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The Scottish Government, through Transport Scotland and its delivery partner Energy Saving Trust (EST), undertake a full review and evaluation of the Switched-on Taxi Loan Scheme at the end of each financial year. A decision on the future of this scheme will be made shortly.

To promote the loan scheme, EST undertakes comprehensive sector outreach each year, which includes sector events, business referrals, and the publication and dissemination of information and advice, including Vehicle Comparison reports to highlight the benefits of switching to an electric taxi.

The Scottish Government fully appreciates that many students are facing higher energy bills and increased financial hardship as a consequence of the current cost of living crisis.

Over £37 million of hardship funding has been provided to colleges and universities by the Scottish Government since June 2021. These funds are available for colleges and universities to use up until 31 July 2022.

Students in further or higher education currently experiencing financial hardship should apply to their college or university for support from Discretionary Funds. I wrote to college and university principals last month asking them to continue to prioritise the allocation of hardship funds to those students most in need, and to take account of the impact of rising energy bills.

The Scottish Government has also recently announced a £350 uplift to the undergraduate student loan package from 2022-23. This represents the first step in delivering our manifesto commitment to provide student support equivalent to the living wage over the next three years. This increase ensures that the most disadvantaged students in higher education will receive bursary and loan support of up to £8,100.

We published our NHS Recovery Plan on 25 August 2021, which sets out our ambition of increasing NHS capacity by at least 10% as quickly as possible in order to address the backlog of care and meet the ongoing healthcare needs for people across Scotland.

Backed by over £1 billion of funding, the Plan will support an increase in inpatient, daycase, and outpatient activity to address the backlog of care, which will be supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements through new models of care.

Health Boards’ elective activity is being actively monitored through daily and weekly returns to the Scottish Government and support provided where required.

As the First Minister set out we have developing a managed transition plan which will ensure that Scotland continues to have a proportionate and effective testing response as we learn to live with COVID. As part of this we are reviewing the groups of individuals who will need to access a COVID test for treatment in line with the latest clinical advice and risk assessments.

The health and wellbeing of everyone in Scotland, including those who are immunosuppressed or immuno-compromised, is paramount as we transition out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the success of the initial vaccination programme, the Scottish Government recently announced that a spring booster dose will be offered to everyone aged 12 and over who is immunosuppressed, in line with the JCVI recommendations.

Immunosuppressed individuals are also eligible for new treatments to minimise the impact of Covid-19, should they contract it, and have priority access to testing to ensure they receive these as quickly as possible. We will continue to respond to scientific and clinical advice regarding COVID treatments, making sure that those who we know will benefit most from them are able to access them.

We will continue to provide advice and information for people on the Highest Risk List in the meantime, including how to get help to re-connect with people and things they were doing before the pandemic, and we will continue to look at ways to identify people who may be at higher risk and ask them to follow the individualised advice from their GP or clinician who knows their circumstances and health condition best.

The Scottish Government is keen to ensure that asylum seekers in Scotland are able to access free bus travel under the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme and the Older and Disabled Persons Scheme.

I am alive to challenges being faced by different groups, including asylum seekers, in accessing the free bus schemes. I met officials from the Improvement Service, which is the accountable body for the National Entitlement Card (NEC) Scheme, on 7 February to discuss what more can be done to make the application process easier for refugees and asylum seekers.

Officials have been in discussion with organisations that support asylum seekers, including the Scottish Refugee Council, on how best to make the application process accessible to asylum seekers and refugees. They have also put Glasgow Life, who administer the NEC scheme in Glasgow, in touch with organisations that support asylum seekers to discuss application routes.

The Improvement Service issued guidance on applications for asylum seekers and refugees to Local Authorities, who administer in person applications, in September 2021. This guidance advised that proofs specific to asylum seekers and refugees, such as the Application Registration Card (ARC) issued by the Home Office, can be used to apply for a NEC in person, in conjunction with other information or evidence available to a council, a school or a dedicated staff member within a Local Authority.

This information is available on the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme page on the Transport Scotland website.

The Scottish Government takes an inclusive approach for people seeking asylum, enabling access to support and services on the same basis as other Scottish residents where there is not a specific prohibition on access through immigration legislation or rules.

We recognise that asylum seekers may have difficulties in accessing free bus travel and recommend that they apply in person, rather than through the online application route.

The Improvement Service issued guidance on applications for asylum seekers and refugees to Local Authorities, who administer in person applications, in September 2021. This guidance advised that proofs specific to asylum seekers and refugees, the Application Registration Card (ARC) issued by the Home Office, can be used to apply for a NEC in person, in conjunction with other information or evidence available to a council, a school or a dedicated staff member within a Local Authority.

The ARC is not accepted for online applications as under the UK Proof of Age Scheme (PASS) it cannot be used to establish evidence of identification online and there is no online equivalent to the help provided offline to support applications.

The Improvement Service guidance has been passed to charities working with asylum seekers and refugees to help with the process. Officials will continue to engage with these groups to discuss how best to help asylum seekers get free bus travel.

The Scottish Government will invest £60 million to renew play parks in Scotland, so children have access to high-quality outdoor play in their own communities. This funding is for public, free-to-access parks and will be distributed to local authorities over the course of this parliamentary term.

In 2021-22, Glasgow City Council received £525,000 funding. For the financial year 2022-23, the Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed an allocation of £514,000 to Glasgow City Council to support the renewal of play parks. We wrote to all local authorities to confirm their second allocation of funding on 24 February 2022.

The 22 zero-emission electric buses owned by First Bus, which were partly funded through Transport Scotland's Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS), are all now in service on routes in Glasgow following COP26 in October.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to legislate on the model adopted by land-owning land maintenance companies.

We are however, currently working on a non-statutory voluntary Code of Practice in relation to the dismissal and replacement of land-owning land maintenance companies. The Code would introduce guidance on the minimum standards expected from any land-owning land maintenance company following a request from homeowners formally requesting to dismiss and replace them. This would include information that such companies should provide to homeowners, following the transfer of the ownership of the land, and future arrangements for maintaining the land.