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It is the Scottish Government’s ambition to deliver at least 20 GW of additional renewable electricity generation by 2030, the majority of which will be provided by onshore and offshore wind. The around 50% figure relates to the inclusion of this additional 20 GW of renewable generation, and represents the proportion of the current annual total energy demand of Scotland that may met by renewable electricity.

This percentage will fluctuate through the days and months of generation, due to the intermittent nature of these renewable generation technologies. It is anticipated that at times renewable technologies will generate a volume of electricity equivalent to more than 100% of Scotland’s demand, allowing export opportunities for the excess electricity, and at times they will generate a volume of electricity equivalent to less than 50% of Scotland’s demand.

We continue to support Housing Options Scotland to provide its Military Matters project. This service focuses on housing issues affecting people serving in the Armed Forces in Scotland; all UK Service personnel transitioning into civilian life in Scotland, and veterans – helping them to find the right home in the right place.

We have also published a housing guide which provides information about housing in Scotland and contacts of organisations who may be able to help Armed Forces and ex-service personnel obtain housing suitable for their needs. The guide also directs veterans to the Veterans Gateway which provides information and support to veterans and their families.

The funding awarded through the Scottish Veterans Fund in each year since it was established in 2008 are shown in the following table.

The Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF) funds Community Link Workers (CLWs) as part of primary care multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs). At March 2022, 249 WTE CLWs had been recruited to support GP practices.

The Scottish Government published information on the number of CLWs recruited broken down by Integration Authority on 21 June 2022 as shown in the table below. Further information, including the location, by Integration Authority, of CLWs by both headcount and whole time equivalent, since 2018, can be accessed at: Supporting documents - Primary care improvement plans: summary of implementation progress - March 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government began stage one of the review of Adult Disability Payment in 2022, by engaging with academics and people with lived experience.

We have engaged with disabled people through our experience panels and with stakeholders to inform the parameters of the review. Stage one of the review will soon seek a broad range of views on the eligibility criteria for the mobility component of Adult Disability Payment as part of a public consultation.

The consultation will open shortly and will run for 3 months. People will have the opportunity to engage with the consultation through a series of consultation events in the coming months.

The results of the consultation will be independently analysed and we will publish the analysis of the consultation and the responses received, where the respondent has given us permission to do so.

The findings will be used to inform Stage Two, the independent review of Adult Disability Payment beginning later in 2023.

We have also encouraged veterans to self-declare through a number of data collection activities. Scotland's Census 2022 included for the first time a question on previous service in the UK Armed Forces. Census data will help to support a better understanding of the veterans community in Scotland including numbers, location, employment status, housing and other needs such as healthcare and education. Analysis of the Census outputs, expected in 2024, will help to inform policy development and targeted support.

We also identified opportunities for more regular data collection on veterans by adding the same Census question to our three major household surveys: Scottish Household Survey, Scottish Health Survey and Scottish Crime and Justice Survey. This will improve considerably our understanding of the profile, circumstances and needs of veterans in Scotland, which in turn will help inform policy and services. Each of the surveys also collate re-contact samples, consisting of those who consent to being included in future research. This will give us the option to utilise this sample to carry out more in-depth research with respondents who identify as veterans.

Finally, the Scottish Government has supported work being done at a UK Government level to undertake a scoping study for provision of digital verification of veteran status and to which during 2022 we supported and contributed to the project’s Discovery Phase. We will continue to support the work as it progresses which will make it easier for all veterans to identify as such when accessing services and support. Finally, we have worked with colleagues in the Office for National Statistics, the Office for Veterans' Affairs and the devolved administrations to develop the first UK-wide Veterans’ Survey. The online survey is collecting information from veterans of the UK Armed Forces to help us understand current access to and perception of services in addition to veterans’ experiences and circumstances. The survey launched on 10 November 2022 and findings are expected by summer 2023.

It should, of course, be noted that veterans reserve the right not to declare their veteran status.

This Government firmly believes that every child growing up in Scotland, regardless of their background or gender, should have an equal chance of attending university and participating in higher education.

To date we have made progress on work to support fair access to higher education. The number of students attending university from the most deprived areas in Scotland is at a record high and we have exceeded the Commission on Widening Access target to have 16% of students from the most deprived areas at university by 2021. We recently appointed a new Commissioner for Fair Access, Professor John McKendrick, to continue to progress this important agenda.

Scottish universities are covered by the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), which requires them to, amongst other things, report on mainstreaming the equality duty; publish equality outcomes and report progress; and assess and review policies and practices.

As part of its March 2020 Memorandum of Understanding with the EHRC, the Scottish Funding Council developed a National Equality Outcomes framework to address the most persistent inequalities in further and higher education (HE) that institutions are asked to consider and report on as part of the 2021-25 PSED reporting cycle.

Sex, as one of the nine protected characteristics under The Equality Act (2010), is considered as part of the National Equality Outcomes, with outcomes including sex imbalance on courses and mental health support for male students.

The Scottish Government is committed to the production of a Student Mental Health Plan to support all students in further and higher education throughout their learner journey.

The Student Mental Health Plan will sit within and link to the wider actions across Scottish Government, including our Suicide Prevention Strategy, ‘ Creating Hope Together ’ which was developed and published in collaboration with COSLA in September 2022, and our forthcoming Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Analysis of the responses to the 2020 Health and Social Care Staff Wellbeing Survey, by protected characteristics, was completed in 2021. The results did not show any significant differences in the wellbeing of staff from under-represented groups, compared to other groups of staff and compared to the general well-being of under-represented groups in the general population.

Demographic questions, including on ethnicity were included in the 2021 and 2022 iMatter Health and Social Care Staff Experience Continuous Improvement Model questionnaires for the first time.

The demographic analysis is scheduled to be available later this year. This will allow Health Boards to put action plans in place to deliver improvements, where needed, for under-represented groups.

The demographic questions replicate the 2022 Scottish Census questions, meaning that direct comparisons of the workforce to the population can be made.’

The Scottish Government continues to work with the Veterans in Custody Support Officer network to encourage breakfast clubs for veterans in Prison.

In 2020-21, the Scottish Veterans Fund provided funding to the Lothian Veterans Centre to run a weekly lunch-time club for older veterans providing a welcoming environment for companionship and peer support. More generally, the Scottish Veterans Fund has provided funding to several projects which provide support to veterans to integrate into the local community, such as an activity co-ordinator for veterans in FirstLight Café in Falkirk, or away days for veterans in the Huntly region through Networks of Wellbeing.

Regional transport strategies and developments, including their impact assessments, are led by the local authority and its Regional Transport Partnerships. We are aware that Glasgow City Council published its Glasgow Transport Strategy last year, with numerous policies addressing integration of transport.

The Scottish Government completes impact assessments and appraisals on its national policy and regulatory development, including for the smart and integrated ticketing measures in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, the second National Transport Strategy, and the second Strategic Transport Projects Review. The Scottish Government is also progressing the Fair Fares Review which will develop and assess options to create a fairer, more transparent system of fares across all modes that maintain and increase affordability for those who need it most.