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Agreement has been reached through the Police Negotiating Board for a 7% increase to officer pay across all ranks for 2023-24. It means that police officers in Scotland remain the best paid in the UK.

The agreement recognises the valuable contribution police officers make to keeping people and communities across Scotland safe. It is also cognisant of the current economic climate and seeks to recognise the fact that officers are unable to take industrial action.

This agreement ensures a cumulative 12.35% increase in police officer pay since 1 April 2022 which broadly mirrors wage growth for firefighters in the Scottish Fire Rescue Service. In 2023-24 Nurses and Paramedics received a 6.5% pay award.

The 2023-24 Programme for Government and Pay Strategy maintains our commitment to a four-day working week public sector pilot to assess environmental, health and wellbeing benefits and productivity gains this could bring.

The pilot and the concluding report will ensure meaningful insights are gained on the benefits and risks of a four-day working week approach.

We are currently seeking an expert partner organisation to support pilot participants, assist with the pilot design and produce an evaluation report. The work of the expert partner organisation will define the framework to judge the effectiveness of the public sector four-day working week pilot proposal.

The Investing in Communities Fund (ICF) currently supports 105 organisations receiving a share of £27 million over the three years 2023-24 to 2025-26. Many of the organisations receiving ICF are delivering their projects for more than one community area thereby enabling an even wider combined benefit and providing assistance for people living in more than 128 communities.

The organisations that have been supported have been published along with details of the funding awards.

From May 2021 until the end of March 2023 £4,367,055 was spent on 3,800 bikes distributed under the Free Bikes pilot. This figure includes the costs associated with various methods of providing maintenance of the bikes and we are unable to disaggregate the figure into parts (a) and (b) of the question.

In the year 2023-24 we have provided £900,000 of funding to the Cycling Scotland Free Bikes Partnership to continue the scheme, in the first quarter of the year the partnership confirmed £219,000 to 13 organisations that will deliver 612 bikes throughout the year, further funding will be confirmed as the programme continues.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving digital access for learners and ensuring that every school aged child has access to a device by the end of this Parliament. We continue to work COSLA to progress delivery of this commitment.

To inform this process we have committed to developing a digital strategy in partnership with COSLA. This will help ensure digital provision supports the wider aims of the education system. Development of this strategy will aim to deliver the right technology, in the right place, with a workforce that knows how to use it and supporting the work to continue the rollout of devices across Scotland.

Information from local authorities indicates that around 280,000 digital devices have already been distributed to learners across Scotland (including 72,000 funded by the Scottish Government in 2020-21). These devices have been distributed in line with our council’s own digital strategies and budgets, recognising it is they who hold delivery for education locally.

The total number of free bikes issued during the free bikes pilot until the end of March 2023 was 3800. This number relates to bikes issued to school age children between P1 and S6. The bikes would have included a number of specialist and adaptive bikes, which can cost anything between £812 to £2,980.

Cycling Scotland has been awarded further capital grant funding to continue to offering cycles to young people through a free bikes partnership. In the first quarter of the year the partnership confirmed £219,000 to 13 organisations that will deliver 612 bikes throughout the year, further funding will be confirmed as the programme continues.

We continue to work in partnership with local authorities and COSLA on delivery plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a digital device by the end of this parliamentary term in 2026.

This work includes consideration of procurement processes and other costs related to devices, as well as developing a digital strategy for education to help ensure that digital provision supports the wider aims of the education system.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02957 on 12 October 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The deployment, working conditions and health and wellbeing of officers are matters for the Chief Constable. There are processes and mechanisms in place for the Scottish Police Federation to raise any concerns or suggestions for change with Police Scotland through the Joint Negotiating Consultative Committee (JNCC), whose membership includes staff associations and trade unions.

I have three scheduled meetings per year and met with the Scottish Police Federation on 21 December 2022, 10 May 2023 and is scheduled to meet them on 21 September 2023. The Federation also meet regularly with senior Scottish Government officials. During these meetings matters of interest and concern to federation members are discussed.

The Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group was established to ensure a multi-agency, strategic approach towards the development and delivery of Scotland’s .

Members are drawn from the following organisations:

• Age Scotland
• BEMIS
• CEMVO
• COPFS
• COSLA
• Education Scotland
• Equality Network
• Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA)
• Interfaith Scotland
• Police Scotland
• Respectme
• YouthLink Scotland
• Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) (observer)

Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) (observer)There is currently no expectation in the for the Hate Crime Strategic Partnership Group that individual names of members from attending organisations will be published.