We understand from regular contact with colleagues in UK Government that the third round of the Levelling Up Fund is in development however we have no further information or clarity on when or how the funds will be allocated.

The Scottish Government maintains that this funding should be devolved to us to distribute in line with our regional economic policy arrangements.

Specific data on job creation is not collected. Over the past ten years, the estimated numbers of manufacturing jobs in Scotland, rounded to the nearest 1,000, were as follows:

Our ambitious work on suicide prevention is underpinned by a significant funding commitment of £2.5 million in 2023-24. This includes funding of approximately £1.9 million specifically focused on the delivery and implementation of the Creating Hope Together Action Plan and ongoing research to inform future suicide prevention activity and targeted support. Funding of approximately £600,000 has been allocated to taking forward priority programmes initiated under the previous plan including our bereavement support service pilot and the improvement of suicidal crisis responses.

The £2.5 million ring-fenced for suicide prevention is part of the core mental health budget. However, other elements of the mental health budget also support suicide prevention work. For example, our £15 million per annum Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults supported nearly 300 suicide prevention projects in 2022-23. Likewise, wider Scottish Government spending contributes to tackling the inequalities which can contribute to suicide.

The Scottish Government, through our National Delivery Lead, will be tracking national spend against the annual delivery plan and £2.5 million budget. We will not be tracking local spend. It is for local authorities and NHS teams to agree local action plans which meet local needs and agree resources to support these. As at the national level, there is recognition that suicide prevention involves a broad range of services and budgets including housing, money advice, alcohol and drug services, and it is therefore not possible to determine the full funding picture. We will however be actively working with our local partners, including NHS Boards and local authorities, to identify opportunities to co-ordinate action and share practice and learning so that our collective plans and resources work to prevent suicide.

All Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) have distinct methodology and approaches for the attraction of inward investment, impacting each IPA’s reporting and monitoring of country-level or sub-national inward investment performance and securing of inward investment global market share. Without a full and detailed knowledge of how other IPAs approach this, including the approach adopted by the IDA Ireland, it would be inappropriate for the Scottish Government to comment on comparative inward investment agency performance.

However, the Scottish Government does take an evidence-based approach to inward investment attraction and performance, which we keep under regular review. According to the most recent independent, industry recognised EY Annual Attractiveness Survey 2023, Scotland has been the most attractive foreign direct investment (FDI) location outside of London for the last eight years, providing clear evidence that our Team Scotland approach to attracting good quality inward investment is working.

For ease of reference I’ve included a link to EY’s independent Annual Attractiveness Survey 2023 if you would like to know more Scotland’s foreign investment grows with record results | EY UK

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20714 on 19 September 2023. 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20714 on 19 September 2023. 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 Scottish Government remains committed to implementing NHS dental payment reform on 1 November 2023 which will retain independent dental practices as the mainstay of NHS provision. Payment reform will also continue to comprise fee-per-item, capitation and allowance payments within a blended model.

In bringing forward payment reform, Scottish Government is seeking to address how best to maximise patient care and access to NHS dental services within a challenging financial position, and ensure value-for-money to the public sector. It is our view this can only be done by maintaining the blended system of payment, and our engagement with the sector during the development of reform has shown that dentists prefer being able to determine their own income and workload through the fee-per-item model.

The Scottish Government is currently responding to the committee’s letter in full, and this response will be published in due course.

The schedule NHS Scotland buildings included in the on-site phase of the survey programme was submitted as part of the answer to question S6W-19366 on 21 July 2023 and was published on the NHS Scotland Assure website on the 15th September 2023: RAAC -List of Properties v1 Jul 23 (nhs.scot) . 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 list of buildings to be surveyed was included in the answer to question S6W-19366 on 21 July 2023. NHS Scotland Assure published the list of buildings to be surveyed on the 15th September 2023: RAAC -List of Properties v1 Jul 23 (nhs.scot) . In response to part (b) of the Question; there have, as of the 19th September 2023, been 14 properties confirmed to contain RAAC, these will also be published in due course. 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 .

There have been 91 NHS buildings surveyed under the RAAC survey programme (as at 19th September 2023).