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As part of the £145,000 funding we announced earlier in March, we are in the process of commissioning research into support services in Scotland. The analysis and research will help us to understand what support is needed to help the people affected by historical adoption practices.

We have also introduced a working group to assist with the implementation of peer support groups where we are working with partners to scope and develop the support service.

The Scottish Government is working with partners, including the Children and Young People’s Commissioner, on new human rights-based non-statutory guidance to minimise the use of restraint in schools.

The physical intervention working group began work on the new guidance in January 2020. Progress was affected by group members’ focus on the Covid-19 response. However, work resumed in June 2020 and positive progress has been made since then. The working group last met on 23 November 2021. Following that meeting, working group members reached agreement by correspondence that the draft guidance can be put to public consultation. The Scottish Government is currently preparing this consultation.

Details of the membership and notes of the meetings of the physical intervention working group are available on the Scottish Government’s website: Physical Intervention Working Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government has supported the men’s sheds movement in Scotland since 2016 with sustained core funding provided to the national support organisation, the Scottish Mens Sheds Association (SMSA), which has enabled them to grow the men’s sheds movement here in Scotland year on year.

We are aware of their contribution to the preventative health agenda, tackling social isolation and loneliness, and their impact on our wider community empowerment ambitions, and that is why we continue to support the growth of men’s sheds.

Scottish Government is currently working with the SMSA and their Executive Officer Jason Schroeder, to agree the necessary support for this year that will help them continue to grow the movement here in Scotland.

Following the launch of the Scottish Mens Sheds Association (SMSA) in November 2015, the Scottish Government has supported the men’s shed movement in Scotland, by providing £645,000 of funding to the SMSA and Age Scotland to date.

Our annual core funding support to the SMSA has enabled the movement to fully establish in Scotland and grow our Scottish men’s sheds from just 3 sheds in 2013 to 127 sheds which are open today, and a further 70 that are currently in development, serving 2,899 members, and 10,267 shedders across Scotland.

Scottish Government annual breakdown of support to the men’s sheds movement is as follows:

To SMSA:

• 2016/17 - £75,000
• 2017/18 - £75,000
• 2018/19 - £75,000
• 2019/20 - £75,000
• 2020/21 - £150,000 (higher figure included funds to support Covid response)
• 2021/22 - £45,000

To Age Scotland:

• 2017/18 - £50,000
• 2018/19 - £50,000
• 2019/20 - £50,000

The Scottish Government does not hold information on payments of kinship care allowance as local authorities are responsible for deciding levels of care allowance based on local decision making practices and specific needs of individual children or young people. The information can be found using the following link Allowances surveys | The Fostering Network

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Scottish Health Service Costs are published annually in arrears by Public Health Scotland.

The most recent cost book data available covers 2020-21 and was published on 22 February 2022. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services spend is not routinely published in the cost book publication but is available from Public Health Scotland on request through phs.costsinfo@phs.scot.

Data for 2021-22 is not currently available, but will be available on request after publication of the 2021-22 cost book, which is currently scheduled for November 2022.

Individual health boards are responsible for allocating staff, in recognition that they best understand local priorities and needs. The Scottish Government understands that many NHS staff have been unavoidably redeployed since 2020 to support the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but that as the pandemic subsides, staff will begin to revert to their pre-Covid duties.

The Scottish Government welcomes this, but remains committed to working closely with Health boards to support recovery of sexual health and blood borne virus services, including those focused on Hepatitis C, through on-going engagement with the Scottish Health Protection Network and development of the next iteration of the sexual health and Blood Borne Viruses Framework.

The Scottish Government does not have the information which has been requested.

Patient safety is a key priority for the Scottish Government. We are taking forward a programme of work aimed at preventing harm as a result of sodium valproate, and also ensuring that those who have been impacted receive the care they need.

The Scottish Government appreciates the wide interest shown from across society in Draft National Planning Framework 4. The detailed responses received through the Parliamentary scrutiny process and the public consultation are currently being considered. Once the analysis of responses is complete, we will be able to assess the scale of change required to produce a final NPF4. At that point, an update on the forward timetable will be provided.

The Scottish Government do not have information on the total number of single parents that have accessed further education courses at Scottish colleges.