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With respect to the effect of legislative change that will affect the private rented sector, the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Housing (Scotland) Bill will be published shortly and considers the cumulative impact of policy covering the private rented sector in terms of costs, benefits and risks of proposed legislation.

Any violence – including that against public sector staff - is a concern and should not be tolerated. The Violence Prevention Framework for Scotland, with over £4 million of funding over the last two years, supports partner organisations, including the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, to deliver priority activity to help tackle violence. This is supporting the delivery of programmes to help prevent violence across Scotland, such as in the Falkirk Council area – and supports the delivery of the Mentors in Violence Prevention school-based programme, which is now operational in eight schools in the area.

We also worked with partners, including COSLA, education authorities, teaching unions and parents and carers representatives, to publish the Relationships and Behaviour in Schools National Action Plan, which includes specific actions in support of reducing violence and significant disruptive behaviour in schools.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken such a mapping exercise. Local Authorities, as the statutory housing authority for their area, are required to prepare Local Housing Strategies, informed by an assessment of Housing Need and Demand, which considers both the existing supply of housing alongside future requirements. Local Authorities are expected to develop a broad understanding of the extent and location of the Private Rented Sector across their area to support the development of the Local Housing Strategy.

We consulted in 2022 on A New Deal for Tenants – draft rented sector strategy. This set out the Scottish Government commitment to deliver a successful and high quality, affordable and fair rented sector and invited views on how we can deliver this for the rented sector as a whole.We are progressing some elements of the New Deal for Tenants through Housing (Scotland) Bill and we are committed to publishing a final rented sector strategy in due course.

We are committed to improving our data and understanding of the private rented sector including through the use of surveys. A national representative landlord survey is one of a number of approaches that could support this, however, there are no current plans to take this forward at this time.

Earlier this year I met with the UN Special Rapporteur and we welcome publication of the report.

Our strategic approach to challenge demand for prostitution and improve support for those with experience of it, published in February 2024, recognises that prostitution cannot be considered in isolation, and sets out the Scottish Government’s collective approach, working with stakeholders across the wider public and third sector.

There are no current vacancies within the Nominated Officer team and the wider Directorate of Internal Audit and Assurance can provide surge capacity when needed.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with key stakeholders involved in ScotWind projects, including a recent developer roundtable which I chaired on 13 August 2024, at which CampionWind and MarramWind were both represented. The roundtable included discussions on the need for targeted investment to ensure that the Scottish market is prepared for the pipeline of projects which will be developed through the ScotWind leasing round.

The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting the offshore wind industry and maximising the significant opportunities to attract inward investment, generate green jobs and grow our regional and national economies. To that end, we are continuing to engage in crucial public sector and industry partnerships such as the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC), and we support the industry-led Strategic Investment Model.

As an employer, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the workplace is free from bullying, harassment, discrimination and victimisation, where work related concerns, problems or issues can be raised and responded to.

Under the Scottish Government's grievance policy, line managers are expected to deal with concerns about inappropriate behaviour at an early stage and on an informal basis, where appropriate.

The number of formal complaints about bullying reported by civil servants in the Scottish Government since 2021 is provided in the following table:

The large pipeline of offshore wind projects under development in Scotland offers a significant manufacturing opportunity. We are already seeing significant progress in this regard. Sumitomo’s £350 million high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable manufacturing plant in the Highlands is a significant step which will address a major supply chain constraint for offshore wind projects. The factory will bring manufacturing capability to Scotland to support the offshore wind sector and will create hundreds of good, green jobs.

Whilst Scotland currently has no wind turbine manufacturing facilities, Scotland’s strong specialised SME base, offshore installation services, advanced port infrastructure, operations and maintenance expertise, word-class engineering capabilities and highly-skilled offshore energy workforce make Scotland a prime location for offshore wind manufacturing facilities.

The Onshore Wind Sector Deal, which was signed with the onshore wind sector in September 2023, contains a series of commitments that promote supply chain opportunities, including the circularity of wind turbine blades. The onshore wind sector has committed to the delivery of at least one blade treatment facility in Scotland by 2030.