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The R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme – offering vouchers worth up to £5,000 for eligible properties - currently has 50 suppliers registered to deliver services.

The list of registered suppliers is regularly reviewed to ensure that it is only listing suppliers who are actively participating in the scheme and is kept up to date here: Find a supplier | Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband .

The Scottish Government places great importance on swimming pools. They are crucial to the wellbeing of all our country and most importantly, for our children and young people to be healthy and active.

The financial package announced by the UK Government to support swimming pools in England has resulted in consequentials being added to the overall Scottish block.

We will continue to work with sportscotland, Scottish Swimming and local government partners to consider what additional support can be provided to swimming pools and the wider sport and leisure sector in Scotland.

Details of how the exclusion will apply are currently being worked out in consultation with the sector, and once published the stadium and other hospitality businesses will be able to assess if they eligible for an automatic exclusion. If they are not then they may still be eligible for an exclusion on the grounds specified in the regulations.

Our recent consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion set out a range of potential options to restrict alcohol advertising and promotion. This included a question on whether low or no alcohol products should fall within the scope of any restrictions, where these products feature similar branding as stronger alcoholic drinks.

The consultation closed on 9 March. An independent contractor will comprehensively analyse the responses and a report will be published later this year. We will then further consider possible restrictions.

The Scottish Government supports Mens Sheds in a number of ways, and has made the Scottish Mens Sheds Association (SMSA) an offer of £75,000 funding for 2023/24 which has been accepted by their Board. This funding will help them build a sustainable business model and develop a future fundraising strategy for 2024/25 onwards, that can attract a wider range of funders independent of Scottish Government support.

The Scottish Government has provided £570,000 to the SMSA since 2016/17, and a further £150,000 to Age Scotland. This £720,000 investment has helped the movement grow in Scotland to over 200 sheds today. Funding has also been provided to individual Mens Sheds including £111,709 in 2021/22 from the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults.

Evidence on behavioural responses is an essential consideration for tax policy decisions.

The Scottish Government is acutely aware of the risks and benefits arising from behavioural responses to changes in devolved taxation policy, and actively works with stakeholders, such as HMRC, and subject matter experts, to monitor and continually improve the evidence base to help inform policy development. We will consider opportunities to update Parliament in the future, when appropriate.

In line with our Framework for Tax, and to further transparency and public debate, HMRC and the Scottish Government published studies on the Scottish Government’s 2018-19 Income Tax reforms which showed limited evidence of Scottish taxpayers lowering their taxable income in response to increasing tax rates.

Alongside regular monitoring of the tax base, the Scottish Government also works with tax administration authorities to proactively consider and address any possible emerging compliance issues.

The Bank’s three missions are - achieving a Just Transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2045; extending equality of opportunity through improving places by 2040; and harnessing innovation to enable our people to flourish by 2040. These missions, which reflect the ‘grand challenges’ facing Scotland over the coming decades, were set by Scottish Ministers in December 2020 to give the Bank long term strategic direction for its investment activity. Given the long term nature of these challenges and that the Bank is only just entering its third full year of operation, Ministers have no plans to review the three missions at this point.

The Bank’s recently published Impact Report provides an assessment of the Bank’s performance, including against its three missions, in 2022. This report was published on the Bank’s website on April 3 2023 ( Impact Report | Scottish National Investment Bank (thebank.scot) .

The Scottish Government have engaged with the Bank regularly throughout the recruitment process for a new CEO including over the last few weeks.

Ministers and officials meet regularly with wellbeing economy stakeholders, including the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, to discuss our shared commitment to Scotland’s transition to a wellbeing economy. On 4 April 2023, within one week of my appointment as Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy, I met with representatives from the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland as part of a roundtable discussion with wellbeing economy stakeholders.

The Scottish Government’s Ministerial Population Taskforce recognises the significance of long-term projected demographic change and since publishing the Population Strategy in 2021, it has focused - across government, and with local and regional partners – on ensuring Scotland’s population profile provides a platform for sustainable and inclusive economic growth and wellbeing.