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As part of the on-going forensic analysis, NHS Dumfries & Galloway identified that files belonging to National Records of Scotland, that were stored on the NHS D&G IT infrastructure, have been stolen as part of the cyber-attack. As National Records of Scotland are the data controller for those files, they are now considered a second victim in this incident. As such a crime report has been made to Police Scotland.

National Records of Scotland have undertaken a risk assessment and are taking appropriate actions to notify individuals that have been affected. National Records of Scotland will issue a news release later today to provide further information to members of the public.

Police Scotland implemented the THRIVE approach as part of the roll out of its Contact Assessment Model (CAM) across 2019/20. THRIVE is used to ensure a consistent response to an incident report by evaluating threat, harm, risk, investigation, vulnerability and engagement. That places the needs of the individual at the centre of the police’s decisions while ensuring that effective prioritisation is in place.

It is vitally important that the Chief Constable has the flexibility to develop her workforce in a way that responds to the challenges she faces by ensuring the right workforce mix. She confirmed to the Criminal Justice Committee on 20 December that the extra £75.7m of resource funding provided by Scottish Government in 2024-25 will enable Police Scotland to bring officer numbers up to around 16,500-16,600. With plans in place to bring in over 1000 new officers this financial year and around 320 having joined since March, she is bringing in the resources that will ensure that frontline policing is prioritised.

The Scottish Government is strongly opposed to the Illegal Migration Act that will push vulnerable people further into destitution and increase the risk of exploitation and we have raised our serious concerns with the Home Secretary.

We continue to deliver a range of interventions to support people seeking asylum living in Scotland including providing £3.6m of grant funding to Scottish Refugee Council this year for a comprehensive, nationwide Refugee Support Service.

The Service will support refugees and people seeking asylum to settle into communities through providing advice, information and resources, improving access to support services and facilitating social connections and will support the implementation of the third New Scots refugee integration strategy.

Many of the essential services which support people seeking asylum are devolved and are delivered inclusively for everyone living in Scotland, as far as possible within UK immigration legislation and rules. For example, people seeking asylum can access NHS healthcare and asylum-seeking children are entitled to school education.

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 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.

The Scottish Government has not conducted any specific studies to monitor the number of further or higher education graduates that leave the Highlands and Islands region. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) collect and publish information on those entering and completing College and University courses across Scotland. However, this information is not published at a regional level.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27332 on 22 May 2024. 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 Data Lab has secured long term investment of up to £2 million per annum as part of the overall Scottish Government-funded SFC Innovation Centre programme, which will see investment of up to £8 million per annum across four innovation centres. The Scottish Government will also continue to provide additional funding for Data Lab of £945,000 until March 2026 through the Scottish AI Alliance’s programme of work .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W- 27332 on 22 May 2024. 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 Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund had an annual budget of £120 million and ran from 2021-22 to 2022-23. It supported delivery of the Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan Coronavirus (COVID-19): mental health - transition and recovery plan - summary - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and funding was allocated on an annual basis to a number of different organisations and delivery partners including the Third Sector, Local Authorities and NHS Boards. From 2023-24, the Recovery and Renewal Fund annual budget has been incorporated into the overall direct programme budget for mental health.

Going forwards, the direct programme budget for mental health published in the 2024-25 Scottish budget will be used to meet the priorities set out in our recently published Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy 2023-25 Mental health and wellbeing strategy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .