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The Cabinet Sub-Committee on the Climate Emergency is currently being established. Once finalised, the remit of the new Sub-committee, including its membership and operating arrangements will be subject to approval by the First Minister.

Our priority is to ensure a successful, safe and secure COP26 in November and Ministers and officials are working with UK Government counterparts, our partners in Glasgow and the relevant public health bodies to achieve this.

We are continuing to work closely with the UK Government, Glasgow City Council, and all our partners to ensure that strong COVID mitigation measures are in place that will support the full and active participation of international delegates, and protect public health.

Further details on vaccine certification for registered COP26 delegates will be announced shortly.

I am grateful that these resources have been made available by the group. I would like to engage more with the group to discuss what actions we can take in Scotland to harness the benefits from this sector to the people of Scotland and the environment. My officials will be in touch to begin discussions.

In the Programme for Government 2021 - 2022 we have updated the target from a minimum of 3,000 hectares per year of new native woodland creation, to a minimum of 4,000 hectares. That is an increase.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02816 on 22 September 2021. 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 .

In 2021-22 the Scottish Government allocated £11.7 billion to authorities and it is the responsibility of individual councils to manage their own budgets and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

The resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and we are aware that authorities across the country are under financial pressure, and that this has impacted on planning departments. That is why in 2019 we published a consultation which proposed making changes to the planning fee regime to increase the financial resources available to authorities. That work was paused during the pandemic but has recently been recommenced and we will work with the High Level Group on Planning Performance to take it forward.

The performance of the system is not the sole responsibility of planning authorities and everyone involved in planning must play their part in ensuring that the system functions effectively and efficiently.

Some planning applications will have longer decision times due to their scale and complexity. Planning decision timescales have also inevitably been affected by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020-21, despite these impacts, authorities determined 4,293 planning applications for housing.

The Green Jobs Fund is not a skills or training fund. Over the next 5 years, the £100m Fund will provide businesses with capital investment towards improved green products and services and related research and development. All individual funding applications are subject to a detailed appraisal process that includes an equality impact assessment and evaluation of fair work practices. We will also ensure that future larger consortia projects produce plans which help diversify their sectors and will use appropriate monitoring and evaluation frameworks to ensure successful companies and their net zero supply chains provide positive economic and employment impacts that raise skill levels and close skills gaps.

This year, we have also established a Green Jobs Workforce Academy which will help people to get the skills they need to move into new, greener jobs. Training opportunities will be supported by our investment in apprenticeships, our Young Person’s Guarantee, the National Transition Training Fund and £15m North East Economic Recovery Fund which will all take account, in their delivery, of how they can support people from protected and underrepresented groups.

Our 2021 manifesto committed to continuing to promote Fair Work in the Scottish Economy and help tackle occupational segregation, one of the main drivers of the gender pay gap and women’s workplace inequality.

Our Covid Recovery Strategy will bring together the actions we will take across government and with partners to address the impact of the pandemic on those hardest hit in our country. Our 10-year National Strategy for Economic Transformation will then help build a greener, fairer and more inclusive wellbeing economy, which has fair work, including tacking the gender pay gap, and a just transition to net zero at its heart, and which delivers sustainable and inclusive growth for Scotland’s people and places.

The UK Government has been working with United Nations to provide COVID-19 vaccines to COP26 delegates that would otherwise not be able to access them. All those who expressed an interest in vaccination to either arrange appointments or set out next steps, have been contacted. For those delegates receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, first doses have already started. Second doses will follow four weeks later. For those receiving the single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine, vaccination will start shortly. Delegates in countries identified as having a viable in-country option, have been contacted. UK embassies are supporting these delegates with access, where required.

The Scottish Government values the positive contribution made by Catholic schools and there are no plans to review the important role they play in the Scottish education system and wider society.