Seòmar agus comataidhean

This budget has required difficult choices due to the pressures on our public services and the lack of funding from the UK Government. We are facing the most challenging fiscal position since devolution. Mindful of our missions and priorities for Scotland, we have had to prioritise legal and contractual obligations in determining how to deploy this budget across Education and Skills priorities. 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 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 and apprenticeships – honouring this government’s commitment to free tuition; and provide 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) . In particular I’d draw your attention to the:

Education and Skills portfolio analysis section in Annex B and the Employability Case Study in Annex C of the Equality and Fairer Scotland statement.

I’d also highlight the following, also available at the link above:

Scottish Budget 2024 to 2024: high level carbon assessment

Scottish Budget 2024 to 2024: distributional analysis

Scottish Budget 2024 to 2024: Climate Change Assessment of the Budget

The Scottish Government has faced its most challenging budgetary settlement since devolution began – a settlement which has not been inflation-proofed, and which has subsequently required difficult decisions to be made, due to the pressures on our public services. Mindful of our missions and priorities for Scotland, we have had to prioritise legal and contractual obligations in determining how to deploy this budget across Education and Skills priorities. 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 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 and apprenticeships – honouring this government’s commitment to free tuition; and provide 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) . In particular I’d draw your attention to the: Education and Skills portfolio analysis section in Annex B and the Employability Case Study in Annex C of the Equality and Fairer Scotland statement.

I’d also highlight the following, also available at the link above:

Scottish Budget 2024 to 2024: high level carbon assessment

Scottish Budget 2024 to 2024: distributional analysis

Scottish Budget 2024 to 2024: Climate Change Assessment of the Budget

The following list of companies part in Scotland’s business delegation to COP28 in December 2023:

The Scottish Government has not provided any funding to North Queensferry Heritage Trust since 2019.

The Scottish Government is working with the other UK governments to legislate to introduce extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging. Among other benefits, this will create a strong incentive for producers to reduce their use of packaging and drive more sustainable design choices.

The main legislation for packaging EPR will be a Westminster SI, with supporting legislation in Scotland where required. The draft text of this SI was made available for public consultation from 28 July 2023 to 9 October 2023 and is available online at the following link: Draft producer responsibility obligations (packaging and packaging waste) regulations - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk

The Scottish Government has not provided any funding directly to Counselling and Family Mediation Western Isles since 2019.

Relationships Scotland have received Scottish Government core funding since 2016 which will continue until March 2025 via the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning & Empowering Communities fund (CYPFEI & ALEC). Relationships Scotland operate a network of 21 Member Services across Scotland and Counselling and Family Mediation Western Isles is part of that network.

Progress towards eliminating hepatitis C (HCV) as a public health concern is monitored by Public Health Scotland (PHS) with the most recent surveillance report in December 2023 indicating that major progress continues to be made on a number of HCV elimination targets in Scotland. For example, 86% of those previously diagnosed have been treated for their infection (in excess of the World Health Organization target of 80%).

A key indicator of progress toward HCV elimination is prevalence of chronic HCV among people who inject drugs (PWID) which is monitored via the Needle Exchange Surveillance Initiative survey led by Glasgow Caledonian University in association with PHS. This found the prevalence of chronic HCV infection among PWID in Scotland had reduced by approximately 50%, from 37% in 2015-16 to 19% in 2019-2020. Results for the latest NESI survey conducted during 2022-23 are expected to be published in mid 2024-25.

Treatment targets are currently published at Scotland level only, however a new PHS-led blood borne virus and sexually transmitted infection dashboard is scheduled for launch in 2024-25 which will include data on HCV treatment (alongside other indicators) and will help to monitor progress on elimination at NHS board level.

In the past five years, no hospital buildings have been identified as having external wall cladding with high-risk polyethylene Aluminium Composite Material (ACM).

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are in the process of removing ACM from the internal atrium of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and replacing it with a non-combustible cladding material. This action was agreed after extensive and regular engagement with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, who were fully supportive of the mitigating actions implemented by the Board.

Progress towards eliminating hepatitis C (HCV) as a public health concern is monitored by Public Health Scotland using a range of public health surveillance data including HCV tests and diagnoses, and clinical, morbidity and mortality data.

The Network Support Grant, currently paid at 14.4 p/km, has been fully funded to the level of forecast demand in 2024-25. This is lower than budgeted in 2023-24 as demand has not been as high as anticipated this financial year. 2023-24 funding was too high, as patronage failed to recover as quickly as anticipated and services were cut, this means that the 2024-25 figure is a more accurate assessment. The Network Support Grant cannot be viewed in isolation and is part of the package of support for bus services. With the launch of the young person's free bus scheme in January 2022, we are helping to embed sustainable travel behaviours and support bus patronage to grow.