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In 2021, the Scottish Government reached a joint agreement with local authorities to increase the national minimum school clothing grant to £120 for each eligible primary school pupil, and £150 for each eligible secondary school pupil. This was an increase from the national minimum grant of £100 per eligible pupil which was agreed with local authorities in 2018.

The Scottish Government provided funding to local authorities of £11.8m in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 financial years to support eligible families to benefit from the minimum school clothing grant. In 2023-24, the Scottish Government has increased funding to £13m to support local authorities to maintain the school clothing grant in line with increased inflation costs.

It is for local authorities to determine their own eligibility criteria for school clothing grant and authorities have the option to set their grant level higher than the minimum if they wish.

Decisions about funding to local authorities in respect of the school clothing grant in future financial years will be made as part of wider considerations on the Scottish Budget, taking into account economic and other circumstances, including continued delivery of the Covid Recovery Strategy and its aim to increase support for low-income households.

Information about national and local numbers of Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) is published annually. The relevant spreadsheet can be accessed directly online via this link: justice social work local authority tables up to 2021-22 for drug treatment and testing orders

Alternatively, this spreadsheet (“JSW local authority tables up to 2021 - 22 for drug treatment and testing orders”) can be found on the following page on the Scottish Government website: www.gov.scot/publications/criminal-justice-social-work-statistics-additional-tables-back-to-2004-2005/

Within the spreadsheet, the information for each relevant year can be accessed by selecting ‘Orders and Individuals: Number of Orders, Number per 10,000 Population and Number of Individuals’. Contextual information is contained in the footnotes of the table in relation to each year.

In September 2020, ClimateXChange published a study titled “Potential sources of waste heat for heat networks in Scotland”. The report examined a variety of potential waste heat sources, including data centres.

The study identified nine commercial data centres located in Scotland, but recognised the actual number is likely to be much higher. In addition, some commercial data centres are likely to be kept confidential for security reasons. It concluded that the total waste heat that can be recovered from data centres is therefore likely to have been underestimated in the study.

The study can be accessed at the following address:

https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/research/projects/potential-sources-of-waste-heat-for-heat-networks-in-scotland/?msclkid=42fdd948b3fe11ecbd09640b7d2a6cc2

The Scottish Government understand the challenging financial circumstances that leisure centres and swimming pools are facing and are fully aware that rising energy costs are a significant issue.

We have repeatedly called on the UK Government to use all the powers at its disposal to tackle this cost of living crisis and to provide appropriate energy bill relief to sport and leisure facilities.

We are considering what support can be provided to the sport and leisure sector in Scotland, following the announcement by the UK Government of the financial package to support swimming pools in England.

The Scottish Government supports the recovery of surplus heat from data centres and any other sites where heat can be recovered and supplied cost effectively. As we transition to a net-zero economy it will become increasingly important that we use resources efficiently. This includes maximising the use of recoverable or waste heat, which at present goes unused.

We have awarded grant support totalling £32.7 million to a number of heat network projects that utilise heat recovery technology or heat produced by Energy from Waste facilities.

The Scottish Government is in the process of supplying to each local authority, and displaying on the local authority version of the Scotland Heat Map ( Scotland Heat Map (data.gov.scot) ), all sites identified in the ClimateXChange study on potential sources of waste heat for heat networks. This project will be completed by summer 2023. This will support local authorities develop their Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies.

Furthermore, to increase the use of recoverable and waste heat, as an initial step the Scottish Government is considering introducing a requirement for potential heat suppliers, for the type of heat source where heat can be recovered and supplied cost effectively, to share information with relevant local authorities and licenced heat network providers.

The Scottish Government has and continues to undertake, and commission, a significant amount of research in our efforts to deliver the key objectives within Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls. We also learn from research undertaken elsewhere.

At this point we have not commissioned anything specific on the potential normalisation of violence in sexual activity, however, in 2020 the Scottish Government published findings from the 2018 Scottish Social Attitudes survey on the attitudes of adults to sexual violence, domestic abuse, sexual harassment and commercial sexual exploitation: Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2019: attitudes to violence against women - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

In addition, we included the same set of questions in the Young People in Scotland 2021 survey to examine attitudes among school pupils. We are currently working on the report and expect to publish later this spring. The report will compare against 2014 attitudes (when the module was last run): Young People's Attitudes To Violence Against Women Report On Findings From The Young People In Scotland Survey 2014 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government also asked young people about relationships and sexual wellbeing in the Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland 2021- 2022 Health and Wellbeing Census Scotland 2021- 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

I also refer the member to the answer to S6W-15943 on 21 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 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) is an annual, large-scale social survey which asks people about their experiences and perceptions of crime in Scotland. It includes a module on sexual victimisation, which produces estimates of adults’ experiences of different types of sexual assault. At present this does not include a question on experiences of violence during what began as consensual sexual activity.

