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I can confirm that we have published our report this morning, and the review report is available at www.gov.scot/publications/storm-arwen-review .

The review is the result of a wide range of local debriefs which took place in the aftermath of Storm Arwen. The Scottish Government has used this information, from those involved at the frontline of the response, to develop a range of recommendations which we hope will support the evolution of our resilience planning. I would like to express my thanks to those who participated in this process, during what has been a time of considerable pressure across the sector.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people are able to access the right support for their mental health as early as possible, without stigma. We encourage children and young people to speak to their GP or school/college/university in the first instance to discuss any concerns about their mental health and wellbeing and enable their referral to any additional services or support required.

We are committed to improving access to community mental health and wellbeing support, and to an approach based on prevention and early intervention. This year, we have provided local authorities with an additional £15 million to fund over 230 new and enhanced supports and services for children and young people. These include digital and text services, play and art-based therapies, single points of access, family support and counselling services for those experiencing emotional distress. Establishing these services is a significant step forward in supporting the mental health of our children and young people, making sure they receive the help they need, when they need it.

In 2022-23, we will issue a further £15 million to local authorities to fund the continuation of these services. In addition, the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party shared policy programme commits to doubling the budget for community-based mental wellbeing services for children and young people to £30 million per annum by the end of this parliament.

We continue to invest in a range of pre-emptive measures to support children and young people in looking after their own mental health and wellbeing. This includes providing enhanced digital resources on mental health and wellbeing available via the ‘Aye Feel’ website and social marketing campaigns, managed by Young Scot and support for parents via the Parent Club website.

Furthermore, we have delivered on our commitment for all secondary schools in Scotland to have access to a mental health counsellor, investing £16 million per annum to ensure children and young people have the support they need at the earliest possible stage.

There are very strong links between education and health on the matter of mental health and wellbeing in schools.

Formally, the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Joint Delivery Board, established in 2021, oversee reform across relevant areas of education, health, community and children’s services and wider areas that impact on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. Membership on the delivery board includes a wide range of stakeholders from health and education.

The Mental Health in Schools Working Group was established in 2019 to support the Scottish Government’s ongoing commitment to supporting positive mental health in children and young people in school. The Group has a large membership including national organisations who work to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing and representatives from the education and health sector.

The Working Group has sought to establish a comprehensive approach to supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing in schools through a Whole School Approach Framework, published in August 2021. The framework is clear on the importance of a holistic approach to mental health and wellbeing and encourages partnership working with community and health partners.

Our commitment to invest in school counselling services across secondary schools in Scotland, announced in our 2018-19 Programme for Government, is now delivered across all local authorities. The first reporting exercise for the commitment highlighted the various referrals made by schools to health services, including GPs, school nurses and other health professionals. The approach to counselling in schools has been developed and implemented by education officials using resources provided by the health department and progress has been jointly reported to Ministers with portfolio responsibility for both health and education.

Health and Wellbeing is one of the eight curricular areas in Curriculum for Excellence. Its substantial importance is reflected in its position at the centre of the curriculum and at the heart of children’s learning. Mental health and wellbeing has specific experiences and outcomes, within this framework.

In 2020-21, as a response to the pandemic and the closure of school buildings, we provided £25 million to councils across Scotland to tackle digital exclusion. This resulted in over 72,000 devices and 14,000 internet connectivity solutions being distributed to disadvantaged pupils across Scotland to support their learning. 72,000 equates to 10.3% of pupils.

These figures do not include devices that will have been distributed from local authorities via their own programmes or any additional COVID funding. However, COSLA have reported that 122,000 devices (including the 72,000 funded by the Scottish Government) have now been distributed.

In addition, since May 2020, the Scottish Government has invested over £48 million in the Connecting Scotland programme which has resulted in 60,000 digitally excluded people being brought online.

The Scottish Government’s actions saved both the Dalzell steelworks and the jobs of those that work there, protecting an important component of the Scottish economy.

As stated in the responses to the Freedom of information requests the information is in the Business contracts and is commercially sensitive.

In facilitating the sale and purchase of the plants, officials sought external advice as the guidance of the Scottish Public Finance Manual recommends. The decision to support the transfer of ownership between the businesses considered this external advice and this intervention acted to effectively ensure that steel production and employment resumed.

In relation to measures taken before the end of transition, under Articles 93(1) and 95(1) of the Withdrawal Agreement, the European Commission remains competent until 31 December 2024 to open a State aid investigation in relation to any such measure, and the results of any such investigation are binding on the United Kingdom (and have direct effect in UK law by virtue of Article 4 of the Withdrawal Agreement and section 7A of the EU Withdrawal Act 2018 (“the 2018 Act”)).

In line with the Scottish Public Finance Manual, details of the Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Rail Holdings, remuneration will be published in due course within Scottish Rail Holdings’ year end accounts. These accounts will be published on Transport Scotland’s website once audited and laid before Parliament.

We are currently engaged in ongoing discussions with TATA Steel and cannot share any further information due to the commercially sensitive nature of the discussions.