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The First Minister is hosting a summit on abortions on 27 June, and an invitation has been offered to the Scottish Trade Union Congress.

In addition to this, Scottish Government has publically stated that it will work constructively with Gillian Mackay MSP on her forthcoming Member’s Bill on buffer zones. Prior to the launch of her consultation, Ms Mackay met with trade unions to discuss her proposal. Ms Mackay also met with myself and the my working group, to discuss her proposal and seek the views of members.

Fire prevention and awareness raising are an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. The Service has been assured that manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (EVs) have taken steps to ensure that their products are safe. Provided that the Lithium Battery power source has not been damaged, available statistics show that fires started by EVs remain very rare. SFRS has therefore no specific contact with ferry operators on the transportation of EVs.

It is a matter for vessel operators to ensure any cargo carried is safe. There is currently no difference in the advice provided to ferry customers with EVs over that of customers with internal combustion engines.

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) carried out a consultation in relation to EV’s travelling on ferries that included firefighting best practice. The MCA published the outcome of this consultation in March 2022 and details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-safety-of-electric-vehicles-on-passenger-ro-ro-ferries .

The Open Market Shared Equity thresholds are reviewed annually each December to reflect the overall movement in average house prices across all transactions over the previous financial year in each area, based on house price data from Registers of Scotland on the lower quartile of house prices in urban areas and the median of house prices in rural areas. The price threshold figures used are rounded up to the nearest £5,000.

Every few years we carry out a more comprehensive analysis of house prices by linking house price data with property characteristics data. This provides more detailed figures by property size category for lower quartile and median prices. This was last carried out using data for 2015-16, and has been applied to the thresholds from 2018 onwards, with the price thresholds for each year as noted above being updated to reflect the overall movement in changes in house prices in each area over time.

The Local Rail Development Fund projects are currently undergoing various stages of the appraisal process and will be considered on a case-by-case basis as per STAG guidelines. Projects will be considered subject to the Scottish Government’s investment priorities for the strategic transport network, a robust business case, affordability and other competing proposals.

Transport Scotland has not held any discussions with (a) ScotRail and (b) NHS Highland regarding how to ensure that people living outside of the Inverness area are able to travel to medical appointments by public transport without requiring an overnight stay.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08835 on 17 June 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

There have been two Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) specialised committee meetings so far this year:

• The Specialised Committee on Energy, on 30 March 2022
• The Specialised Committee on Fisheries, on 27 April 2022

Scottish Government officials accepted invitations as observers to these meetings from the UK delegation.

In 2021 Scottish Government officials accepted invitations, from the UK delegation, as observers to 18 TCA specialised committee meetings:

• Social Security Coordination, on 6t July
• Fisheries, on 20 July
• Energy, on 14 July
• Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, on 22-23 September
• Customs Cooperation and Rules of Origin, on 7 October
• Trade in Goods, on 8 October
• Services, Investment and Digital Trade, on 11 October
• Level Playing Field for Open and Fair Competition and Sustainable Development, on 12 October
• Regulatory Cooperation, on 13 October
• Air Transport, on 14 October
• Technical Barriers to Trade, on 15 October
• Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation, on 19 October
• Fisheries, on 27 October
• Trade Partnership Committee, on 15 November
• Aviation Safety, on 23 November
• Road Transport, on 24 November
• VAT and Recovery of Taxes and Duties, on 15 December
• Participation in Union Programmes, on 21 December

There were a further two TCA specialised committee meetings during 2021 that Scottish Government officials did not observe:

• Public Procurement, on 12 October
•  Intellectual Property, on 13 October

The £1 million International Students’ Emergency Fund announced on 14 April was introduced to support international students who had already chosen to study a course of Further or Higher Education in Scotland who were facing financial hardship as a result of a significant change in circumstances, such as but not limited to global conflict. These funds are administered directly by Scottish colleges and universities so could not be used to support students who are studying remotely with a university out with Scotland.

Scottish domiciled students who are studying via distance learning are considered for funding purposes as part-time students reflecting the fact that students undertaking part-time or distance learning courses are generally more likely to be able to support their studies through some form of paid employment or will be entitled to support from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

We are aware that some Ukrainian nationals who are now resettled in Scotland who are continuing studies with a Ukrainian intuitions remotely studying remotely with their Ukrainian university may be unable to access financial support that other Ukrainian nationals are due to their being categorised as full-time students by the DWP.

We consider that Ukrainian students who are studying via distance learning at a Ukrainian institution should be treated in the same fashion as Scottish domiciled students. Accordingly, I have written to the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to urge her to review the DWP position.

We also continue to consider how we might be able to provide further support for Ukrainian nationals studying in Scotland.

Although there is no legislative requirement to publish noise reports for major roads projects Transport Scotland has previously published these where appropriate to be helpful, transparent and open.

Following introduction of the Data Protection Act 2018, Transport Scotland has considered how the requirements of the Act apply to the information contained within these noise reports and whether their publication would still be possible.

It has concluded that to ensure it does not breach the Act, all personal data such as addresses would require to be removed prior to publication, making the remaining published information incapable of interpretation and informing the public and communities of anything meaningful.

However, in line with Data Protection Act 2018, property owners can request access to their own personal data contained within the noise survey reports by contacting Transport Scotland.

We published our Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland in March 2021. Since its publication we have established the Scottish Respiratory Advisory Committee (SRAC) to provide governance and oversight of the Plan implementation.

The SRAC held their first meeting in October of last year, at which, the SRAC agreed three initial priority areas for the first year of implementation. These are: pulmonary rehabilitation, data and child to adult transition services. Sub-groups have been established for each of these priority areas with membership comprising of clinical experts and third sector.

Each of the sub-groups have held their first meeting with further meetings taking place ahead of the SRAC in July. We are continuing to work with the SRAC to identify further commitments in the Plan that can begin to be progressed.

We have also funded The Alliance to launch a Respiratory lived experience network, in order to ensure that the experiences of those living with respiratory conditions are taken into account when delivering the commitments in the RCAP. The Respiratory Network was launched on 14 December 2021. The Network is represented on each of the sub-groups and the Alliance is currently working with sub-group members to determine the first pieces of work it will take to the Network. The Alliance is also in the process of expanding the Network’s membership to target groups specifically affected by the sub-groups’ focuses.