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The valuation of all non-domestic property, including the sites of ATMs, is a matter for the Scottish Assessors who are independent of local and Scottish Government.

We are aware that Assessors were considering the valuation of ATM sites and they concluded that in most retail premises it is likely that such sites will be deleted from the Valuation Roll. Assessors are in the process of carrying out this exercise.

Where a property is removed from the Valuation Roll, the ratepayer will be entitled to a refund of any overpaid rates back to the effective date of deletion.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12387 on 29 November 2022. 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 have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Our response to the pandemic has always been aligned with public health advice whether locally or nationally. We gradually and cautiously lifted regime restrictions that were necessary and proportionate to protect the health and wellbeing of those who live and work in our prisons. We continue to work through a Transition Plan and focus on restoration of regimes as we move out of the pandemic phase.

There were no prosecutions under regulation 44(1) of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (where main crime) since 1 January 2011.

Please note: The latest available data is for 2020-21. Information for 2021-22 will not be available until publication of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 Statistical Bulletin. This is due to be published in 2023.

Recruitment, training and deployment of firefighters are Operational decisions for the SFRS board and chief officer. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has provided assurance that at no point was there ever no firefighter cover for any area in Scotland. SFRS ensure that at any time a fire appliance is not available the nearest available appliance is mobilised to ensure every emergency is attended to.

In common with all parts of the UK and beyond, there are challenges with recruitment and retention of on-call firefighters in remote and rural areas in Scotland. SFRS has established a National On Call Leadership Forum which is identifying and driving improvements in recruitment.

The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport met with Solar Energy Scotland (SES) in February, with the Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth meeting with them in May and myself in September. In addition to ministerial meetings, officials in energy and planning meet with SES and other industry participants regularly. During these ministerial and official meetings a number of points relating to solar have been discussed, including permitted development rights.

Overall reliability across the ChargePlace Scotland network is typically very good with the entire network up and running around 95% of the time each month . Most faults on the network are short-lived and in the majority of cases require no physical intervention or a visit by an engineer. Typically around 90% of faults are resolved within 48 hrs with the ChargePlace Scotland helpdesk often remedying faults remotely.

ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) has a robust fault management process in place underpinned by KPIs as set out in the CPS contract. The CPS website provides information on fault management and relevant KPIs.

The Scottish Government does not have ready access to information regarding average and longest time in between a fault being identified and being made operational again. However, a new Network Performance page has recently been published on the ChargePlace Scotland website , which will routinely be updated with detailed information on fault tickets and the performance of the network.

Based on charge points available or in use on the ChargePlace Scotland live map there are 137 charge points that are currently operational along the A9.

Scottish Government officials have met with European Commission officials regarding sharing knowledge and expertise on the operational elements of the Erasmus+ programme’s mobility and exchange, pertaining to the development of a Scottish Education Exchange Programme.

As gathering and publishing employment data is the responsibility of HMRC, there is currently no data available to the Scottish Government on the number of Ukrainians living in Scotland under the Super Sponsor Scheme who have been supported into employment. HMRC publish counts of employments held by non-UK nationals in Scotland as part of their experimental statistics publication ‘payrolled employments in the UK by region, industry and nationality’. HMRC are planning to publish an update to these statistics in 2023.

The Scottish Government is taking action to ensure that displaced people seeking work in Scotland are provided with a full range of information, as early as possible, to help inform their employment decisions and settle well in Scotland. Scottish businesses are eager to employ Ukrainians who have arrived, recognising the skills they bring with them. We are working with councils, third and private sectors, Skills Development Scotland and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure arrivals can seek out and secure employment, including through job fairs.