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Scottish Child Payment is delivered under Section 79 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, which enables Scottish Ministers to top-up a qualifying reserved benefit, such as Universal Credit. Students in receipt of the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary may therefore be eligible for Scottish Child Payment if they are in receipt of such a qualifying benefit.

Student nurses and midwives in Scotland continue to receive a high level of support including, where they are eligible, our non-means tested, non-repayable annual bursary of £10,000, plus associated allowances.

The Scottish Government has committed to carrying out a review of the Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary.

Launched in 2022, the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Innovation Scheme (HIS) is supporting projects under the themes of renewable hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and distribution, and integration of hydrogen into our energy system. All applications for HIS funding were subject to a thorough assessment against a range of criteria, including alignment with our Hydrogen Action Plan.

Glasgow Airport Ltd. applied for funding to support a study to test the feasibility of a hydrogen production, storage and distribution hub at the airport. The application demonstrated several positive aspects, such as use of local wastewater treatment effluent as feedstock to produce hydrogen via electrolysis, deployment of novel storage and distribution technologies, and the intent to explore scalability and replicability. A HIS grant of £150,000 was awarded in May 2023: work began in summer 2023, with the project involving a consortium of partners.

The project did not involve Aberdeen Airport. However, the Scottish Government has separately, via the Energy Transition Fund, helped to fund the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub, a strategic programme that aims to accelerate the hydrogen economy in the city with an initial focus on the use of hydrogen for road transport.

Of the 1,050 enquiries now received by the Scottish Land Matching Service (SLMS) since 2019, a total of 35 have been formally matched by the service.

In addition to these matches, the service has supported, and continues to actively support, the exploration and facilitation of a further 263 potential joint venture agreements. This engagement includes the provision of impartial advice by Land Matching Service advisers to encourage successful future matches and provides quality, impartial, future-proof advice on next steps for customers to take.

A further 537, which are largely seeking land, are on the service’s database and are routinely reviewed when opportunities arise. 215 have engaged with the service, registered interest, but ultimately decided not to pursue their enquiry with the service.

Maximising incomes and ensuring everyone can access social security entitlements are fundamental priorities for the Scottish Government. In 2024-25 we plan to invest over £12 million in income maximisation and welfare advice services – including nearly £4.6 million for Citizens Advice Scotland’s Money Talk Team service, which last year helped over 9,000 older people secure financial gains of over £7 million.

Improving uptake to Pension Credit is important to this, given the DWP estimates from October 2023 that an estimated £1.7bn is unclaimed, made even more critical now, given the UK Government’s announcement to end universal Winter Fuel Payments and to restrict those in receipt of Pension Credit and means-tested benefits only.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. It is for Health Boards to ensure best use of available resources whilst prioritising patient safety and care.

We continue to consider the recommendations made by the UK Government's Animal Welfare Committee although do not have a timescale for completing our review. However, we are continuing to work with the industry to find ways of improving and safeguarding the welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter.

The Scottish Government is committed to the highest possible animal welfare standards, and improving aquaculture health and welfare is one of the main priorities embedded within our Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture.

On 15 August 2024, we published the Summary of Responses to Investing in Planning - a consultation on resourcing Scotland’s planning system, which ran from 28 February 2024 to 31 May 2024.

We received 140 responses from a range of stakeholders, including industry bodies, and have published responses where consent has been given to do so. A full breakdown of respondents can be found in the Summary of Responses at: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836016328 .

I will set out the next steps on improvements to the planning system when the Scottish Parliament returns after recess.

Health Boards are autonomous institutions and as such, are responsible for their own recruitment activity taking into account, retention, absence rates and budgets when making decisions.

Scottish Government officials have however been engaging with Health Boards about their current position in relation to job offers and supply, with Boards remaining committed to maximising the opportunities for newly qualified nurses to find employment and reduce vacancies across nursing.

The Scottish Government uses modelling evidence such as the Electricity System Operators Future Energy Scenarios (FES) to explore the future storage capacity that could be required in Scotland and GB under different decarbonisation pathways.

The level of capacity being proposed through applications for battery energy storage systems can be found on the Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract ( Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ).

Where Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) applications with a capacity greater than 50MW are brought forward, these will require consent from Scottish Ministers under the Electricity Act 1989. Proposals below 50MW are determined by the relevant planning authority in the first instance. Information on live applications under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 is available on the Energy Consents website, using the application search function and includes specific capacities, where this information is held.

Each GP practice’s “Global Sum” allocation is adjusted every quarter to account for changes in their registered patients lists; growing practices should receive a greater share of national funding.

The Scottish Government annually uplifts General Medical Services funding specifically to account for population growth. In 2023-24, this amounted to £8.3 million.

All capital projects are under review and a revised Scottish Government infrastructure investment plan will be published later this year. All due consideration will be given to which projects can be included within that revised plan to ensure it is affordable and deliverable, while providing the best value for money. Our emphasis for the immediate future will be on addressing backlog maintenance and essential equipment replacement.