on 20 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.

In line with the principle of producer responsibility, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) is a private company, established by industry to lead on delivery of Scotland’s DRS as scheme administrator. As such, it is not for the Scottish Government to participate in the calculation or verification of the proposed retail handling fees.

The cost crisis represents an unprecedented challenge to which the UK Government must respond.

The Scottish Government is taking action to prioritise support for Scotland, within the constraints of its limited budget and powers. On 7 September I wrote to the Finance and Public Administration Committee and I set out our progress to Parliament, including the savings taken to date. Here is a link to the Committee letter - Cost crisis: letter to Scottish Parliament committee .

The Scottish Government’s Emergency Budget Review is an ongoing budget process and I have committed to publishing its outcome within two weeks of the UK fiscal event planned for later this month.

The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme report, published on 28 June, includes data from the Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA). The SSCA measures quality of care of stroke services in each acute hospital, grouped by NHS board against the Scottish Stroke Care Standards.

The National Mission Oversight Group is supported by many areas of expertise including; academics, lived and living experience representatives, international expertise, clinicians and third sector organisations

Three members of the group are specifically appointed as lived and living experience representatives, but we should not presume that other members of the Oversight Group do not have their own lived and living experience alongside their professional expertise and experience they are bringing to the group.

The Group will link in to lived and living experience networks such as the National Collaborative to ensure that the perspective and experiences of living and lived experience are embedded in the work of the Group.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09978 on 24 August 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.

We continue to see Common Housing Registers as a key way of simplifying and maximising access to social housing. It is up to individual local authorities and housing associations to determine the most effective application process and allocation policy for allocating their housing stock. Guidance on Common Housing Registers can be found on the Scottish Government’s website: Common Housing Register (CHR) - building a register: a practitioner's guide - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . We have no plans to provide support to Glasgow City Council to expand their Common Housing Register which is a matter for them.

The Scottish Government has no plans to produce an updated full business case addendum at this time.

The Scottish Government is committed to establishing and maintaining a dignified and accessible disability and carer benefits system. This includes support for those aged over 65 whose awards are transferring to Adult Disability Payment.

“Non-physical activity disability allowance” is not a recognised term applying to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Adult Disability Payment. In line with our established case transfer principles, people transferring to Social Security Scotland, from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), will continue to receive the correct payment at the correct time.

This means that clients will continue to receive the same mobility and care component of support when they transfer to Adult Disability Payment as they would have continued to receive on PIP after reaching state pension age. Relevant age rules will apply to any review after transfer, which means that on-going entitlement to the mobility component of Adult Disability Payment will be in line with the condition and/or disability under their previous PIP award. Where an individual's award was selected for transfer because they reported a change to the DWP, they were due to have their award reviewed, or their award was due to end, we will start the review process soon after their Adult Disability Payment award begins. In all other cases, review dates will be as far as possible aligned with their previous PIP review or end dates.

Although entitlement rules for Adult Disability Payment largely replicate PIP entitlement rules, we are confident that overall client experience will be much improved as a result of the less intrusive and client-centred assessment processes and our new forms of support and advice to help people provide relevant information when applying or having their entitlement reviewed.