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The Green Jobs Fund was created to support new and increased opportunities for green job creation across Scotland, by providing up to £100 million capital investment over a five year term.

Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise are working to deliver £50 million to businesses which provide sustainable or low carbon products and services to help them develop, grow and create jobs. Up to a further £50 million is aimed at supporting businesses and their supply chains create and safeguard jobs by investing in equipment, premises, research and development.

The aim is to fully utilise all available funding, where possible, and this twin aim of supporting existing businesses to transition to a low carbon environment and looking to fund new and innovative projects, which will take time to develop and deliver, could result in more funding being required over the latter part of the five year term, as these newer markets grow and mature.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring our children and young people have access to healthy and nutritious food when at school. The Scottish Government ensure that all food and drink served in education authority and grant aided schools, including free and paid for school meals, meet these high standards through the Nutritional Requirements for food and drink in schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020. The Regulations are based on scientific evidence and dietary advice and designed to ensure children and young people can access an appropriate amount of energy and key nutrients as part of their school day to support their healthy growth and development.

The Regulations require 2 full portions of vegetables and 1 full portion of fruit to be served as part of a primary school lunch and a secondary school analysed lunch, building on the previous standards which required a variety of fruit and vegetables to be on offer but did not specify a required portion size. In addition, portions of fruit and vegetables must be made available in any place within school premises where food is provided at other times of the school day for example morning break provision or tuckshops. Compliance with the Regulations is monitored by Education Scotland Health and Nutrition Inspectors as part of their annual inspection programme.

As set out in our Programme for Government, we will continue to work with local authorities to ensure that school meals meet the highest standards of nutrition, recognising that this is vital to our children’s effective learning.

The Scottish Government is currently working with Local Authorities on the roll out of the next phase of Free School Meal expansion therefore ensuring more of our children and young people are provided the opportunity to benefit from healthy and nutritious meals.

Food and nutrition is an integral part of our national educational curriculum set out in the health and wellbeing experiences and outcomes detailed in Curriculum for Excellence. This will help to ensure that children and young people are provided with the knowledge, skills and experience they need to make positive dietary choices, including why it is important to consume plenty of fruit and vegetables as part of a balanced and nutritious school lunch.

The latest data available on admissions and length of stay for people in Mental Health Hospitals is collected as part of the Mental Health & Learning Disability Inpatient Census and Out of Scotland NHS Placements Census, 2022 .

At the census point 11 April 2022, 152 adults with a diagnosis of autism were inpatient within an NHS Scotland hospital. In addition, there were 9 patients under 18. There were a further 11 adults with a diagnosis of autism inpatient outwith an NHS Scotland hospital. These individuals also may or may not have a co-occurring diagnosis for a learning disability.

Data on the numbers of people with a diagnosis of autism who have been admitted to hospital for treatment following offending is not collected.

There were 24 patients with a diagnosis of autism who have been in an NHS Scotland hospital more than a decade, with an average length of stay of 16 years and 10 months. There are fewer than 5 further patient(s) with an autism diagnosis who have been treated outwith NHS Scotland more than a decade. These individuals also may or may not have a co-occurring diagnosis for a learning disability.

The latest publication of the Mental Welfare Commissions Mental Health Act Monitoring Report covers the period 2021-22 and provides some information on compulsory treatment under criminal proceedings and you may wish to ask if they have further information on disaggregated data.

The latest data available on admissions and length of stay for people in Mental Health Hospitals is collected as part of the Mental Health & Learning Disability Inpatient Census and Out of Scotland NHS Placements Census, 2022.

At the census point 11th April 2022, 166 adults with a diagnosis of a learning disability were inpatient within an NHS Scotland hospital. In addition, there were fewer than 5 patient(s) under 18. There were a further 33 adults with a diagnosis of a learning disability inpatient outwith an NHS Scotland hospital. These individuals also may or may not have a co-occurring autism diagnosis.

Data on the numbers of people with a diagnosis of a learning disability who have been admitted to hospital for treatment following offending is not collected.

There were 44 patients with a diagnosis of a learning disability who have been in an NHS Scotland hospital more than a decade, with an average length of stay of 19 years and 2 months. There are a further 8 patients with a learning disability who have been treated outwith NHS Scotland for more than a decade with an average length of stay of 19 years and 5 months. These individuals also may or may not have a co-occurring autism diagnosis.

The latest publication of the Mental Welfare Commissions Mental Health Act Monitoring Report covers the period 2021-22 and provides some information on compulsory treatment under criminal proceedings and you may wish to ask if they have further information.

Information on the tonnage of waste Scotland has the capacity to recycle is not held centrally.

Information on the tonnage of waste that has been recycled in Scotland in the last five years is available from SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) via its household waste data reporting: www.sepa.org.uk/environment/waste/waste-data/waste-data-reporting/waste-data-for-scotland/

The following table shows tonnage of waste recycled in Scotland from 2015. Data for 2022 is still being processed and will be published in 2024. Due to the cyber attack experienced by SEPA in 2020, data for 2019 and 2020 is unavailable:

I have lead responsibility for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.

As at October 2023, the Scottish Government’s Health and Social Care Directorates (HSCD) have 145 specialist advisors from various NHS Scotland territorial and national boards, procured under a Service Level Agreement, working with Scottish Government officials.

As at October 2023, the Scottish Government’s Health and Social Care Directorates (HSCD) have 8 specialist advisors procured under a Service Level Agreement from NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Service Level Agreements (SLA) with other public bodies are a commonly used and effective way to procure specialist advisory services for a defined period. Underpinned in Scottish Procurement law by the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 Regulation 13, the SLA approach is used to deliver a specific service through an individuals’ existing specialist skills and experience and so are commonly used across Health and Social Care Directorates (HSCD) to bring in the specialist, clinical knowledge and experience to enhance our vital services.

An SLA is not, therefore, an employment arrangement as the individuals’ employment contract arrangements remain with their employer. In the case of those individuals brought into HSCD, the service level agreement is between the Scottish Government and the relevant NHS Scotland Board.

The following working groups sit under the remit of the Education and Skills portfolio:

National Response to Improving Mathematics in Scotland Short Life Working Group

National Response to Improving Literacy in Scotland Short Life Working Group

NIF Statutory Guidance Working group

National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy External Strategic Working Group

Scottish Government Cross-policy Working Group on Transitions

Improvement and Regulation Working Group

Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group

Short Life Working Group on Data Sharing in Relation to Student Sexual Misconduct

Access Data Short-Life Working Group

Short Life Working Group on the Scope of the Accreditation and Regulation Function for the New Qualifications Body

Short Life Working Group on Economic and Social Opportunities for Gaelic