The number of employers supported was especially high in 2020-21 as this was when employers submitted HR1 notifications as they thought they would have to make large numbers of employees redundant as a result of the pandemic.

Full details are as follows.

The Scottish Government committed up to £20M in funding to the Social Security Independent Advocacy Service over four years from September 2021.

After extensive engagement with advocacy stakeholders, it was concluded that this service should be delivered under contract by a single national provider or consortium of providers. The Invitation to Tender was open to all third sector bodies that deliver advocacy services – and a Contract Notice was published on 12 May 2021 in the usual way via Public Contracts Scotland. Following the conclusion of the regulated procurement exercise VoiceAbility were appointed the first national provider of the service in September 2021. This initial contract runs until August 2023 with the opportunity to extend by a further two one-year periods.

This information is not held centrally. Local authorities and integrated health & social care partnerships are responsible for commissioning services for people in their area.

This information is not held centrally. Local authorities and integrated health & social care partnerships are responsible for commissioning services for people in their area.

It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including any public funding for care homes, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

Ensuring the development and availability of sector-specific skills is central to a just transition towards reaching our net-zero targets.

We will be taking forward work on sector-specific skills needs for the renewable energy sector as we finalise the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan and the refresh of the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan.

In addition, through our work on oil and gas analysis, which will be published in due course, we are developing our understanding of the opportunities in sectors across the energy economy, and we will use that to inform future skills work.

Information on school facilities is not held nationally by the Scottish Government. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to manage and maintain their school estate. They would be best placed to advise on facilities in their schools. In line with our principles of inclusion, the Scottish Government encourages schools to deliver a positive learning environment; one that supports the child’s or young person’s learning and wellbeing, creates a sense of safety, encourages participation and reduces stress.

In 2022, we ran a public consultation on the draft of the new physical intervention in schools guidance Physical intervention in schools: draft guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . The draft human rights-based guidance is clear that restraint and seclusion should only be used as a last resort to prevent a child or young person coming to harm. Safeguards must be followed at all times. This position is also clear in existing guidance on the use of physical intervention and seclusion.

We are carefully considering all consultation responses received and recognise that there are calls for further legislation in this area. A consultation analysis report is currently being prepared. Alongside the publication of the guidance, and in line with our original commitments, we are exploring options to strengthen the legal framework in this area, including placing the guidance on a statutory basis.

Thrombectomy services are run on a regional basis with North, East and West of Scotland hubs. Prior to making funding allocations to regions for the 2023-24 financial year, the Scottish Government has asked that each region provides detailed workforce resourcing plans and can demonstrate how these plans will increase the provision of thrombectomy procedures. This is in line with our aim of further expanding the national thrombectomy service and maximising the number of patients able to benefit from this treatment.

As of 9 February 2023, there were 88 electric vehicle charge points with rapid charging capabilities installed at 41 service stations across the road network. These contribute to an overall network of almost 950 devices, meaning Scotland has by far the greatest number of rapid charge points per head of population than any other part of the UK.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09365 on 7 July 2022. Information on the number of complaints regarding the use of restraint in schools and care settings is not collected at a national level by the Scottish Government. Under existing guidance, any use of physical intervention in schools, including restraint, must be recorded and monitored by local authorities. This is in addition to the inspection roles of carried out by Education Scotland.

The Scottish Government encourages all concerns or disagreements in relation to service provision to be resolved at as local a level as possible, where that is appropriate. Complaints can also be submitted in line with the service’s complaints handling procedure, with referrals made to the local authority and public services ombudsman, where appropriate. Where there are concerns about the professional conduct of a teacher registered with the GTCS, these can be referred to the GTCS for further examination. All children and young people, and their families, should be informed of all the routes available to them to make a complaint.

In all settings, police or social work should be informed without delay if there are concerns that a child or young person has suffered harm as a result of restraint. A child protection referral can run in parallel to local complaints handling and disciplinary procedures. Child protection procedures will be initiated when police, social work or health determine that a child may have been significantly harmed or may be at risk of significant harm.

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 information requested is not held centrally.