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We have revisited the NCS financial memorandum assumptions and, based on a revised recruitment profile and revised investment in data and digital work, £15 million of funding in 2022-23 has been reprioritised. We are taking time to get this right, ensuring engagement through events such as the Forum and launch of the Lived Experience Expert Panel. As a result some costs that would have been expected in this financial year will not occur.

The Scottish Government continues to prioritise funding for health, providing increases year on year and funding of £18 billion in 2022-23, as set out in the Scottish Budget.

However, the scale of the financial challenge across the Scottish Government and health and social care is unprecedented, as a result of rising inflation and energy costs and the ongoing impacts of Covid and Brexit.

The UK Government’s Autumn statement provided no additional funding this year to support health and social care in addressing these challenges or to support fair pay deals, with the funding outlined over the coming two years falling massively short of the combined impact of Covid pressures, energy costs and inflation.

It is vital that further funding is provided by the UK Government to address the backlog in care caused by Covid and to help our NHS and social care staff deal with the cost of living crisis

Legal costs incurred by the purchase of Glenprosen amount to £47,495, inclusive of Registers of Scotland fees.

The Scottish Government has awarded funding of £444,000 in 2022-2023 to support the delivery of the Once for Scotland approach stated in the plan.

We have awarded the Care Inspectorate £194,000 to enable them to build on the learning from the Care About Physical Activity (CAPA) programme. The project will work across care homes, care at home, housing support and day services for adults.

£250,000 has been awarded to Thistle Foundation to deliver a range of organisational development interventions to support rehabilitation teams to reshape their rehabilitation services.

The Scottish Government is in the process of establishing an advisory Board, which will help to identify local rehabilitation leads, ensuring appropriate appointments to take forward the aims identified in Rehabilitation and Recovery.

Neither the Scottish Government nor Forestry and Land Scotland had cause to terminate any contracts and consequently no such payments were made to individuals, contractors or companies.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days.

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

The Prisoner Records system (PR2) does not allow data to be gathered retrospectively. On Wednesday 23 November the number of cells out of use were:

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

SPS do not record the number of prison cells taken permanently out of use.

The Scottish Government is committed to protecting freshwater habitats from diffuse agricultural pollution.

Responsibility for regulation of agricultural diffuse pollution lies with SEPA. Since 2009, through River Basin Management Planning SEPA has identified 57 priority catchment areas where additional intervention is needed to tackle agricultural pollution.

This priority catchment approach, involving catchment-based farm visits, has been successful in building a strong working relationship between the agricultural sectors and SEPA. To date, SEPA has completed over 6000 initial farm visits and 3500 revisits to non-compliant operators in 38 of these priority catchments with six now regarded by SEPA as reaching full compliance. SEPA will continue to complete ongoing diffuse pollution compliance work in the other 32 catchments by 2027.

Phased work in the remaining 19 priority catchments began in October with initial visits by SEPA in two new catchments – Wick and Thurso - and as of 1 November initial farm visits have commenced in the River Leven catchment.

Since 2014 we have undertaken one of the most significant reforms to public services in a generation by almost doubling the entitlement to high quality, funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) from 600 to 1140 hours per year, for all eligible children.

The early level of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) purposely spans early learning and childcare (ELC) and primary schooling. It is designed to support the implementation of a responsive, continuous, play-based curriculum for children from age three until the end of P1 (for most children). Key messages on the use of child-centred play pedagogy across the early level and beyond have most recently been confirmed and strengthened in 'Realising the Ambition: Being Me' (2020), the evidence-based and internationally recognised national practice guidance for the early years in Scotland.

Education Scotland is taking forward a range of activity to support the consistent and effective implementation of the ‘Realising the Ambition’ guidance, including through hosting webinars and supporting practice at regional and local levels tailored to local needs. We are aware that many Scottish Local Authorities have, or have immediate plans to implement, programmes of professional learning on play pedagogy for practitioners working in the early years of primary school.

From August 2023, all children who defer will automatically be entitled to an additional year of funded ELC.

Raising the school starting age and introducing a ‘kindergarten stage’ would represent a fundamental change in the scope of early years’ education in Scotland and a significant structural change to the provision of education, and was not part of the Scottish National Party’s manifesto for this current Parliamentary term.

The priority for this parliamentary term must be to fulfil the commitments on which this Scottish Government was elected, including building a system of school age childcare and a new early learning and childcare offer for one- and two-year olds, starting with those who need it most. These priorities are outlined in ‘Best Start: Strategic early learning and school age childcare plan for Scotland, 2022-26’, published on 6 October 2022.

While the Scottish Government does not have plans to change the age at which children start school in Scotland in this Parliament, we welcome an active debate on these issues as part of our ongoing National Discussion on Education.