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To date, £150,000 has been allocated to Phase 1 of the Small Business Research Initiative competition which will see competitors develop a feasibility study for their proposed ideas. This funding will be distributed to organisations incrementally over the next six months pending the achievement of key milestones. Winners from Phase 1 can enter Phase 2 of the competition where contracts will be up to £150,000 each.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00108 on 25 May 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The independent analysis of responses received to the consultation on provisions for a Future Islands Bill was published on the Scottish Government's website on 14 March 2016: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/03/4180.

The Scottish Government is committed to bringing forward an Islands Bill and will set out plans for this in due course.

In December 2015, Transport Scotland commissioned consultants to conduct a comprehensive study to inform the specification of the next Northern Isles ferry service contract, commencing in April 2018.

The study is being overseen by a working group of key stakeholders, including Orkney and Shetland Islands Councils, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, HITRANS and ZetTrans, and will report in late Summer 2016.

A wider consultation exercise with the public and other key stakeholders, including Serco Northlink, was conducted earlier this year, with a further round of consultation due in the coming months.

Fare levels are being considered as part of this study and decisions on future fare levels will be made in due course.

I have arranged to meet with the member to discuss this further.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-30383 on 22 March 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Healthy Living Survey results from 2015 outlined that 93% of pupils in secondary schools (S1-S4) received at least 100 minutes of PE each week. This PE provision was delivered by either a General Teaching Council for Scotland registered class teacher or a PE specialist.

Education Scotland continue to support all schools to help them improve the quality of PE.

Healthy Living survey results for 2016 will be published in June 2016.

The Scottish Government has established a steering group to bring together partners to discuss how they are contributing to delivering the actions and to track progress. Local authorities are represented on this group by COSLA and KIMO. Activities currently being undertaken include encouraging companies to produce alternatives to plastic microbeads in personal care products and promoting a plastics industry code of conduct. The Scottish Government also continues to support Fishing for Litter Scotland and plays a full part in implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Scotland’s first national marine plan includes a general policy on marine litter which is reflected in the pilot marine spatial plan for the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters developed in partnership with Orkney Islands Council and Highland Council.

This information was published on 9 December 2015 in Table 2.1 of the Summary statistics for schools in Scotland, No.6: 2015 Edition’ (http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/12/7925).

The pupil teacher ratio (PTR) in primary schools has increased from 16.1 in 2011 to 16.7 in 2015. The PTR in secondary schools has decreased from 12.3 in 2011 to 12.2 in 2015. See the following table for figures for interim years.

PTR	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Primary	16.1	16.3	16.5	16.8	16.7
Secondary	12.3	12.2	12.2	12.2	12.2

The Scottish Government legislated, through the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, to require separate collection of food waste and dry recyclable materials, and to restrict materials going to landfill or incineration. All bills in this parliamentary session have passed.

Data on teachers by sector and subject is published as part of the online dataset associated with the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland (http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/teachcenssuppdata).

(a) Early learning and childcare (ELC) teachers recorded:

(i) January 2007 = 1,689

(ii) September 2015 = 1,038

In 2010 the ELC teacher census moved to September (in line with the main teacher census) meaning figures are not directly comparable.

Figures are full-time equivalent (FTE).

(b) Teachers recorded in the census with a language as their main subject:

(i) 2007 = 1,746 FTE teachers (of which 81% worked full-time)

(ii) 2015 = 1,344 FTE teachers (of which 75% worked full-time).

This data is for teachers at publicly funded secondary schools, and excludes head teachers or deputy head teachers as we do not collect subject information for teachers at these grades.

In 2015, there were an additional 18 FTE centrally employed teachers with a main subject of a language, but we do not hold an equivalent figure for 2007.

(c) Teachers recorded in the census with a science related subject as their main subject:

(i) 2007 = 3,272 FTE teachers (of which 90% worked full-time)

(ii) 2015 = 3,032 FTE teachers (of which 85% worked full-time).

This data excludes head teachers or deputy head teachers as we do not collect subject information for teachers at these grades.

In 2015, there were an additional 15 FTE centrally employed teachers with a main subject of languages, but we do not hold an equivalent figure for 2007.