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Scottish Government grant making is allocated across portfolios to various parts of the third sector to improve a wide range of outcomes. Some Scottish Government funding will also be issued through independent grant makers or intermediary organisations. General guidance is available for grant makers across Scottish Government but each grant funding programme will have its own specific application criteria related to desired policy outcomes. This information is not centrally collated.

The Scottish Government continues to work with NHS National Education for Scotland (NES) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in developing a joint programme to encourage more students, and not just school leavers, to consider careers in pharmacy, including ensuring the output reaches deprived and remote and rural communities.

In addition, both Schools of Pharmacy work towards the widening access targets set by the Commission on Widening Access for universities to drive forward the delivery of equal access in Scotland.

There are also wider initiatives such as The Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP). The partnership develops access programmes for adults returning to education, and targets adults who reside in the most disadvantaged areas of Scotland and particularly those who have no, few or out of date qualifications. This can help support people with few suitable qualifications to progress to degree level Pharmacy studies.

To promote pharmacy technician recruitment, a number of senior pharmacy technicians attend school careers fairs etc to raise awareness of the role. All vacancies for the Pharmacy Technician Technical Apprenticeship are advertised on the Apprenticeships.scot website.

Scottish Government grant making is allocated across portfolios to various parts of the third sector to improve a wide range of outcomes. Some Scottish Government funding will also be issued through independent grant makers or intermediary organisations. Each grant funding programme will have its own specific application criteria related to desired policy outcomes.

Through our Fair Work First policy we are seeking to further promote and enable employers’ commitment to fair work by applying Fair Work principles to public sector grants, other funding and contracts where it’s relevant and proportionate to do so. We published updated Fair Work First guidance on 24th of March 2023 to support the adoption of this new conditionality. The Scottish Government model grant offer letter template has been amended to incorporate this new conditionality, as has relevant guidance, including grant policy guidance, and the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

The Scottish Government's contingent liabilities are considered and approved in line with the guidance contained within the Scottish Public Finance Manual and the Written Agreement between the Scottish Government and the Finance and Public Administration Committee.

There is no separate requirement for the prior permission of HM Treasury for novel or particularly large contingent liabilities for activities either within the Fiscal Framework or elsewhere.

Scottish Government grant making is allocated across portfolios to various parts of the third sector to improve a wide range of outcomes. Some Scottish Government funding will also be issued through independent grant makers or intermediary organisations. Any impact assessments will be carried out by the individual portfolios. This information is not centrally collated.

Initial teacher education programmes ensure student teachers are exposed to a range of pedagogies to teach literacy and reading instruction. This can include systematic synthetic phonics, as well as other approaches.

Scottish Government officials engage individually with local authorities and health and social care partnerships alongside accessing feedback on autism strategies via the Social Work Scotland Learning Disability and Autism Subgroup meetings and the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) programme of work.

Local strategies are based on The Scottish Government Learning/Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Towards Transformation Plan.

Decisions on applications for section 36 consent are made on a case-by-case basis, weighing consideration of the benefits and impacts of the proposal, relevant policy, and all other material considerations.

Last week, we published our 2023-24 Programme for Government, which outlined our commitment to take action on the impacts of single use vapes.

We will be consulting on measures to tackle the environmental impacts of single use vapes, including a proposal to ban their sale. Our approach will be subject to further engagement, policy development and consultation and developed in the spirit of the new deals recently agreed with local government and with business.

In addition, our 2022 consultation on Tightening Rules on Advertising and Promoting Vaping Products proposed restrictions on vaping products that strike a balance between protecting non-smokers from the potential harms of vaping, whilst providing existing adult smokers with the information they need to make an informed choice on cessation.

We published our consultation analysis in September 2022 and are considering next steps as a priority, which will form part of our refreshed Tobacco Action Plan when it is published in autumn 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20927 on 19 September 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 .