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Employment of social workers rests with local authorities and the Scottish Government does not hold any information on numbers of renal social workers.

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to protecting and effectively managing 30% of Scotland’s land and seas for nature by 2030, halting the loss of biodiversity by 2030 and restoring and regenerating it by 2045, and we continue to pursue a wide range of actions to deliver this commitment.

The Scottish Government’s future legislative programme will be set out as part of the upcoming Programme for Government in due course.

The Scottish Government introduced asset transfer legislation as part of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. This landmark policy is the first of its kind in the UK and since its enactment on 23 January 2017 there has been more than 225 successful asset transfers agreed using these powers.

We are committed to ensuring that all our communities can access community assets, and are working with our partners to make sure our most vulnerable communities can access the assets they require to deliver important services and develop their own economies, wellbeing, and environments.

Our work with the Community Ownership Support Service (COSS) and the Barmulloch Community Development Company in Glasgow established a central hub which has supported 11 marginalised groups engage with the asset transfer process including the Bangla Centre, Spingburn, who were able to progress their asset transfer ambitions by accessing this targeted support.

As part of the current review of the Community Empowerment Act we have asked our partners and their networks to help us better understand the experiences of those involved in taking on community assets, including seeking the views of underrepresented groups.

We maintain a vision for a Scotland where all people – including black and minority ethnic communities, and migrants – have equal access to wealth, opportunities, and power.

The Education (Scotland) Bill, introduced by the Scottish Parliament on 4 June, sets out the provisions for Board membership of Qualifications Scotland to include one or more member who has relevant knowledge of the interests of employees within Qualifications Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring that there is an effective staff voice within the formal governance structures of Qualifications Scotland. As the Bill progresses in Parliament, there will be opportunities to consider the detail of this aspect, as part of the organisational design work. Further engagement will take place with SQA staff and the recognised unions on this matter.

The Investing in Planning consultation closed on 31 May 2024. We will publish the responses received, our analysis of them, and the steps we intend to take to improve the capacity of the planning system by September.

The Scottish Landfill Communities Fund is a tax credit scheme, linked to Scottish Landfill Tax. Contributions are provided directly by landfill operators to Approved Bodies, which are then responsible for awarding funding to projects throughout Scotland. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) regulates the fund on behalf of Revenue Scotland, which has overall responsibility for it.

The Scottish Landfill Communities Fund has played an important role in funding community and environmental projects across Scotland.

The Royal Mail and postal delivery services are reserved matters.

Postal delivery companies are commercial organisations, operating in an unregulated market. The Scottish Government has long called for an end to unfair delivery charges, but only the UK Government has the power to regulate them. Where there are opportunities to do so, the Scottish Government urges these companies to be fair and transparent in their pricing policies.

The Scottish Government supports the maintenance of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) and makes regular representations to the UK Government and Royal Mail on behalf of Scottish consumers.

I will meet with Royal Mail in September and will continue to seek assurances that any reform of the USO does not cause detriment, particularly to consumers in rural and island communities.

There are a number of complexities around UK benefits and student systems and these can impact negatively on each other. With the Scottish Government Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary, maintenance elements of the Bursary are considered as income for Universal Credit and other means-tested reserved benefits.

If a Universal Credit award is removed due to ‘excess income’ such as the bursary, students would also lose entitlement to Scottish Government benefits such as Scottish Child Payment. This includes the non-means tested bursary, the Spouse or Cohabiting Partner Allowance, the Child Dependent Allowance and the Lone Parents' Grant.

The Scottish Government have introduced a Special Support Loan for 2024-25 academic year and have obtained agreement from the Department for Work and Pensions that this element of student income will be disregarded when assessing Universal Credit entitlement.

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice wrote to Viscount Younger of Leckie , Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions, on 17 April 2024 asking for Student Maintenance Loans to also be disregarded as income for the purposes of calculating Universal Credit entitlement, particularly as they are a loan which must be repaid, but no reply has been received to date.

It should also be noted that due to the receipt of the non-repayable Paramedic, Nursing and Midwifery Bursary, students are not eligible for student loans. The Scottish Government has committed to carrying out a review of student finance for paramedic, nursing and midwifery students.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Student Midwives Finance Report, published by the Royal College of Midwives and thanks them for holding the roundtable event in the Scottish Parliament on 30 May 2024.

The event was attended by the Chief Midwifery Officer Justine Craig who heard powerful accounts from the students who clearly articulated their experiences.

A similar event was held by the Royal College of Nursing in September last year and following that the Scottish Government created a short-life working group comprising representatives from the Scottish Government, Student Awards Agency Scotland and higher education institutes to review the placement expenses guidance.

This group recently concluded its review and revised guidance will go live on the 1 of July. Their work will ensure students are refunded as promptly as possible and has provided students with greater flexibility on issues such as claiming advance payments. A national FAQs has also been developed to ensure greater consistency in the application of the guidance by HEIs across the country.

The Scottish Government has also committed to carrying out a review of student financial support more widely.