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We remain committed to making regulations under section 4 of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020 to enable marriages to become civil partnerships.

We are currently in discussion with the UK Government on reserved consequential legislation and will consider timings once these discussions have completed.

All Census and Census Coverage Survey questionnaires will be scanned, captured and fully coded by early autumn.

A rigorous approach is taken to ensure accurate census paper questionnaire data.

Paper questionnaires are scanned and the answers are captured digitally using character recognition software. During scanning, the system looks to automatically allocate a numeric code to each answer, which allows the data to be easily analysed. Trained Quality Control operators perform daily checks on a sample of cases to ensure the quality of data captured from scanned questionnaires meets expectations.

It is not always possible to automatically allocate valid codes during scanning as some answers provided are not always on lists the system matches to. To ensure complete information is recorded, National Records of Scotland (NRS) set up a manual coding service where trained coding operatives visually inspect census questionnaires and make a decision on the most accurate code to assign.

Further manual inspections of the paper forms are made by NRS staff to check allocated categories and codes.

Scanning of paper questionnaires for Scotland’s Census 2022 is in line with the 2011 census and the 2021 census in England Wales.

Full information on the coding and data processing methods employed on Scotland’s Census 2022 is published on the NRS website. Comparisons to 2011 and the 2021 census in England and Wales are made where appropriate.

Statistical methodology | Scotland's Census (scotlandscensus.gov.uk)

High quality scanned image files for all paper census returns will be retained by National Records of Scotland (NRS) and stored in a permanent archive for historical research purposes in future.

Census information is kept secure and confidential for 100 years.

All valid paper returns from Scotland’s Census 2022 will be scanned in full and digital images created. In addition, digital data from responses for all scanned census returns, including online or paper, will be produced and retained.

Original paper questionnaires will be securely destroyed only after all data files for both digital data and high quality scanned image files have been produced and safely transmitted for storage.

The Scottish Government and its agencies collaborate closely with their counterparts in Wales and England on the control of INNS. Scottish Government officials have played an active role with their counterparts in drafting the 2022-2030 Great Britain Invasive Non- Native Species Strategy. This key document sets out our agreed, collaborative approach to preventing invasive non-native species reaching our shores, through surveillance, early detection and rapid response provisions and long terms management and control of species already established. The provisions in the Strategy will be implemented in Scotland through the Non-native Species Action Group, and similar partnerships, which has representatives from the public and voluntary sectors.

Following approval by the UK Non-Native Species Programme Board, a four-countries collaborative group which directs action to implement the Invasive Alien Species Regulation across Great Britain, the GB Non-Native Species Secretariat which is located in APHA but provides specialist support to all four devolved nations, led the establishment of an Invasive Non-native Inspectorate as a pilot for 2021-22 across all of Great Britain. Following a successful initial year for the Inspectorate, resourcing has been continued for 2022 to extend the pilot for an additional year. During this time the Scottish Government will be reviewing whether to provide continued support for the GB Inspectorate.

The Scottish Government funds considerable research and analysis into the benefits of planting tree species native to Scotland. One example of some recent work is a niches for species model that integrates species habitat requirements for multiple species, and provides mapped outputs of their niches, and hence their potential occurrence in native woodlands. The Scottish Government will be using this work to help inform forestry planning and management.

In addition, the creation of new woodlands will continue to be underpinned by the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) which is supported by a large body of research and analysis. The Scottish Government supports tree planting through the Forestry Grant Scheme where UKFS requirements are met, and the site is suitable for the trees being planted. Over 4000 hectares of new native woodland were planted in 2020/21.