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Support from the Circular Textiles Fund is available without capital expenditure requirements.Applicants from the first round are currently being supported to develop their proposals further, to make best use of the funding.Further information on support for applicants to the Circular Textiles Fund is available at: - https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/circular-textiles-fund 

The Director for Agriculture and Rural Economy was the only person from the Scottish Government who received an invite to the “Farm to Fork” Summit at 10 Downing Street on 16 May, and he attended. No Ministers were invited to the event.

The pay offer was made at a time of extraordinary financial pressure on the Scottish Government budget. As the previous Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills made clear when the teachers’ pay deal was agreed, difficult decisions will be necessary to free up the required resources. As is normal practice, changes to allocations will be reported to Parliament through autumn and spring budget revisions.

Our ‘New Deal for Tenants’ consultation sought views on proposals to strengthen the rights of tenants including greater rights to have a pet. We are currently developing proposals for future reform. The timing and content of a Housing Bill is currently being considered as we continue to deliver our emergency response to support tenants through the ongoing cost of living crisis.

No consideration has been given to a moratorium on the creation of bus stop bypasses. Local authorities are responsible for management of local roads and paths and the Scottish Government has no authority to make such a mandate.

The Scottish Government is committed to Keeping the Promise and ensuring that families are supported to stay together when it is safe to do so. While we still have more work to do, it is positive progress that the recent Infant's Born into Care Report confirms that the proportion of children entering care before their first birthday in Scotland has fallen since 2018 - from 122 in every 10,000 to 91 in every 10,000 in 2021.

The Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach ensures that children and families can access support across maternity, health visiting, family nursing and social work services to help them thrive. Where it is deemed that a child requires statutory support for their care, the Local Authority becomes their Corporate Parent and are responsible for working with partners to ensure that the right services are in place to deliver a personalised plan to meet their needs.

The Scottish Government has provided funding and technical assistance to local authorities to design and deliver projects through the Spaces for People, Places for Everyone and National Cycle Network programmes that are delivered by Sustrans Scotland, and a small number of these projects contain bus stop bypasses.

Pre-pandemic, the poverty related attainment gap in primary schools was closing across Scotland, including in South Lanarkshire. We nonetheless recognise the negative impact of the pandemic. We are now seeing strong evidence of recovery: the latest published data, the 2021-22 Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (ACEL) data, shows the biggest single year decrease in the gap in primary numeracy and literacy levels since records began (in 2016-17).

Before the pandemic, the attainment gap in South Lanarkshire was below the national average. During the pandemic, in 2020-21, we saw a widening in the attainment gap across the country, with the gap in South Lanarkshire widening by more than the average change nationally. Data from 2021-22 shows that South Lanarkshire has started to recover from the impact of the pandemic in both literacy and numeracy.

South Lanarkshire Council received £10.9 million of Scottish Attainment Challenge funding in 22-23, empowering headteachers and Local Government to achieve their ambitions to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty. This includes:

• South Lanarkshire schools receiving almost £8.95 million Pupil Equity Funding for headteachers enabling them to invest in the best approaches to raise attainment of the pupils in their schools.
• South Lanarkshire Council receiving over £1.4 million Strategic Equity Funding to develop strategic plans for closing the poverty related attainment gap; and
• Care Experience Children and Children Young People Funding of £628,425.

There are records of 212 instances of damaging or unconsented activities on SSSIs that have not been attributed to third parties. No compensatory agreements have been entered into as a result of these cases.

NatureScot is only obliged to offer compensation to a land manager if the SSSI consenting process restricts the established management of their land and where this leads to a loss of income. NatureScot has 89 active compensatory Management Agreements with land managers to prevent damaging activity. The majority date back to before 2013. The majority of active Management Agreements entered in to by NatureScot contain provisions for proactive management to restore or maintain biodiversity.

The following table sets out the charging and convictions data requested:

A total of (a) £18.181 million has been allocated from the (b) £30 million demand-led Rural and Islands Housing Fund for the current parliamentary term. The following table provides a breakdown of allocated funds between rural and island by local authority area.