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The Rural Delivery Plan Ministerial Working Group is supported by officials from the Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands portfolio, and a small amount of funding will be dedicated to supporting the Rural Delivery Plan.

The Rural Delivery Plan is an opportunity to set out the actions that government is and will be taking which impact rural, island and rural coastal communities, with funding from across ministerial portfolios benefiting rural Scotland.

Preparatory work and engagement is underway to develop the Rural Delivery Plan. A data dashboard was published in December 2023, measurable objectives are being considered and investment mapped. The Rural Scotland Data Dashboard can be found at https://infogram.com/1pzg5qxldkwy2zf29ve97mvgdmb1dggnyrm?live .

Minutes from the Rural Delivery Plan Ministerial Working Group are publicly available and provide details of key developments of the Rural Delivery Plan. Minutes can be found online at www.gov.scot/groups/rural-delivery-plan-ministerial-working-group/ .

The Rural Delivery Plan Ministerial Working Group was established in June 2023 to oversee the development of the Rural Delivery Plan, with meetings held approximately quarterly. A date for the next meeting will be confirmed soon.

The Scottish Government provided funding for adult neurodevelopmental pathway trials in 2022. Following the adult neurodevelopmental pilots, a final report was published in March 2023 outlining what is required to provide a multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental approach across Scotland. The Scottish Government has accepted the recommendations and we are working with the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) on implementation. This included launching a new Neuro-affirming Community of Practice in October last year.

The Scottish Government funds the NAIT to support local areas to improve their neurodevelopmental support and diagnosis for adults. Additionally, the Scottish Government has commissioned work through NHS Education for Scotland and the NAIT to provide a range of professional learning about ADHD and neurodevelopmental conditions.

The Western Isles fall within the £421.6 million Scottish Government investment in the R100 North contract which is expected to connect over 2,200 premises across the Western Isles to full fibre broadband. Work is currently scheduled to begin in the latter half of 2025.

As at 15 April 2024, 30 connections had been delivered through our demand-led R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher scheme, with a further 24 vouchers requested.

Between 2014 and 2020 the publicly-funded Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) Programme brought a minimum of a superfast broadband service to over 12,600 premises across the Western Isles with new subsea cables laid across the west coast of Scotland delivering fibre connections to the Western Isles for the first time.

Information on the number of schools currently offering Code Clubs as an extra-curricular activity is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government recognises the benefits of extra-curricular activities which are rightly determined and delivered locally to best meet the needs of learners.

Between 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 a total of £170,000 was provided by Scottish Government to Digital Xtra, which provides grants to organisations delivering extra-curricula computing and digital technology activities for young people.

The Scottish Government recognises the significance of learning coding skills as part of the wider technologies curriculum, with a range of specific Experiences and Outcomes under the heading “Understanding and analysing computing technology”.

The Government has supported the teacher led body, Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science (STACS), since 2020. STACS is an organisation supporting computing science in schools, run by teachers in partnership with Glasgow University, and is a one stop shop for computing science teachers to access high quality teaching resources and professional learning. One of the key aims of STACs is to promote computing science as a desirable career option to young people and their parents/carers. Over 83% of Computing Science teachers are involved in the STACS initiative across all local authorities.

Education Scotland (ES) also offers a range of support to schools in encouraging pupils to code. For example, they offer one hour “Curriculum live” lessons which teachers can download and deliver using a smartboard, including lessons on coding. They have also supported the expansion of the First Lego League in schools which inspires young people to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding, and design skills by providing programmable robotic equipment, and ES run Computing Science Scotland Week which last year reached 365 schools, 384 educators and 9,658 learners.

This is an operational matter for the NHS Boards and the Scottish Government does not directly monitor these operational arrangements. However we will be evaluating the role the scheme plays in supporting GP retention.

Ferry fares policy, including Road Equivalent Tariff (RET), is currently being reviewed through the Fair Fares Review and Islands Connectivity Plan.

The draft Islands Connectivity Plan Strategic Approach, published for consultation on 1 February 2024, made a number of proposals around ferry fares policy, including RET.

The online consultation concluded on 6 May 2024 and responses will now be collated and analysed. Further detail on next steps and timescales will be confirmed in due course.

Any introduction of RET fares on the Gourock to Dunoon services would require careful consideration and an appropriate mechanism to reflect the commercial operator and ensure this meets with Subsidy Control requirements. Further work would be required to develop these proposals.

NHS Boards are not required to inform the Scottish Government of the number of Golden Hello payments that are made to GPs in each financial year. This is an operational matter for the NHS Boards and the Scottish Government does not directly monitor these operational arrangements. However we will evaluating the role the scheme plays in supporting GP retention.