Chamber and committees

We are working with local authority partners to develop a fully funded free school milk scheme for primary age pupils as well as a free school milk scheme pilot for secondary age young people. Existing subsidy arrangements will continue for another year to ensure that local authorities can continue to access subsidy towards their local school milk schemes while the new scheme is being developed.

The total number of mental health and learning disability beds within the NHS Scotland estate each of the last five years was:

Anonymous Voter Registration is available to anyone meeting certain statutory requirements where, if their name or address were listed on the electoral register, their safety would be at risk (or where the safety of other people at the same address as them would be at risk).

An anonymously registered elector has the same options for voting at an election as other electors. They can vote in person at a polling station or they can apply to vote by post or by proxy.

If they choose to vote in person, they will receive a poll card before the election. The poll card will be sent in a covering envelope. An anonymously registered elector must take this poll card to the polling station and will not be able to vote without it.

If the elector wants to vote by post or by proxy, they can ask the Electoral Registration Officer who will provide them with an application form which can also be downloaded from electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter

Further information on anonymous registration can be found in the following guidance which was produced in partnership between the Electoral Commission and Scottish Women’s Aid: ‘Anonymous registration: Supporting survivors of domestic abuse to register to vote’

The Scottish Government aim to respond to ministerial correspondence within 20 working days. Performance is monitored at local and corporate levels of government.

Correspondence from MSPs is routinely answered by Scottish Government Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers. The Health and Social Care portfolio has experienced a huge and unprecedented increase in correspondence over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order for MSPs to receive timely responses, much of the correspondence previously signed by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport is being reviewed on their behalf by Scottish Government Deputy Directors. This remains under review and normal process will resume when volumes allow for timely responses.

We are working with sectors on an economy wide basis to help navigate the predictable consequences of leaving the EU.

The hospitality sector, like many sectors who have employed EU nationals as a benefit of free movement, is experiencing recruitment and retention challenges directly linked to EU Exit.

We have supported a recruitment campaign for tourism and hospitality businesses with £100,000 of funding. We also continue to develop recovery plans for the sector that will seek to mitigate the worst impacts of EU Exit alongside pandemic pressures, and continue to press UKG for a workable immigration policy to support our economy.

I met with NHS Board Chairs and Chief Executives this morning, including those from NHS Orkney, and we discussed a range of issues related to the current service pressures.

The Scottish Government supports businesses of all kinds through a wide range of interventions delivered through our enterprise and skills agencies and partner organisations and values the role small community businesses.

In August 2021 we launched the £10 million Scotland Loves Local multi-year programme to support local businesses and encourage people to shop locally. We have also established a £325 million Place Based Investment Programme backed by a five year commitment over the course of the Parliament to accelerate our shared ambitions for Place, Town Centre Action, 20-Minute Neighbourhoods, Community Led Regeneration and Community Wealth Building.

Scotland is a globally renowned producer of seed potatoes, with the industry contributing £245 million pounds annually to Scotland’s economy.

Regrettably, Brexit has had a disproportionate impact on the Scottish sector with the loss of the EU and NI markets. The Scottish Government raised concerns with the UK Government from the outset but this is another example of their failure to secure an outcome which protects this key Scottish industry. Finding a resolution is a priority for Scottish Government. At every opportunity we stand firm against export or import proposals that would cause further harm to our producers and exporters.

We know households are facing financial pressures and have urged the UK Government to take action, particularly on spiralling energy costs. Our £41 million Winter Support Fund is helping people meet rising living costs and we also doubled the December payment of the Carer’s Allowance Supplement which supported 91,000 unpaid carers. Our Scottish Child Payment will also double in April. We are providing £7.4 million this year to support free debt advice, including additional funding for increased demand. I would also encourage people to access our new Money Support Scotland website for debt and money advice and adverts promoting the site are running now.