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The options appraisal on the possible inclusion of justice social work services within a future National Care Service is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. The completion date may change should Parliament approve the Scottish Government’s request to extend Stage 1 of the National Care (Scotland) Bill beyond June of this year.

The regulation of consumer protection is reserved to the UK Government. As such, the Scottish Government does not hold the requested information.

However, the Scottish Government is determined to take action where it can to try and prevent consumers experiencing harm as a result of activity which breaches regulations, particularly throughout the cost of living crisis.

One of these actions is the funding of an Energy Efficiency Measures Coordinator Post in Trading Standards Scotland to support work in tackling energy marketing scams.

We recommend that householders should always call the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Scotland service for advice before deciding to make energy efficiency improvements to their home.

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and I have engaged frequently with the college sector and its key stakeholders since 1 April 2023. This has been done through in-person meetings, visits, online meetings and written communication.

Ministerial Engagements

24 April – Visit to Sabhal Mór Ostaig

2 May – Letter to Ronnie Smith, Chair of New College Lanarkshire

3 May – Meeting with Shona Struthers, Chief Executive of Colleges Scotland

3 May – Visit to Borders College

4 May – Letter from Cabinet Secretary to Shona Struthers, Chief Executive of Colleges Scotland

9 May – Meeting with a number of senior leaders from the college sector including college chairs and principals

9 May – Meeting with Shona Struthers, Chief Executive of Colleges Scotland; Angus Campbell, Chair of College Sector Finances; and Audrey Cumberford, Vice-Chair of Colleges Scotland Board and Chair of the College Principals’ Group

9 May – Meeting with Audrey Cumberford, Principal of Edinburgh College

10 May – Meeting with representatives from EIS FELA

17 May – Visit to West Lothian College

Additionally, a number of Scottish Government officials have engaged with stakeholders within the college sector through college visits and stakeholder meetings both in person and online.

The Scottish Government has been working with the college sector and other stakeholders to develop a Purpose and Principles for post-school education, research and skills. On publication this will provide a framework for the system, including Scotland’s vital college sector.

Given the small numbers of highly specialised trainees in paediatric palliative medicine, training is currently delivered at the UK centre of excellence at Great Ormond Street.

With regards to studying for a community children’s nursing (CCN) qualification in Scotland, the Scottish Government has commissioned education specific to the needs of nurses delivering care in the community in the form of the Integrated Community Nursing Graduate Diploma.

This education provides opportunities to select an optional module, one of which is focused on integrated care of children and young people. In tandem with this, the Scottish Government and NHS Education for Scotland, alongside other colleagues and stakeholders, contributed to the revision of the NMC post-registration education standards, available online here Standards of proficiency for community nursing specialist practice qualifications - The Nursing and Midwifery Council (nmc.org.uk) .

These standards continue to include provision for the development of community children’s nurses education programmes and higher education institutions in Scotland, and across the UK. We are now considering how best to develop programmes in alignment with the revised standards.

The target intake for funded places on nursing and midwifery undergraduate programmes has increased for 10 consecutive years. Recognising that undergraduate programmes are not the single solution to developing and increasing the workforce, the Scottish Government has agreed with Higher Education Institutions, NHS Boards and other key partners, to maintain the target intake of 4,837 (4536 nursing and 301 midwifery) for 3 years. Funded places will continue to be monitored annually whilst we work collaboratively with those partners to maximise the places that are filled and explore alternative pipelines into these critical professions such as earn as you learn routes and apprenticeships.

I have agreed with the Scottish Law Commission its Eleventh Programme of Law Reform, which covers the work to be undertaken by the Commission for the five year period from 2023 until the end of 2027. The Programme was presented to Parliament today and is also being published today. The Programme is also available online from the Scottish Law Commission website.

The projects which will be undertaken under the Eleventh Programme have been selected following consultation by the Commission. The Programme includes existing projects which began under the Tenth Programme, including work on homicide, damages for personal injury, heritable securities, aspects of family law, and aspects of leases. The Commission is undertaking work on tenement law: compulsory owners’ associations which was a reference from the Scottish Ministers. A joint project with the Law Commission for England and Wales on surrogacy also continues. In addition, the Commission expects to undertake new projects on execution of documents, limitation, executry law, and consolidation work on nature conservation legislation.

I welcome this Programme, which represents a varied and relevant set of proposals, and look forward to receiving reports from the Commission in due course. We continue to work with the Commission over ways of taking forward the proposals in these reports, and note the introduction of a number of bills taking forward proposals from the Commission.

The Scottish Law Commission has a general remit to keep the law of Scotland under review for the purpose of promoting reform and development of the law. In addition to the Programme of Law Reform agreed with Ministers, the Commission also receives from Ministers references on specific issues and provides other advice on specific areas of the law.

We are pleased to announce today the launch of our New Dementia Strategy for Scotland , in partnership with COSLA.

It sets a 10-year vision for dementia policy, directly informed by the voices of lived experience and wider partners.

The strategy identifies a number of areas where we will focus our attention to improve the lives of people living with dementia, their families and care partners, with a focus on the role of our communities.

It also follows an 8-month engagement process, including a National Conversation with individuals and organisations from across Scotland, and an independent evidence review focussed on health inequalities, and what is making a difference in practice here and internationally.

Building on our strong record of working closely with the voices of lived experience, our National Dementia Lived Experience Panel played a direct governance role in the Strategy’s development. This has ensured their voices are central to the formation of this vision, and that this Strategy’s aspirations reflect their own.

We are clear that the strategy is only the first part, and that we change experiences through delivery. Our first 2-year delivery plan will be agreed with people with lived experience and wider partners by December 2023.

The Scottish Government has today published its Violence Prevention Framework for Scotland which can be accessed on the Scottish Government website at http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781805255802 .The Violence Prevention Framework is one of the actions to help deliver the aims of the Vision for Justice in Scotland, published in 2022.

Supported by evidence on the context and drivers of violence, and interventions to prevent and reduce violence, the Framework includes priority aims and actions we will collectively take forward with partner organisations. The Framework aims to reduce the number of victims of violence and to target support and interventions for those most at risk of violence to stop the repeated cycle of harm to individuals, families and communities.

The Scottish Government first set a national target for the college sector to deliver full-time equivalent (FTE) student places in Academic Year 2012-13, with Academic Year 2020-21 being the last year in which this target was in place. The target in each of these years was 116,269 FTE places.