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Advertising for Winter Heating Payment was initially planned for January 2023 to allow for the associated regulations to have completed the parliamentary process. Due to the low temperatures experienced across Scotland during the early part of December 2022, some of the planned advertising for Winter Heating Payment was brought forward to raise awareness of the changes and to allow people to plan accordingly.

This included:

• National radio campaign - total cost including VAT £10,456.98.
• National print advertising campaign - total cost including VAT £8,743.30.

Information was also shared through a media release and through Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland social media channels including Twitter and Facebook and with stakeholders.

The priority for this recently paid for advertising push, was reaching digitally excluded prospective clients that we are not able to reach through messages shared through Social Security Scotland, Scottish Government and stakeholder social media channels.

Further advertising is planned for this year and Social Security Scotland will select channels based on insight, taking advice from its media buying agency.

The draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) makes clear that we encourage developers to offer community benefit and shared ownership opportunities as standard on all renewable energy projects.

As set out within the ESJTP, the Scottish Government is reviewing its Good Practice Principles for community benefits from offshore renewable energy developments.

As part of the development process, we are currently holding a series of stakeholder engagement sessions to raise awareness of the work and gather initial input, with a view to consulting on the draft guidance later this year.

The Scottish Government’s international offices use five shared strategic objectives to inform the activity and evaluation of their work. These are:

• Scotland's international reputation is improved;
• Scottish businesses are trading internationally more effectively;
• Scottish research and innovation capability is promoted and further partnerships and funding secured;
• Investment to Scotland has increased
• Scotland's interests in the EU and beyond are protected and enhanced.

When reporting against these outcomes, offices use a range of both qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure their performance, monitor their effectiveness; ensure they are achieving their strategic objectives and that they are providing value for money.

Modern Apprenticeship (MA) statistics are publicly available on the Skills Development Scotland (SDS) website at Modern Apprenticeships | Skills Development Scotland .

Registered starts by year are detailed in the table below . Figures for 2022-23 are available until the end of Quarter 2, with year-end statistics expected to be published in May 2023.

While broadcasting is reserved, the Scottish Government wholeheartedly supports public service broadcasting and Channel 4’s important and distinctive role in that system. Channel 4 continues to deliver high quality outcomes for people in Scotland and we are committed to ensuring its ongoing sustainability.

I welcomed the recent announcement that the UK Government has reversed its unnecessary and ill-conceived proposals to privatise Channel 4. I will write to the Secretary of State to request further detail on the UK Government’s plans for Channel 4, and to press the importance of Channel 4’s place in the sector, delivering programmes in the public interest and driving creative innovation in Scotland. We will continue to closely monitor and argue for the strengthening and long-term sustainability of Channel 4’s operations in Scotland.

The Scottish Government supported the creation of a Channel 4 creative hub in Glasgow, bringing network commissioning responsibility to Scotland. We will continue to do everything we can, including through our engagement with the UK Government and Ofcom, to support an increasing presence of Channel 4 commissioners in Scotland, and to maintain and enhance Channel 4’s nations quotas to help improve local representation, develop our creative industries, and grow new Scottish talent.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with the university sector, through the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group and the Equally safe in Colleges and Universities Core Leadership Group on issues relating to student well-being and safety where these issues are considered.

Listed public bodies subject to climate change duties under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 are required to submit annual reports, including information on corporate carbon emissions and organisational emissions targets. The most recent analysis report was released in May 2022, based on data from reporting year 2020-21.

Emissions from heating, transport and electricity reduced by 5.8% in 2020-21 compared to the previous year, noting that at least part of this annual change will be attributable to the impact of pandemic response measures. Such emissions have decreased by 32.6% since mandatory reporting began for 2015-16.

Public bodies submitted reports for year 2021-22 in November 2022. Work to analyse these reports is underway and the annual summary analysis report is expected by the end of March 2022.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) provides funding each financial year rather than academic year for Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) on behalf of the Scottish Government. Official statistics published by SDS on 8 November 2022 report there were 12,593 MA starts up to the end of Quarter 2 2022-23 with year-end statistics expected to be published in May 2023. SDS were asked in their Letter of Guidance to deliver at least 25,000 new apprenticeship starts this financial year as part of our commitment to build back up to 30,000 starts.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy is built on partnership and collaboration, led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council, and involves a wide range of partners across different sectors.

The strategy provides a clear framework for all those working towards refugee integration in Scotland. It has also assisted in coordinating the work of the Scottish Government and its partner organisations to maximise impact and make the most of limited resources, placing Scotland in a strong position to respond to recent humanitarian crises.

The New Scots Core Group brings together key stakeholders and is responsible for monitoring and reviewing progress against the overarching outcomes of New Scots during the strategy implementation period. The Core Group is chaired by Professor Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow.

The year one report for the New Scots refugee integration strategy 2018-2022 was published on 2 April 2019. The report can be found here: New Scots refugee integration strategy 2018-2022: first year progress report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The COVID-19 pandemic and work to support people arriving from Afghanistan and Ukraine have impacted delivery of the strategy and meant that it has not been possible to produce the year two and three reports as originally planned. However, the New Scots Core Group continues to meet four times a year to monitor and review progress of the strategy, as well as identifying areas for collaboration.

The New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project includes a workstream on research and evaluation. This entails working with our partners and external evaluators to carry out project monitoring, research work and an evaluation of the strategy. An evaluation report of the current strategy is due to be published in Spring 2023.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy is built on partnership and collaboration, led by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council, and involves a wide range of partners across different sectors.

From 2017-22, the Scottish Government had one civil servant working on the New Scots refugee integration strategy, although the post was redeployed to support the Covid-19 response in 2020-2021. An additional civil servant has supported work on the strategy since May 2022. Other civil servants have worked in support of the New Scots strategy across a range of policy areas.

In addition to the permanent civil servants working on the strategy, from January 2021, up to three additional temporary staff have worked to manage the delivery of the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project.