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We have awarded £26.9 million in funding for bus priority through the Bus Partnership Fund, with £20.5 million expected to be spent by 31 March 2024. However that figure will need to be confirmed following the processing of final claims from Partnerships - consisting of local authorities, bus operators and other key stakeholders – in the coming months.

The awards made through the Bus Partnership Fund to date were the first step towards delivering long term investment in bus priority infrastructure, beyond the course of the parliament.

Following the United Kingdom autumn statement delivering the worst-case scenario for Scotland and a nearly 9 per cent real-terms cut in our capital budget from the UK Government, the Scottish Government had to take difficult decisions to deliver a balanced and sustainable spending plan for 2024-25. As such, regrettably, the Bus Partnership Fund has been paused for 2024-25. However, future funding availability will be considered as part of our annual budget-setting process and prioritisation exercises.

Applications for electricity generating stations with a capacity of 50MW or less submitted to planning authorities are determined in accordance with procedures set out under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. Consent under the Electricity Act 1989 is exclusively required for electricity generating stations with a capacity greater than 50MW.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of applications for electricity generating stations with a capacity of 50MW or less submitted to planning authorities under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. However, this information could be obtained from individual planning authorities.

The Scottish Government does publish information on the total number of planning applications for electricity generation determined by planning authorities. The number of applications determined in each year is recorded from 1 April to 31 March.

The administration of Circularity Scotland Ltd is a matter for its administrators, Interpath Advisory. Information on the administration of Circularity Scotland Ltd is available on Interpath Advisory’s website.

As set out in my answer S6W-26968 on 25 April 2024, the information requested on how many colorectal (a) clinical nurse specialists and (b) surgeons were employed by NHS Lanarkshire in 2019 is not centrally available.

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 NHS Scotland, human resource departments only use private contractors or external organisations for specific services such as training or coaching which cannot be delivered within the organisation. Private companies are also used to provide certain IT platforms to the service. However, all core human resource functions in NHS Scotland are delivered in-house.

The security of fuel supplies relates to a reserved policy area, however as a responsible government we frequently engage with key industry partners and the UK Government to continuously monitor any developments in the sector.

The Small Business Bonus Scheme offers up to 100% relief to non-domestic properties where the rateable value of the property does not exceed £20,000, the rateable value of all of the ratepayer’s properties does not exceed £35,000 and the property is not used for an excluded purpose.

Second homes used for short-term self-catering lets and liable for non-domestic rates may therefore be eligible for the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) relief where they meet the eligibility criteria.

To be classed as self-catering holiday accommodation liable for non-domestic rates, the accommodation must be actually let for 70 nights or more and available to let for 140 nights or more in each financial year. The thresholds were introduced following a recommendation by the 2017 independent Barclay Review of non-domestic rates which noted the potential for owners of second homes to seek their accommodation to be classed as non-domestic in order to avoid council tax, and no requirement to evidence that the property has been let.

Local Living and 20 minute neighbourhood is one of the national planning policies set out in the Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4), adopted by Scottish Ministers in February 2023.

NPF4 Policy 15, Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods supports the delivery of local living, including applying the 20 minute neighbourhood concept in places through local development plans and masterplans.

The 20 minute neighbourhood concept is also recognised in a number of Scottish Government strategies including Housing to 2040, Retail Strategy for Scotland, Infrastructure Investment Plan for Scotland 2021-22 to 2025-26, and Town Centre Action Plan 2.

On 25 April planning guidance on Local Living and 20 minute neighbourhoods was published, setting out a framework and information on how the concepts of local living and 20 minute neighbourhood can be applied in a Scottish context.

The number of established clinical radiology training posts in Scotland has not decreased between 2023 and 2024 in any region. There are 192 established posts in clinical radiology spread across the five year training programme (ST1-ST5) and this has been the case since 2022 i.e. since the latest funded increase was applied. The number of posts advertised per year by NHS Education for Scotland is determined by two factors: i) the number of vacant posts, due to trainees completing training, resigning from post or undergoing an inter-deanery transfer, and ii) whether any additional posts have been created. The number of posts which are available for new applicants to apply for varies annually due to trainees working on a part-time basis (and therefore taking longer to complete training and vacate their post).

The number of established clinical radiology training posts in Scotland has not decreased between 2023 and 2024 in any region. There are 192 established posts in clinical radiology spread across the five year training programme (ST1-ST5) and this has been the case since 2022 i.e. since the latest funded increase was applied. The number of posts advertised per year by NHS Education for Scotland is determined by two factors: i) the number of vacant posts, due to trainees completing training, resigning from post or undergoing an inter-deanery transfer, and ii) whether any additional posts have been created. The number of posts which are available for new applicants to apply for varies annually due to trainees working on a part-time basis (and therefore taking longer to complete training and vacate their post).