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Audiology is considered a clinical priority area and the Scottish Government remains committed to its vision for an integrated and community-based hearing service in Scotland.

The Scottish Government does not capture patients on waiting lists for hearing aid replacements specifically and it is the responsibility of Health Boards to manage these lists appropriately.

Scottish Government officials and the Centre for Sustainable Delivery national planned care team meet monthly with Chief Operating Officer and Health Boards to review performance and delivery across all Planned Care specialities, including ENT. In addition, Local Health Board Action Plans in relation to the Independent Review, which has been published online, are reported and monitored by the NHSS Planning and Delivery Board.

Remuneration of executive members, including bonus incentives, is published in Scottish Water’s annual report and accounts which are routinely laid before Parliament and available online at Annual Reports - Scottish Water.

The Scottish Government spend with Total Politics Group in each of the last 5 financial years is detailed in the following tables. For FY2024-25 the spend has been broken down by Directorate.

Skills Development Scotland publish the number of Modern Apprenticeships starts aged 16-24 in their statistics release available here – https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/publications-statistics/statistics/modern-apprenticeships.

SDS also publish Foundation and Graduate Apprenticeships. These will also contain some 16-24 year olds in their starts figures. The latest releases are available here – https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/publications-statistics/statistics/foundation-apprenticeships– and here – https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/publications-statistics/statistics/graduate-apprenticeships.

The Scottish Government recognise that antisocial behaviour is complex and no single factor can explain why some people or groups are at higher risk of committing acts of antisocial behaviour. Our Vision for Justice in Scotland commits to tackling underlying causes through a public health approach, supported by the ecological framework. This considers how individual, relationship, community, and societal factors interact to influence behaviour. Evidence also shows that reducing crime, including antisocial behaviour, requires a combination of strategies: addressing root causes, deterring offending by increasing perceived risks of offending, and reducing opportunities to offend.

The total number of free bikes distributed to school aged children in Scotland since May 2021 is 13,244. This includes bikes distributed under the Free Bikes for School Children pilot programme between August 2021 and March 2023, the Free Bikes Partnership from April 2023 to March 2024, and under the Regional Transport Partnership-led People and Place programme in financial year 2024-25.

Due to reporting schedules, the final evaluation of the People and Place programme for financial year 2024-25 has not been completed at the time of writing. The free bikes data for 2024-25 may therefore be subject to change.

Given the nature of operating a refinery, significant regular operational expenditure would be required, alongside frequent capital expenditure, to enable the asset to continue operating - and we continue to urge the UK Government to leave no stone unturned when it comes to securing the future and the workforce of the site.

The public and business community should be confident that the Scottish Government is committed to attracting and securing investment in Grangemouth’s future, underpinned by our £25 million Grangemouth Just Transition Fund which will be utilised to support near term low carbon opportunities identified by the Grangemouth Investment Taskforce and Project Willow.

The Constitutional Futures Division (CFD) was established to take forward the government’s commitment to providing the people of Scotland with information about independence through the development of the Building a New Scotland (BANS) series of papers. Within the Scottish Government a division is part of a directorate, and CFD was part of the Constitution Directorate. Following the successful delivery of a suite of papers in the BANS series, and with the series due to conclude with the publication of a final overview paper, CFD ceased to be a standalone division in January 2025 and its ongoing work was merged into that of the wider Constitution Directorate.

Refugee Festival Scotland is coordinated by Scottish Refugee Council. The Festival did not run in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Direct Funding

The Scottish Government did not provide any direct funding for Refugee Festival Scotland between 2020-2025.

Indirect Funding

In August 2020, the New Scots partnership secured funding from the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) for the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project (NSRIDP) to enhance the delivery of the New Scots refugee integration strategy. The project was led by the Scottish Government in partnership with COSLA, Scottish Refugee Council and the UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow.

A total of £6 million of EU funding was secured, for a £6.6 million project running between October 2020 and December 2023, with the Scottish Government required to provide 10% match funding for the project. The project ended following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

During the project lifespan, the following funding was included for Scottish Refugee Council to deliver Refugee Festival Scotland:

• 2020-21: £5,207.80
• 2021-22: £65,085.80
• 2022-23: £63,035.46
• 2023-24: £114,866.51

Management decisions on the detail of Scottish Government staff resourcing and divisional structures, to ensure the right capacity and capability to deliver Ministerial priorities, are primarily a matter for the Civil Service.