Seòmar agus comataidhean

Over half (55.8%) of the people in Scotland who have never worked aged 16 to 64 were in full-time education. Just because someone does not have a job does not mean they are not making a valuable contribution to our economy and society.

In October 2021-September 2022, the latest data, it was estimated that 257,500 people aged 16 to 64 years in Scotland had never worked, 7.5 per cent of the population. The lowest level and rate since October 2010-September 2011.

The proportion of the population aged 16 to 64 who had never worked had been increasing over time, reaching a peak of 8.8 per cent in October 2015-September 2016. Since then, the proportion has typically been decreasing.

The estimated number and proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in Scotland who have never worked is provided in Table 1. Estimates of the number of people who have never worked are available from 2004 onwards.

Table 1: Estimated number and proportion of the people aged 16-64 who have never worked, Oct 2004-Sep 2005 to Oct 2021-Sep 2022, Scotland

The Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) has advised that the following centres offer the National Progression Award (NPA) in Beekeeping at SCQF Level 5.

a): Schools

• Annan Academy (Dumfries & Galloway)

• Dalkeith HS (Midlothian)

• Garnock Community Campus (North Ayrshire)

• Keith GS (Highland)

• Kelso HS (Borders)

• Mearns Academy (Aberdeenshire)

• Oban HS (Argyll & Bute)

• Peterhead Academy (Aberdeenshire)

• St John Ogilvie HS (South Lanarkshire)

• St Ninian’s HS (East Renfrewshire)

• Stirling HS (Stirling)

• Tain Royal Academy (Highland)

• The Berwickshire HS (Borders)

• Trinity HS (Rutherglen) (South Lanarkshire)

(b): Colleges

• Borders College

• Inverness College UHI

(c): Training providers

• Nil

Official statistics covering applications and processing times for Adult Disability Payment are published as a part of the regularly scheduled quarterly publication.

The latest Adult Disability Payment statistical publication was published on Tuesday 14 March 2023. Information on the number of applications made by month is included in table 1 and information on the average processing time by month is included in table 9.

This publication is available from:

https://www.gov.scot/collections/social-security-scotland-stats-publications/#benefitsforcarersanddisabilityassistance .

Processing times for Adult Disability Payment applications have increased since the national launch of the benefit and were at an average of 79 working days in January 2023. However, as a result of some improvements to processes, and the increasing experience and confidence of staff, Social Security Scotland is now making a higher volume of decisions on Adult Disability Payment each week, and we expect this to noticeably improve processing times.

In February 2021, we published a refresh of the Diabetes Improvement Plan (DIP). This sets out our priorities and commitments to improve prevention, treatment and care for everyone in Scotland affected by diabetes. The Scottish Diabetes Group (SDG) oversees implementation and governance of the DIP.

There are several sub-groups of the SDG, with responsibility for specific commitments within the Plan. The Type 1 Sub-Group is focused on improving access to diabetes technologies, including closed loop systems. Using real-time data from SCI-diabetes, the SDG and Scottish Government work with key stakeholders to regularly monitor the number of people accessing each specific technology.

This data also allows Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs) to self-assess where there are gaps and how they compare to other board areas. The SDG and Scottish Government work closely with MCNs to ensure sharing of good practice.

We recognise that there are still significant challenges for NHS Boards to provide technology to everyone who would benefit from it; and we are now working in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery in order to try to address these. The Accelerated National Innovation Adoption (ANIA) pathway team are currently assessing the suitability of a project which would support the roll out of diabetes technology, and in particular closed loop systems, as an innovation challenge. As part of this, there has been significant engagement with the diabetes community and people have shared their views on the benefits of closed-loop systems. As this project develops, we will adapt the process of measuring and evaluating to track where there are gaps across Scotland.

The Scottish Diabetes Group will continue to work with partners to assess the impact and outcomes of the roll-out for people living with diabetes.

The Programme for Government published in September notes that the Scottish Government will consider what further actions need to be taken to embed women’s rights to safe access to healthcare. In the first instance, the Scottish Government plans to focus on immediate priorities to improve access to abortion services, including providing full support to Gillian Mackay MSP’s members bill to protect women and staff accessing healthcare facilities providing abortion care from feeling harassed or intimated.

Further to this, the Scottish Government is continuing to improve access to early medical abortions at home, and working with Health Boards and NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) to allow women to access services between 20 to 24 weeks’ gestation within Scotland.

The Homes2Fit accessible housing register was set up and is run by Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living (GCIL). The Scottish Government does not hold the requested information.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15120 on‎ 20 March 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 final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) and Full Business Case (FBC) Stage 1 Addendum, published on 16 March 2020, represent the Scottish Government’s final assessment of the costs and benefits associated with DRS, at that time, prior to implementation.

The Scottish Government is providing £11.6 million in grant funding to Energy Saving Trust (EST), an independent organisation working to administer the Scottish LEZ Support fund.

The LEZ Support Fund for households is a part of this LEZ Support Fund, and does not have separate admin costs. The following table therefore represents the whole LEZ Support Fund, this similarly applies to PQ S6W-14965 and PQ S6W-14963.

The administrative costs (which include EST staffing costs) are set out below alongside the value of funds that EST are distributing and the outputs achieved.

Further to my letter to you dated 11 January 2023, an incident or pattern of wildlife mortality can be determined to be a “major conservation concern” where it might have an impact on the conservation status of the species concerned. This could be because of the scale of the impact, or because of the vulnerability of the species in question.

The conservation status relating to species can be found in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species determines the listings on the UK Birds of Conservation Concern, and Species of European Conservation Concern.