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In an extremely challenging financial climate, and following a worst case scenario UK Autumn Statement in which UK Ministers prioritised tax cuts over public spending, we have had to take difficult decisions in setting this budget. The amount Scotland has available to spend is still largely driven by the block grant, which is derived from the UK Government's spending decisions and continuing constraint on public expenditure. The block grant has fallen by 1.2% in real terms since 2022-23 and, because of the UK Government's failure to inflation-proof capital budgets, our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10% in real terms over 5 years.

Despite this, I am pleased that this Government has committed £4.7 billion in capital and resource in 2024-25 for activities that will have a positive impact on delivery of our climate change goals, and funding of almost £3.9 billion for transport across Scotland. The total budget for my portfolio increases by £47.7 million in 2024-25, which is a £27.9 million (0.6%) reduction in real terms using GDP deflators published in November 2023.

A significant proportion of the expenditure in my portfolio is legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system.

I have considered equalities and fairer Scotland duties and progress towards our statutory targets for climate change and child poverty in prioritising the budget available to me. I refer to the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment published alongside this budget.

Transport Scotland commissioned research on equitable options for car demand management, as referred to in S6W-15653 on 21 March 2023, S6W-16545 on 17 April 2023, and S6W-16547 on 17 April 2023.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government has not provided funding for the John Shivas Memorial Trust.

The following table shows the number of participants undertaking Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training over the last 5 years, including numbers to date in 2024, based on the latest available data, as well as the total number of MHFA trainers (active and inactive) since 2020 to date.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.

The most recent surveillance report from Public Health Scotland (PHS) indicates that the number of people tested for HCV antibody in Scotland in 2022 had almost recovered to the level seen before the pandemic in 2019, however we know that further work is required to reach undiagnosed individuals living with HCV.

Current work includes ensuring that opt-out testing is proactively and consistently offered in key settings such as drug services and prisons, and we are also working with three Health Boards to pilot opt-out testing for HCV and other blood borne viruses (BBVs) in emergency department settings.

The Scottish Government has also funded research to identify the optimal approach to testing for BBVs for people at highest risk in Scotland, in order to reduce undiagnosed infections, increase linkage to care for those not in treatment, improve health and prevent BBV transmission. The findings will inform future testing strategies.

The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving the elimination of hepatitis C (HCV) in Scotland by the end of the 2024-25 financial year. However, we know that achieving elimination and meeting our target will take a concerted effort at national and local level.

As outlined in the Scottish Government’s recently published Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus (SHBBV) Action Plan 2023-26 , we will be reinstating SHBBV-focused visits to NHS Boards. This is part of our ongoing work to support boards on a case-by-case basis to understand their unique circumstances and help overcome barriers they may face to achieving HCV elimination and other SHBBV goals. We will also continue to work with the Hepatitis C Elimination Implementation Group to consider where support is most required.

As outlined in response to question S6W-24707 on 6 February 2024 every home and business across Scotland should be able to access a superfast broadband connection – either through fixed line broadband, mobile broadband, fixed wireless access or using newer technologies such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.

The superfast broadband figure quoted in Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations Report published on 19 th December 2023 relates to the availability of fixed line broadband only, which currently stands at 95% across Scotland.

The same Ofcom 2023 report also states that “Starlink [an LEO satellite service] currently… delivers nationwide broadband coverage, including in harder-to-reach areas” and that “Ofcom home broadband performance measurements suggest measured speeds on its [Starlink] network average around 100 Mbit/s download and 14 Mbit/s upload.”

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Our children, young people, families and learners of all ages continue to be a key priority for this Government and we will continue to focus on our three central missions of equality, opportunity, and community. We also have to make difficult budget choices due to the pressures on our public services and the lack of funding from the UK Government resulting in the most challenging fiscal position since devolution.

We remain committed to supporting a high quality post-school education, research and skills system with over £2.4 billion investment. This will maintain Scotland’s reputation for world-leading research; provide opportunities for people to learn and develop their skills through further and higher education, apprenticeships and other programmes including Developing the Young Workforce. We are also honouring this government’s commitment to free tuition; and providing vital financial support to students to support them in completing their studies in the face of significant cost of living pressures.

The impact assessments which support the draft Budget 2024-25 can be found at this link: Scottish Budget - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Information about third sector grants is not currently collated centrally.

The Scottish Government provides support to voluntary sector organisations from a range of budget lines across Ministerial portfolio. This includes direct grants as well as funding distributed as part of partner-led funding programmes and through public bodies.