The Scottish Government funds the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to support local areas to improve their neurodevelopmental support and diagnosis for adults; this includes diagnosis for both autism and ADHD. Since we accepted the recommendations of the Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways report last year, we have provided £567k for implementation to the NAIT. Nine of the 14 NHS Health Boards in Scotland now have Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathway Strategic Groups and five have a current Local Action Plan. Progress in this area remains a priority.

NAIT also published guidance in April (2022) regarding the prescribing of ADHD medication to adults following a private sector diagnosis in Scotland which can be read here .

NAIT’s guidance was constructed in consultation with practising psychiatrists, the Royal Colleges of Psychiatry and General Practice, as well as individuals with ADHD.

This guidance helps clarify the roles and responsibilities of both NHS staff and non-NHS providers.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are in the process of finalising a comprehensive list of all Specialist Reporting Agencies, which will be made available within the next three months.

Migrant workers are essential contributors to our communities, public services, and vitally help address skills shortages.

Scotland’s Fair Work Action Plan sets out actions to become a leading Fair Work Nation by 2025.

The Scottish Government have funded the Worker Support Centre since 2022 to provide free and confidential support to seasonal migrant workers so that more of them understand their workplace rights and how to exercise them. RSABI (founded as the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution) provides practical, emotional, and financial support to all people involved in the Scottish agricultural industry.

Control over employment and industrial relations legislation is currently reserved to the UK Parliament; while this remains the case, we will continue to use our Fair Work policy to drive up labour market standards for workers across the Scottish labour market.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of confirming funding allocations to partners as early as possible. We are working closely with NHS 24 to agree funding requirements for their mental health services in 2024-25, including for Breathing Space, and will confirm funding thereafter.

The Mackintosh Building is owned by The Glasgow School of Art, with responsibility for its own strategic and operational decision making. It has been a long standing principle that employers, building owners and managers are responsible for their own premises.

The Scottish Government and other public bodies will continue to engage closely with the Glasgow School of Art as it progresses its plans for a faithful reinstatement of the Mackintosh building.

The Armed Forces Pension Scheme and benefits including the War Pension Scheme are wholly reserved to the UK Government and are assessed and administered by Veterans UK on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. The Scottish Government is therefore unable to intervene on those matters. Nevertheless, the Scottish Government has previously been made aware of people experiencing issues with their pensions and Scottish Ministers wrote to former Ministers for Defence People and Veterans at the Ministry of Defence in 2021 and 2022 highlighting this. I will raise this again at my next meeting with the UK Minister for Veterans Affairs.

His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) release accredited official statistics estimating the value of the UK's regional trade in goods, covering both exports and imports. These can be accessed at the following address: uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/regional/ . These statistics include estimates for Scotland and are updated on a quarterly basis.

The Scottish Government provides further analysis of this data which is available on the Scottish Government website: Total trade in goods - Scotland's International Goods Trade: Quarter 3 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The latest report available to date is for quarter three in 2023. This shows that, when looking at the total export value of goods in the year ending quarter three 2023 compared to the year ending quarter three 2019, Scotland's goods exports have increased by 2.1% to £35.1 billion. When looking at Scotland's onshore economy (excluding oil and gas), goods exports have risen by 17.3% over this period, to £23.7 billion.

The Scottish Government also produces estimates of exports which include both goods and services in the accredited official statistics publication Export Statistics Scotland (ESS), Exports statistics Scotland 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The latest statistics currently available in this release are for calendar year 2021. These statistics show that the value of Scotland's international exports was 11.5% lower in calendar year 2021 compared to calendar year 2019, at £31.3 billion (excluding oil and gas).

Differences between these sources of export estimates are described in the Export Statistics Scotland Methodology, Other sources of trade data - Export Statistics Scotland: methodology - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . It is important to note that none of the data sources mentioned above account for the effect of inflation on estimates of the value of exports.

Over the period referenced, Scotland's export performance has been significantly impacted by the shocks of Covid-19, the detrimental impact of existing the EU and the subsequent trade deals, of which negotiations are not devolved. In fact, our analysis shows that in 2019 Scottish exports were growing consistently in all directions - to the rest of the UK, the EU and the rest of the world, and we have clear evidence that is no longer the case, with Brexit resulting in Scotland’s trade in goods to the EU being 12% lower in 2021, the first year of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation agreement.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting exporters and continues to work with its enterprise agencies to deliver A Trading Nation, our export growth plan. Trade results produced by Scottish Development International, one of our main delivery agencies, showed that the support it provided to companies across Scotland in Financial Year 2022-23 will result in £1.73 billion of planned international sales over the next three years – a 20% increase compared to Financial Year 2021-22. This trade support enabled Scottish firms to enter 301 new markets, with a focus on the United States, Germany, Singapore and the UAE. As part of this, 335 new products and services left Scotland for these markets in that year.

Subsidies can make an invaluable contribution to businesses. However, if they are misused or overused, it can lead to undesirable outcomes. This is why Scottish Government subsidies are allocated in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022. The OECD themselves highlight this in their analysis, Measuring Industrial Subsidies, from January 2024 as an important key message; “while subsidies can be helpful in addressing emergencies or market failures, they can also undermine fair competition and lead other countries to respond in kind, to the detriment of consumers, taxpayers and governments with fewer resources, and ultimately undermining public support for an integrated global economy”.

It is unhelpful to compare subsidies in the Scottish economy with that in China, which operates a post-communist, state-driven model which is very different than most other economies, with high levels of state intervention in the economy, and currently facing its own significant economic challenges, including high levels of debt in its state-owned enterprises.

The First Minister and I have been clear in our message to businesses in Scotland and potential investors; Scotland is open for business and open for investment and we will do everything we can to ensure that is the case.

We have allocated over £307 million to our enterprise agencies in 2024-25. Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise have a key role to play in unlocking the full economic potential of their regions and providing support to businesses - through advice and information, investment and access to business premises. The Scottish National Investment Bank provides long-term investments for businesses, projects and communities, including both debt and equity, and on 20 May I announced a £5 million package of support measures for start-up tech businesses that will create conditions to encourage more investment into Scotland. These measures will form the next step in providing one of the most comprehensive government-backed support networks in Europe.

The Scottish Government supports the Gaza Families Reunited campaign’s calls for the UK Government to create a scheme to allow Palestinians in the UK to bring family members trapped in Gaza to a place of safety in the UK.

The former Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees met with members from the campaign on 26 March and campaign representatives were subsequently invited to a roundtable discussion with the former First Minister on 17 April.

Following these meetings, Scottish Government officials are in discussions with Scottish Refugee Council to develop a proposal for a stakeholder working group and will continue to engage with campaign members to ensure this meets their priorities.

Phase 3 of the Review of Permitted Development Rights (PDR) has focussed on new and extended PDR for domestic and non-domestic renewable energy equipment to help address the climate and cost crises. A public consultation setting out proposed changes, including details on prior notification/prior approval arrangements, ran between May and August 2023 and several local authorities responded.