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The terms of Special Adviser contracts of employment are reserved to the UK Government. Those contracts include a requirement that severance payments are made to special advisers where their employment is terminated in the circumstances where a First Minister demits office, or on the dissolution of Parliament prior to a Scottish Parliamentary election. The value of severance payment due is dependent on an individual’s length of service and range from the equivalent of 3 months’ pay up to a maximum of 6 months’ pay.However, payment of severance is subject to agreement that should an individual be reappointed as a special adviser, they will repay any severance pay less the amount of salary they would have been paid had they been employed during the period between the termination of the previous contract and re-appointment on a fresh contract. Therefore the amount of severance to be repaid upon reappointment varies depending on the length of time between termination of employment and later reappointment. The following table sets out for each of the last 5 years to July 2024, the net cost of severance payments once the approximate level of repayments received are taken into account for those who were reappointed:

The UK Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme provides a partial guarantee to a lender making a loan to a ship-buyer or operator, so that new vessels, or refits, retrofits or repairs of existing vessels can be procured from UK shipyards. This type of finance guarantee is not required where the Scottish Government or its agencies are the buyer/funder. As the Scottish Government, through Transport Scotland, is the funder of CMAL vessels projects, the scheme does not benefit these kinds of contracts. The scheme may be applicable to commercial clients or funders looking to build or refit vessels at the Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow yard.

The Scottish Government is currently carrying out research with Rum residents and wider stakeholders, with the aim of reaching consensus on conditions of sale for Kinloch Castle. The Kinloch Castle Delphi Study is being led by analysts within the Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government.In March, we sent a survey invitation to all residents on the isle of Rum, and received a response from the majority of islanders. We shared the Round 1 report with all residents, and met with the Rum Community Association, Kinloch Castle Friends Association and Isle of Rum Community Trust to discuss the results. In July, we sent the Round 2 survey invitation to all residents. We have also invited Kinloch Castle Friends Association members to share their views in a separate survey. During Round 3, we plan to arrange an in-person community workshop on Rum. We aim to publish the final report by December 2024.

There were no artwork purchases in 2023-24.A detail of artwork spend in previous years is outlined below.

We are continuing to work at pace on the Developer Remediation Contract to ensure alignment with the Housing (Cladding Remediation) Scotland Act 2024 and the Single Building Assessment (SBA) specification, which was published in June 2024. We are committed to sharing a draft with developers with a view to engaging in further discussions and we have been discussing timings with stakeholders.

The Scottish Government has provided support for employees affected by developments at Carpetright through our Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) initiative.In agreement with Carpetright's Talent Acquisition Manager, a PACE Introduction to Redundancy Support webinar took place on 7 August for all impacted staff across Scotland to inform them of the support on offer. In addition, information on PACE services has been issued to the impacted staff to support their self-referral to partnership services. Skills Development Scotland will also be undertaking promotion of PACE support to former Carpetright staff via social media activity.Through providing skills development and employability support, PACE aims to minimise the time individuals affected by redundancy are out of work.

Following Stage 2, we will provide a revised Financial Memorandum for Stage 2 amendments that have been agreed to which will also note the value of costs incurred to date on the Bill.

The Cladding Remediation Programme is in a pilot phase. Of the 107 pilot entries there are currently 12 entries for which we expect assessment and any mitigation or remediation required to be led by Scottish Government.It is not possible to estimate the cost of remediating a building ahead of a Single Building Assessment (SBA) being undertaken. This assessment will identify the works needed to eliminate or mitigate risks to human life that are (directly or indirectly) created or exacerbated by the building’s external wall cladding system. While some pilot entries have already had pilot assessments, before costs can determined these assessments will need to be refreshed to ensure that they are completed in accordance with the SBA Standard to be specified by Scottish Ministers under the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024.

CalMac have advised that they will publish their winter timetable and annual maintenance schedule by Friday 23 August.

Work continues apace on the Post-School Education and Skills Reform Programme, developed in light of the recommendations of James Withers’ Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape and the Scottish Government’s own report on the Post-school education, research and skills - purpose and principles - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Following my initial update of March 2024 to the Education, Children and Young People Committee, I provided the latest update on progress in a letter to that Committee on 25 June 2024, available at Post School Reform 25 June 2024 (parliament.scot) . This letter includes an annex detailing our position and actions taken with regards to each of the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Skills Delivery Landscape.