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The Scottish Government is grateful to all officers who provide a blue light response as they attend serious incidents. The additional skills gained by officers as they undertake emergency response driver training is integral to providing an effective and safe response to 999 calls.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on Police Scotland’s driver training programme. Delivery and recording of this specialist training is a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the SPA.

The Scottish Government welcomes the results of this survey from Scotland’s two main autism charities. This Bill extends further than autism and includes people with a learning disability and potentially a wider range of neurodivergent conditions. However, from our scoping work with a range of stakeholders we understand that even within the autism community there are a range of views on how this might be taken forward and no wider consensus regarding the benefit of a Commissioner.

We have undertaken significant engagement to date, scoping the Bill with a range of stakeholders. The report analysing the findings of these engagement events will be published soon.

We are establishing a lived experience panel to work closely with us to co-design and deliver a consultation paper later this year, which will set out options for the Bill, including the potential role and duties of a Commissioner.

I refer the member to the question S6W-14257 on 30 January 2023. Detail on the facilities in place at fire stations and their condition is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Work is underway across the SFRS estate to improve facilities within the scope of their allocated budget, so the outstanding upgrade needs are an evolving picture. The Scottish Government has access to this information but to ensure the most accurate data is provided, the member should contact the Chief Officer of SFRS directly if he wishes access to this level of detail.

The statistical release on Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme expressions of interest data reconciliation exercise was published by the Scottish Government on 17 February 2023: https://www.gov.scot/publications/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-in-scotland-expressions-of-interest-data-reconciliation-exercise-february-2023/ . This is a one-time ad-hoc release of management information and does not constitute an Official Statistics or National Statistics release.

The Scottish Government is a founding partner of CyberScotland Week which is celebrating its fifth year.

The Scottish Government has also set up the CyberScotland Partnership which now manages the Week. This year there are over 100 events taking place across the country, and across all sectors, ranging from raising awareness to upskilling to promoting careers in the cyber security industry.

I will be officially opening CyberScotland Week at the FutureScot Cyber Security Conference in Glasgow on 27 February. On the same day, the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise will be officially opening Systal Technology Solutions’ Secure Operations Centre at their headquarters in Robroyston. The Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport is also participating in the Week by sharing cyber resilience messaging to sports’ Governing Bodies.

Like many organisations across Scotland, the Scottish Government is participating in CyberScotland Week by providing a programme of staff training and awareness events.

Scottish Government works to support the development of the game and more particularly the venison sector in Scotland as part of its wider ambition to grow the food and drink sector.

The strategy for the venison sector, ‘Beyond the Glen’, is industry-led and through this, the industry aims to raise their profile and promote sustainability and growth. We support the sector in delivery of the strategy through ongoing engagement to understand and respond to the challenges they face.

Scottish Government has provided support in delivery of the strategy, including though funding of £60,000 for an online promotion campaign in 2021 and £80,000 from the Covid Recovery Opportunities Fund for an ongoing pilot project for new local chill and processing facilities.

Scottish Government is also providing funding of £20,000 for an industry project which is currently underway to assess current capacity and infrastructure through Approved Game Handling Establishments, collection centres, chills and other smaller local processing enterprises. The project is looking ahead towards projected cull increases over the next 10 years so that all carcasses where possible can be accepted into - and processed - for the human food chain.

We will continue to explore ways that we can work with the industry to ensure its continued development.

“Beyond the Glen” is an industry-led strategy and therefore responsibility for delivery does not lie with Scottish Government. We work to support the industry in development of the sector, including through delivery of the strategy, and we have provided additional funding where possible.

The Scottish Venison Association (SVA) is proposing that a review of the strategy should be undertaken in 2023. Part of this activity will include an internal review of the SVA.

The Scottish Mental Health Law Review published its final report on 30 September 2022 and set out over 200 proposals for reform. The report recommendations are complex and wide-ranging, and cross-government work is underway to consider them and assess their implications.

We intend to set out our initial Scottish Government response to the Review report, including priority actions that will be taken forward, by summer 2023.

The Scottish Government is examining the risk assessment conclusion in detail given the serious impact of HPAI (High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza) on wild and kept birds and will monitor risk levels and carefully consider its response over coming months.

The release of game birds is prohibited within an avian influenza protection zone and surveillance zone.

When kept there is a legal requirement to report suspicion of notifiable avian disease in game birds.

Where Special Protected Area (SPA)/Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) are designated for vulnerable species consent from NatureScot is required for release of game birds.

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked Douglas Millican, Chief Executive, to respond. His response is as follows:

Scottish Water does not support or encourage the use of dowsing and provides its employees with equipment and training to ensure they use methods for finding underground assets and leaks which are scientifically tried and tested. These include ground microphones, correlators, and metal detectors and other devices to pinpoint the exact location of underground assets and leaks. Scottish Water does not budget or spend money on any form of divination or dowsing tools and training.