We are currently progressing set up of a new multi-year run of the SCJS, following a recent re-procurement exercise. As part of this ongoing work we will consider in 2023-24 whether a question on this specific topic could be added to the above module. Given the subject sensitivity, this requires careful consideration and testing prior to any roll-out, to ensure such a question is understandable, accessible and doesn’t place undue stress on survey respondents.

Such a change would build on the continuous improvements being made to the survey, whereby we are currently cognitively testing and piloting a new survey module on Partner Abuse and new and updated questions on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). These areas were identified as a key priority by survey users in last year’s consultation .

The Scottish Government publishes yearly evaluation studies and annual reports of Fair Start Scotland. These contain data on the impact and experience of disabled people, as part of the overall reporting on the service. These evaluations have not specifically or separately considered the experiences and outcomes for people with learning disabilities. All evaluation reports relating to Fair Start Scotland are available on the Scottish Government website and are listed below. The first evaluation of No One Left Behind is currently underway and a report will be published in early Summer 2023. This will not specifically consider the experiences of people with learning disabilities.

Tables which accompany the quarterly publication Scotland’s Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary provide equalities information for participants on Fair Start Scotland, which includes data for disabled people and people with learning disabilities. The data reporting template for people receiving support through No One Left Behind has recently been expanded to capture where people have a learning disability, learning difficulty, autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disorders (such as ADHD). This data will be published as part of the quarterly statistical reporting in due course.

We have also undertaken a review of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and of Supported Employment to identify areas of improvement and make recommendations on future delivery of these two forms of specialist employability support in Scotland. These reviews, along with Scottish Government responses, were also published on our website and are listed below.

Evaluation reports for Fair Start Scotland

Implementation Review:

Fair Start Scotland evaluation report 1: implementation and early delivery review

Evaluation Report 2

Overview Report:

Fair Start Scotland evaluation report 2: overview of year one - November 2019

Participant Phone Survey:

Fair Start Scotland evaluation report 2: participant phone survey - November 2019

Local Area Case Studies:

Fair Start Scotland evaluation report 2: local area case studies - November 2019

Evaluation Report 3

Overview Report:

Fair Start Scotland - evaluation report 3: year two - overview

Participant Phone Survey:

Fair Start Scotland - evaluation report 3: participant phone survey - year 2

Local Area Case Studies:

Fair Start Scotland - evaluation report 3: local area case studies - year 2

Annual Evaluation Report 4

Overview Report:

Fair Start Scotland: evaluation report 4 - year 3 overview

Participant Phone Survey:

Fair Start Scotland: evaluation report 4 - participant phone survey - year 3

Local Area Case Studies:

Fair Start Scotland: evaluation report 4 - local area case studies - year 3

Economic Evaluation:

Fair Start Scotland: economic evaluation

Individual Placement and Support Review

Fair Start Scotland - individual placement and support review: findings

Support Employment Review

Supported employment: review report and Scottish Government response

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of robust data and caveated evidence to build understanding of the inequalities experienced by people with learning disabilities.

Therefore, we have been collaborating with our partners through the Keys to Life, the Scottish Strategy for Autism and the Towards Transformation Plan to take forward research to better understand the daily lives of people with learning disabilities and autistic people and the inequalities/barriers they face.

The Scottish Government has also commissioned the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory (SLDO) to understand the health equalities and barriers faced by people with learning disabilities. SLDO reports and their methods can be found on their website.

Similarly, the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability (SCLD) also produced a variety of evidence-based reports to inform the development of policy around experience of people with learning disabilities including employment, hate crime, health, social care, parenting and human rights. Through the pandemic SCLD also produced the How's Life Survey and provides a snapshot of the lives of people with learning disabilities through the pandemic. They also work alongside Public Health Scotland to produce routine Learning Disability Statistics Scotland using census data.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring people with learning disabilities have access to data that is important to them, including evidence about employment and employability in Scotland.

To achieve this Scottish Government are working with our partners to refocus data collection efforts to encompass the whole life journey through a Learning Disability and Autism Data Action Plan.

Official statistics for Fair Start Scotland (FSS) are published quarterly by the Scottish Government. The most recent publication was on 22 February 2023 ( Scotland's Devolved Employment Services: statistical summary February 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) ) and includes demographic breakdowns such as for participants with learning disabilities. The latest official statistics show:

Start and job outcomes for FSS participants with a learning disability, by start year