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The Scottish Government does not hold specific data on the number of nurseries which have cancelled their registrations with the Care Inspectorate since 2016. However, the Care Inspectorate publishes data each year on its website. This data shows that, between 1 January 2017 and 30 April 2024, 1,000 day care of children settings cancelled their registration. This figure will include nurseries as well as other types of day care of children settings.

It is important to note that a cancelled registration does not always mean that the service is no longer operating but can reflect other factors such as a change in ownership.

Source: Care Inspectorate Cancelled Services, Changes to registration, variations and cancelled services (careinspectorate.com)

Through Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Government provides a range of different types of support to Alexander Dennis Ltd, including for the development of zero emission buses.

The Scottish Government and the Historic Environment sector cannot achieve the aims of the Skills Investment Plan alone. Public, private, and third sectors, private owners, and communities across the country all have a role to play in delivering the Skills Investment Plan actions, and all will benefit from a highly skilled historic environment sector.

The Scottish Government supports the historic environment through its sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland the lead public body set up to investigate, care for and promote Scotland’s historic environment.

In 2024-25 Historic Environment Scotland’s operational budget is rising by 13.3% to £129.7 million, enabling the organisation to invest in fair staff pay, in running and maintaining its properties, in delivering grants to the heritage sector, continue research on Climate Change and in fulfilling its advisory and regulatory functions.

Skills Development Scotland commenced contracting for new apprenticeship opportunities at the start of April 2024 and Scottish Government investment will support up to 25,500 new Modern Apprenticeship starts across Scotland, and continue to provide support for around 38,000 apprentices already in training for 2024-25. This will include MAs in traditional skills and craft roles.

Skills Development Scotland publishes annual Regional Skills Assessments to provide a coherent evidence base to inform future investment in skills, built up from existing datasets and forecasts. Skills Development Scotland has worked with key partners and stakeholders in the production of these assessments to ensure an inclusive approach to their development, dissemination and utilisation and that they cover all Regional Outcome Agreement areas, City and Growth Deal Regions and Rural Scotland.

Additionally, Scotland’s strategy for the historic environment ‘Our Past Our Future’ will work with regional economic partnerships to embed the historic environment in job creation across the country.

Supply of LPG fuel in the UK is a matter reserved for UK Government. It is the responsibility of individual LPG retailers to ensure that the availability of LPG is actively monitored, and managed to prevent shortages, which can occur during periods of peak demand. The investment costs and installation of LPG fuelling sites is commercially led, and applications for new sites fall within the remit of local authority planning.

The public consultation on the detail of proposed regulations to restrict promotions of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt closed on 21 May 2024. Consultation responses are now being analysed and the feedback will be used as part of the policy decision-making process, alongside a range of other available information and evidence.

A suite of impact assessments is also being developed to consider and understand as far as possible how different population groups may be impacted by the policy. This includes an Equality Impact Assessment and Fairer Scotland Duty assessment, which will consider, amongst other things, potential impacts in respect of cost of living pressures.

The Digital Start Fund was established in 2019 and ran for three years. Scottish Government provided SDS with £3,083,383 for the Digital Start Fund programme.

The 2018 GP contract does not mean that emergency vaccinations for tetanus and other conditions can no longer be provided in GP surgeries.

In 2017, as part of the commitment to reduce GP workload and refocus their role onto more complex care, the Scottish Government and the BMA’s Scottish GP Committee agreed vaccinations would progressively move away from a model based on GP delivery to one based on NHS Board delivery through dedicated teams. NHS Boards can make arrangements for those teams to deliver vaccines on the premises of GP surgeries (many of which are in buildings owned by NHS Boards) if this meets local needs.

In rare circumstances it may be appropriate for GP practices, such as small rural and island practices, to continue delivering these services routinely.

Between 1 August 2023 and 4 June 2024 Cabinet has met 37 times. A Law Officer attended 24 of these meetings: the Lord Advocate on 17 occasions and the Solicitor General on behalf of the Lord Advocate on seven occasions. Law Officers attend Cabinet as principal legal advisers to the Scottish Government and to represent their Ministerial interests.

Patient data is typically held on the IT infrastructure of the Health Board delivering, or having previously delivered, the individuals care. This can include data initially generated by other Health Boards or health and care organisations that is transferred to the NHS Dumfries & Galloway (e.g. referral letters) in order for them to deliver the best quality care.

Only data held on the NHS Dumfries and Galloway IT infrastructure was stolen during this cyber-attack.

Since 2021, we have seen year on year increases confirming record breaking funding in Active Travel. However, the significant pressures on public finances, including the failure of the outgoing UK government to provide more capital funding for Scotland in its Spring budget, means that there are real challenges in progressing our ambitions to invest in infrastructure, particularly for my portfolio. Consequently, difficult decisions about how and where to invest our capital for transport projects had to be made and continue to be kept under review.

Nonetheless, the Active Travel budget for 2024-25 was confirmed as £220m, a 16% increase on 2023-24. While the Bute House Agreement came to an end in April 2024, the Scottish Government remains committed to delivering on our ambition to increase investment in and participation in walking, wheeling and cycling.