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The following table summarises the rejected Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) applications, specifically Organic Farming, that have been appealed. It records the number of applications that were (a) upheld following appeal and (b) are awaiting a decision, in each year since 2015.

Please note that the 2020 round was not open to new applications, rather a one year’s extension was offered to all Management options that were due to end in 2020. Not all businesses accepted the offer. 63 Organic applications were offered an extension with 55 applications accepting.

The 2021 round that closed at the beginning of July 2021 was also extended. These applications are still being assessed.

The following table summarises the number of Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) applications received, applying specifically Improving Public Access (IPA), and of those how many were (a) were approved and (b) are awaiting a decision, in each year since 2015. The figures below exclude those applications that were submitted then subsequently withdrawn by the businesses concerned.

Please note that the 2020 round did not include the IPA option and that the 2019 round was not open to new applications, rather a one year’s extension was offered to all Management options that were due to end in 2020. Not all businesses accepted the offer. Improving Public Access is not a Management Option, it is capital only, and as such was not included in the round.

The 2021 round that closed at the beginning of July 2021 was also extended. These applications are still being assessed.

1Excludes those applications that were submitted then subsequently withdrawn by the businesses concerned.

* Application type not included in Round

Our Equally Safe Strategy sets out Scotland’s ambition to tackle and eradicate all forms of violence against women and we continue to implement this with a clear and decisive focus on primary prevention of violence.

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC chairs the independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice which is considering how the Scottish criminal justice system can better deal with misogyny and the harassment of women in public spaces. The Chair has confirmed that the Working Group’s report will be published in February 2022 and we will act swiftly to consider its recommendations.

On 4 November I chaired an urgent roundtable with representatives from the night time economy, health, education and third sectors to discuss spiking and interventions required to tackle violence against women. We are now considering the themes arising from these discussions with an ambition to agree upon robust reporting pathways, safeguarding interventions and long-term preventative measures that can be taken to address the issue of male violence against women.

Section 24 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 places an obligation on conservation bodies to review every five years Schedules 5 and 8 and advise Scottish Ministers whether, in their opinion: (a) any animal should be added to, or removed from, Schedule 5; (b) any plant should be added to, or removed from, Schedule 8.

Revised criteria for the review process were agreed by the Chief Scientist Group representing the three statutory nature conservation organisations, including NatureScot. It is not for the Scottish Government to approve the method by which the review mentioned above is undertaken.

My predecessor chaired the Scottish Steel Sector Round Table (SSRT) on a biannual basis. The SSRT completed the work on a report into the state of the steel sector in Scotland at its last meeting on 2 November 2020.

The main concern for the steel industry continues to be energy prices, especially in the light of recent price rises, and the impact this has on wider developments in the industry. Energy is a matter reserved to the UK Government, which earlier this year revived the UK Steel Council. I am a member of this Council and continue to press for progress on matters key to the success of the steel sector in Scotland.

Officials within Scottish Government have regular, sometimes daily discussions with equivalent renewable energy sector team officials within Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Immediately following the announcement that the company had entered into administration, HIE officials contacted Scottish Government officials to inform them so that this information could be relayed to Scottish Ministers.

In order to meet our net zero ambitions on Scotland’s Railway, 147 diesel trains, comprising 390 carriages with a capacity of approximately 25,000 seats in total, will be replaced by 2035 by a mix of electric, battery and hydrogen powered fleets.

The total number of vehicles and seats required will depend upon the changed travel behaviour of ScotRail passengers over that period as they respond to the rolling programme of rail investment consistent with the Scottish Rail Decarbonisation Action Plan.

The following table provides a breakdown of the fleet by fuel type.

The Fuel Poverty Strategy was laid in Parliament on the 9th November and, as set out in the Programme for Government 2021, will be published by the end of this calendar year.

The public appointments process for the independent statutory Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel has been progressed and an announcement on the appointment of the Chair and members of the Panel will be made shortly.

The benefits of the project, post Covid-19, remain the same in terms of delivering a carbon free journey for rail passengers along the entire length of the route and has been improved by the inclusion of a range of accessibility improvements at key stations. This includes a new station at Hairmyres which will also be an active travel and interchange hub.

This preferred option was recommended by and agreed with rail industry partners Network Rail and ScotRail following detailed consideration of a wide range of options, the business case appraisal of which has followed appropriate Scottish Government processes. This analysis took account of ScotRail’s pre-covid passenger count data and the industry’s forecasted post-Covid demand patterns, which the preferred combined electrified double and single track option will be able to serve fully and more reliably than the current diesel train operation.