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Regional partners have confirmed the initiation of the procurement process for planned work at Windmillcroft Quay, on the south bank of the Clyde at Tradeston. The £50 million allocated via the Glasgow City Region Deal will secure the integrity of the Clyde waterfront, consolidate the quay walls, and contribute to wider development of the river corridor that intends to create a high quality urban, public space that will attract investment and create inclusive economic growth and jobs. Regional partners lead on the procurement process and the detail of what this will include, and are aiming to award the contract by the end of 2023, with works beginning on site in 2024.

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.

Three pilot projects are being supported through this fund. These are located in North Argyll, Moray, and South West Scotland. All three have seen estimated costs increase significantly since the original funding offers were made and have had to adapt plans and budgets accordingly. Subject to planning consent in one instance, work is anticipated to commence within the next few weeks.

An announcement will be made as soon as all three projects get underway. A programme of open days and knowledge transfer is an important element of this project.

Responsibility for the management of local roads, including decision making on street layouts, remains with local authorities as set out in the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.

The Scottish Government supports local authorities to deliver safe and accessible active travel infrastructure through the provision of the £35 million Cycling Walking Safer Routes grant which goes directly to local authorities on a pro rata basis.

Support is also provided to local authorities to deliver safe walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure that is accessible to all through the Scottish Government funded Places for Everyone programme (PfE). Through the PfE programme, support is available at the design stage, and with completion of Equality Impact Assessments (EQIA), to ensure access for all and equality of opportunity in public space.

The Scottish Government is funding Living Streets to research the user experience and consistency in design for walking and cycling infrastructure such as continuous footways and bus stop bypasses.

Where new infrastructure is found to cause accessibility issues for visually impaired people, we would encourage people to engage with their local council.

Scottish Government Human Resources does not hold a central record of the creation or approval of new posts, this process is handled by individual business areas under the direction and approval of a Director. There is no single Directorate responsible for all rural and island based staff.

To provide information that is equivalent to the creation of posts, we have:

• Identified SG offices in rural and island locations based on categorisation established by National Records of Scotland or by Local Authority.
• Provided the headcount of directly employed staff at those locations in each of the last 5 years, with the year-on-year change indicating instances when new posts may have been created.

Our most recently published data are at 30 September 2022. 30 September has been used as the reference date each year for comparison purposes. These data cover staff in Scottish Government Core Directorates only.

Table showing headcount variation year-on-year from 30 September 2018 to 30 September 2022

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.

To date nine mammals including four seals, four otters and one fox have tested positive for influenza of avian origin H5N1 in Scotland. APHA (Animals and Plant Health Agency) routinely undertakes diagnostic testing of wild animals found dead under the GB wildlife surveillance scheme. The detection of the virus does not mean that it was the cause of death of these animals. This is an unusual event and infection of mammals with influenza of avian origin remains an uncommon infection, including in humans. The risk of the H5N1 strain to non-avian UK wildlife remains low.

Of the nine mammals that have tested positive for influenza of avian origin, there are no known links to the release of non-native game birds. The Scottish Government continues to monitor the outputs the GB wildlife surveillance scheme and assess any future risks.

My officials in Scottish Enterprise remain in regular contact with the Joint Administrators and continue to work closely with them to help find a sustainable future for the Stoneywood site in Aberdeen.

The administration process continues to progress and prior to formal marketing of the site, the Administrator has re-engaged with potential interested parties. Any discussions between interested parties and the Administrator will likely take place in the coming weeks.

Each year, Scottish Government receives a copy of the Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR) ‘Annual Review’, which includes the total number of ‘incidents’ and ‘callouts’ involving SMR teams; the collated information from the reports, for each year since 2011, is provided in the following table:-

The Scottish Government notes the Made for Cycling report and recognises the opportunity on offer for Scottish cycling tourism to further develop and for Scotland to establish itself as a world-class cycling destination, as identified within the publication.

The topic paper highlights some of the positive work that VisitScotland has undertaken in recent years, including the creation of a new Cycling Industry Guide, to help businesses and communities maximise the sustainable economic, social and environmental benefits from a growing interest in cycling and cycling tourism. These business advice assets are especially important as Glasgow and Scotland gear up to host the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships between 3 – 13 August.

This event provides a platform to generate behaviour change across Scotland –bringing benefits for individuals, communities and businesses as a result.