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The Bute House Agreement includes a commitment to further protect Scotland’s ancient woods through establishing a National Register of Ancient Woodlands. We are discussing with NatureScot and Scottish Forestry the best approach to developing a new National Register of Ancient Woodlands, which will build upon the existing Scottish Ancient Woodland Inventory, and be published when that work is complete. A new National Register of Ancient Woodlands will be an important element of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and Delivery plan which we will consult on later this year.

The following table shows a time series for the number of registered private sector businesses in the construction of domestic buildings sector, split into Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. The construction of domestic buildings sector is defined as Standard Industrial Classification (“SIC”) code 41.202 and is a sub-category within the construction sector, Section F. A SME here is defined as a business with 0 – 249 employees, whilst registered businesses are businesses that are registered for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay As You Earn (PAYE). The data covers the period from 2010 to 2022, earlier data are not readily available and, also not comparable due to changes in SIC definitions and methodology over time.

The number of registered private sector businesses by employee size band in the construction of domestic buildings (SIC 41.202) in Scotland, March 2010 – March 2022.

In summer 2022, Scottish Government commissioned a social research company, The Lines Between, to recruit and engage a diverse cross-section of people with chronic pain across Scotland. The Lines Between were selected by means of a competitive Invitation to Tender (ITT) process, which is a formal, open and recognised SG process, for which their submission was the highest scoring entry. Recruitment of the panel was undertaken by The Lines Between and their recruitment partner Taylor McKenzie.

The total cost of the contract was £40,000 exclusive of VAT. The Scottish Government made no direct payments to Taylor McKenzie or the members of the Panel for this work.

The cost of formatting the report for publication on the Scottish Government website was £516.58.

The Pain Panel has carried out a second exercise on the chronic pain information held on the NHS Inform website. This report will be published shortly on the Scottish Government webpage

The Scottish Government has not used Facebook to recruit paid patient representatives for any health projects.

The Mental Welfare Commission produces annual reports on admissions of young people under the age of 18 to non-specialist wards in Scotland. The latest report was published on 1 December 2022, and can be found here: ChildrenYoungPeople_MonitoringReport_2021-22.pdf (mwcscot.org.uk) . Table 1 provides a breakdown of numbers of young people admitted to non-specialist facilities by year from 2012/13 (177 admissions relating to 148 young people) to 2021/22 (90 admissions relating to 80 young people).

Information on young people placed in adult mental health services has more recently also become available through the Mental Health Quality Indicator Profile publication. Under the “Equitable” theme of indicators, indicator EQ4 provides data on the percentage of under 18 year old psychiatric admissions admitted out with NHS specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) wards. Please note this information is only published at a national level. The Mental Health Quality Indicators were produced in September 2018 and data on these was first published on 17 March 2020. Indicator EQ4 was first published on 23 March 2021.

The most recent Mental Health Quality Indicator Profile publication can be found here: https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/mental-health-quality-indicator-profile/mental-health-quality-indicator-profile-25-april-2023/.

Monthly statistics on the number of Council Tax Reduction recipients since the scheme’s commencement in April 2013 are available at Council Tax Reduction: local authority tables and charts - April 2013 to February 2023 - (www.gov.scot) . March 2023 data will be published on 16 May 2023.

Prior to April 2013, the UK Government was responsible for Council Tax Benefit with associated data available at Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit statistics - (www.gov.uk) .

The Scottish Government does not hold this information, however, it may be available from local Health Boards.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review policies in relation to placing young people in adult mental health wards.

NHS Boards use the Admission to Adult Mental Health Wards for under 18's Guidelines which were published in 2020, alongside discussions with the young person and their family, to make the most appropriate decision regarding the treatment and support that a young person requires.

The guidelines make clear that we expect children and young people who require inpatient care to be looked after in age-appropriate facilities. There may be occasions when it isn’t possible for a young person to be admitted to a specialist child and adolescent bed – for example, a crisis admission out of hours where there are concerns for the young person’s safety, or the young person and their family have a preference for an admission to a local adult ward. On occasions where young people are placed within an adult ward this will be monitored and reviewed regularly to ensure that the young person is receiving the most appropriate treatment and care.

This is a matter for individual local authorities. The information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not plan to reopen or develop new Help to Buy schemes for first-time buyers.

Key findings from the evaluation of the Scottish Government’s shared equity schemes showed that 80% of Help to Buy buyers would have been able to purchase a property which met their needs without financial assistance.

We continue to support home ownership through various interventions to help first time buyers. This includes our Low Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT) scheme which helps people on low to moderate incomes to buy their first home either through the open market (Open Market Shared Equity) or new build (New Supply Shared Equity). Support is also available through the Self Build Loan Fund.