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It is not possible to determine how many people contracted HIV in any given year as people may not be tested or diagnosed for a number of years after they contract HIV.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes an annual HIV in Scotland surveillance report which includes data on new diagnoses. The report includes indicators of recently acquired infections and late diagnoses since 2017, however this does not identify the year in which people acquired HIV. In addition to this there are a number of people who remain undiagnosed, which is why it is important that anyone who thinks they may have been at risk seeks a HIV test.

Data on the number of new HIV diagnoses in Scotland each year from 2014 to 2023 can be found in Table 3 of the latest HIV in Scotland report at: https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/29204/final-hiv-in-scotland-update-to-31-december-2023-1.pdf.

In his latest letter to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee (NZET) on 11 October, Ferguson Marine’s interim Chief Executive reported that recent acceptance sea trials were successfully completed and assured the Committee that a definitive handover date will be provided as soon as it is confirmed. I will then write to the NZET Committee to give the Scottish Government’s response to the latest progress update on the delivery of MV Glen Sannox. The vessel is now in the final stages of delivery, with all parties collaborating to complete the remaining technical details.

The most recent workforce publication shows that in June 2014 the workforce comprised of 5,101 FTE directly employed staff, and 1,249 contingent workers.

For June 2024 showed the core Scottish Government workforce comprised of 8,911 FTE directly employed staff and 1,214 contingent workers.

This represents an increase of 75% in the directly employed workforce and a reduction of -3% in the contingent workforce.

The growth in the directly employed workforce in the last ten years has supported the devolution of new powers to the Scottish Government, for example Social Security and Exchequer functions. The growth in the core Scottish Government has also supported the response to exiting the European Union and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since March 2022 the Scottish Government has increased its permanent workforce while prioritising the reduction of the more expensive contingent workforce such as contractors and consultants. The number of contingent workers is now 40% lower than in March 2022.

The number of core Scottish Government staff is available at Scottish Government workforce information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Information on university student qualifiers is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

It should be noted that prior to 2018-19 academic year, data was collected using a different subject classification. As such, figures prior to 2018-19 are not directly comparable.

The number of qualifiers (covering all levels of study) and the number of full-time first degree qualifiers (all domiciles) from either Computing or Computer Science courses at Scottish universities, over the last 10 Academic Years, can be found in the following tables. These are taken from published data.

Student qualifiers on ‘Computer Science’ courses at Scottish Universities

Subject classification based on JACS code = computer science

Below is a list of the community radio stations that the Scottish Government has run public information advertisements on over the last five years, alongside the total annual spend for each year. Spend per individual community station is classed as commercially sensitive and as such we are unable to provide this level of detail.

April 2020 - March 2021 - Total spend: £214,731

• Argyll Radio
• Awaz FM
• Caithness FM
• Cuillin FM/Skye
• Heartland FM
• Isles FM
• K107FM
• Lochbroom/ Two Lochs
• Nevis Radio
• Oban FM
• Panjab Radio
• Pulse 98.4
• Radio Ramadan
• Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company
• Waves Radio 101.2FM

April 2021 - March 2022 – Total spend: £405,912

• Alive FM
• Argyll Radio
• Awaz FM
• Caithness FM
• Cuillin FM/Skye
• Heartland FM
• Isles FM
• K107FM
• Lochbroom/ Two Lochs
• Mearns FM
• Nevis Radio
• Oban FM
• Panjab Radio
• Pulse 98.4
• Radio Ramadan
• Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company
• Waves Radio 101.2FM

April 2022- March 2023 – Total spend: £74,008

• Argyll Radio
• Awaz FM
• Caithness FM
• Cuillin FM/Skye
• Heartland FM
• Isles FM
• Jambo Radio
• Lochbroom/ Two Lochs
• Nevis Radio
• Oban FM
• Panjab Radio
• Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company
• Waves Radio 101.2FM

April 2023 - March 2024 – Total spend: £69,029

• Argyll Radio
• Awaz FM
• Caithness FM
• Cuillin FM/Skye
• Heartland FM
• Isles FM
• Jambo Radio
• K107FM
• Lochbroom/ Two Lochs
• Nevis Radio
• Oban FM
• Panjab Radio
• Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company

April 2024 – October 2024 spend to date Total spend: £14,438

• Argyll Radio
• Awaz FM
• Caithness FM
• Cuillin FM/Skye
• Heartland FM
• Isles FM
• Jambo Radio
• Lochbroom/ Two Lochs
• Nevis Radio
• Oban FM
• Panjab Radio
• Shetland Islands Broadcasting Company

Information on university students is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Using this data between academic years 2018-19 and 2022-23, the last year of available data, there has been an increase of over 30% in enrolments into Computer Science courses at Scottish Universities.

It should be noted that prior to 2018-19 academic year, data was collected using a different subject classification. As such, figures prior to 2018-19 are not directly comparable.

The number of enrolments (covering all years of study and at all levels) and the number of full-time first degree entrants (all domiciles) from either Computing or Computer Science courses at Scottish universities, over the last 10 Academic Years, can be found in the following tables. These are taken from published data.

ICT courses are not controlled subjects and unlike controlled subjects the Scottish Government does not direct individual universities on the number of funded places made available.

With regard to the number of unfilled places HESA does not collect this data.

Student enrolment on ‘Computer Science’ courses at Scottish Universities - Subject classification based on JACS code = computer science

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on Scotland’s draft palliative care strategy Palliative Care Matters for All. The consultation is open until 10 January 2025 and builds on extensive stakeholder engagement to develop a framework to support delivery and build on existing work to support those in need of palliative care and their families. Through our draft palliative care strategy, we are committed to working with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) and adult independent hospice organisations to develop a national guidance framework to support and improve consistency of local planning and commissioning of independent hospice services through Integrated Joint Boards (IJBs).

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS have reported or recorded 0 level three incidents since 2016.

The answers to questions S4W-30590 on 23 March 2016 and S5W-24194 on 30 July 2019 provided information on formal practice list closures which the Scottish Government gathered from NHS boards for the purpose of answering those parliamentary questions. NHS boards are responsible for the accuracy of this data and the Scottish Government decided that the best answer to S6W-30808 was to refer Mr Green directly to the source of the data.

The Scottish Government does not routinely gather information on list closures, and as the responsibility for the accuracy of this management information lies with NHS boards, the Scottish Government would not look to publish it.

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 Government works closely with its agencies and partners to explore all viable options to avoid closures and retain jobs in the region. However, despite our best efforts to seek alternative outcomes, this is not always possible to achieve.

The people affected by these announcements are always our immediate priority. The Scottish Government provided support to these individuals through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE). Through providing skills development and employability support, PACE aims to minimise the time individuals affected by redundancy are out of work.

In Scotland, employability services are delivered through the No One Left Behind approach, which sees Scottish and Local Government work in partnership with public, private, and third sector organisations to deliver support to those who are at risk of long-term unemployment. Employability support is in place in every local authority area, with decisions on the design taken by Local Employability Partnerships. Between April 2019 and June 2024, 1813 people have entered No One Left Behind support in Inverclyde.