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The Scottish Government recognises that free bus travel has the potential to be transformative for people seeking asylum, who are among the most vulnerable in society.

At present, people seeking asylum in Scotland who are aged under 22, aged 60 or over or have an eligible disability are entitled to concessionary travel under existing national schemes.

The 2025-26 Scottish Budget, which was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 25 February 2025, has funding allocated to provide free bus travel for people seeking asylum who are not already eligible in the coming financial year.

We are committed to exploring if we can extend free bus travel to all people seeking asylum on a longer term basis before the end of the current parliamentary session, subject to an agreed way forward on the policy in terms of practical delivery.

Accordingly, my officials will be reconvening the Working Group with Third Sector representatives and other interested parties in order to consider delivery options. Further information will be provided in due course.

The Scottish Government had previously intended to progress legislative consent in the Scottish Parliament for measures to restrict the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs, cats and ferrets into the United Kingdom, before the previous Bill fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament.

It is our intention to progress legislative consent in the Scottish Parliament for this Bill, subject to the final provisions of the Bill and agreement of the Scottish Government Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation.

By working to address this issue in the Bill, important safeguards for animal welfare can be extended to Scotland to ensure we continue to strive for the best possible welfare outcomes for all animals.

The Scottish Government committed through the Programme for Government 2023 – 24, published on 5 September 2023, to improving miscarriage care, including the provision of separate private spaces in hospitals with maternity wards for women experiencing pregnancy and baby loss.

The Delivery Framework for Miscarriage Care, published on 6 February 2025, sets out that those experiencing miscarriage at any stage of pregnancy should be seen in a separate private space appropriate for bereavement. This action carries a priority category of “N” which means this should be implemented within 6 months from 1 April 2025.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has received a submission through the Ultra-Orphan Pathway from the marketing authorisation holder, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, for exagamglogene autotemcel (Casgevy®) for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ß-thalassaemia in patients 12 years of age and older. A decision on whether Casgevy® is accepted on to the Ultra-Orphan Pathway for this indication will be published on the SMC website in due course.

The SMC has not yet received a submission from Vertex Pharmaceuticals for Casgevy® for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD). I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34796 on 25 February 2025. 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.

During the Roundtable meeting I held in Parliament on 4 February, I advised members of my intention to provide an update on the public’s response to the consultation as soon as possible. However, this will depend on the time required to review the considerable number of responses received.

The 12-week consultation period ended last month with over 1,400 responses received.

This feedback, which is now under active consideration by Transport Scotland, will help inform the Scottish Government’s final decision on how best to take forward improvements to the A96 whilst also balancing the demands of the challenging economic climate and the climate emergency.

Emergency early release regulations have been utilised twice within the last five years (May 2020 & June/July 2024). On both occasions, the conditions of release were as they would have been at the individuals original scheduled liberation date, with no additional conditions or sentences applied.

Those released were approaching the end of their short-term prison sentences, and such individuals are not routinely subject to additional monitoring or community service requirements following their release. Therefore, those released via emergency early release were not subject to such conditions.

Individuals whose sentence would require post-release supervision or monitoring requirements were automatically excluded from both emergency early release processes.

The requirement for an individual to complete any kind of community sentence is a matter for the independent courts to decide at the point of sentencing, after consideration of the full facts and circumstances of the case.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The number of nursery service cancellations and registrations is a matter for the Care Inspectorate. The Care Inspectorate publish data on service cancellations and registrations (available here: Statistics and analysis), however the published data does not go back as far as 1999.

In Scotland that statutory responsibility for the delivery of Education rests with our local authorities. Accordingly, the Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. Local authorities may hold this information.

Improving access to Mental Health services is a priority for Scottish Government and whilst we recognise the ongoing pressures facing the NHS, we remain committed to supporting all Boards to achieve the standard that 90% of patents start treatment within 18 weeks of referral in CAMHS and PT.

As was announced last week we have seen transformational improvements in CAMHS waiting lists over the last year and this has continued during the latest quarter. For the first time ever, national performance against the 18-week CAMHS standard has been met, with 90.6% of children and young people starting treatment within 18 weeks of referral in the last quarter and 1 in 2 children referred to CAMHS start treatment within 4 weeks compared to 12 weeks pre-pandemic (quarter ending March 2019).

Latest publication of data (4 March 2025) shows Psychological Therapies (PT) services are responding well to demand, with one in two people referred starting treatment within three weeks of referral.

More detailed information, including breakdowns at NHS Board level, can be found on the Public Health Scotland website where the latest publication on both PT and CAMHS waiting time is available for quarter ending December 2024 published on 4 March 2025. Publications - Public Health Scotland

The Respiratory Care Action Plan contains broad commitments from a wide range of areas including increasing uptake of vaccines, ensuring people live in warm homes and improvement of air quality. We have made progress across a number of areas under these commitments, such as the Four Nations approach to tobacco.

Along with obesity, smoking represents a chief threat to Scotland's public health and we remain committed to a tobacco-free Scotland by 2034 and welcome the re-introduction of the UK-wide Tobacco and Vapes Bill to UK Parliament, which will help us to achieve our ambitious target.

The Bill will gradually increase the age of sale for tobacco products and provide powers to legislate on vape flavours, displays, packaging, as well introduce an advertising ban for vapes and nicotine products.