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There is around 484,000 hectares of Common Grazing land in Scotland that is registered in claims and applications with Rural Payments and Services. Of this, there are an estimated 286,000 hectares of peatland (50cm depth), or around 60% of the total land area. Around two-thirds of this peatland is in a degraded state. The Scottish Government’s Crofting Bill Team and stakeholder group are considering a number of proposals that will make it easier for crofters to use their common grazings for other purposes than agriculture, such as peatland restoration.

The Scottish Government expects all women, at all times, to receive high-quality, person-centred maternity care, tailored to their needs, with quality and safety for mothers and babies central to decision-making. We recognise that every woman’s experience of pregnancy and birth is different and that, for a variety of reasons, some women may require support related to trauma.

We continue to participate in four UK-wide audits and confidential enquiries, including the MBRRACE-UK programme, to highlight quality and safety of maternity and neonatal care and where that can be improved. The Scottish Government considers the findings of all data reports and reviews carefully and expects all NHS Boards to do the same locally. Where areas for improvement are identified, the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) Perinatal arm provides support and guidance for NHS Boards to undertake focused quality improvement activity.

We are also committed to supporting the development of perinatal and infant mental health services across Scotland. We are working with NHS Boards to develop specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health services to provide assessment and care for women with moderate to severe mental illness, including psychological impact following the birth of a baby. All pregnant women in Scotland are provided with a copy of Ready, Steady, Baby! , a guide to pregnancy, labour and birth and early parenthood, during their routine antenatal care. This provides information for women on mental health and wellbeing in pregnancy and after birth, including signposting to other resources such as the Birth Trauma Association.

Public Health Scotland (PHS), through the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP), is responsible for oversight and leadership of vaccine delivery in Scotland. The Scottish Government is part of SVIP and is working closely with PHS and NHS Boards to promote and encourage uptake of all childhood immunisations.

It is important that all parents and carers ensure that children attend their routine scheduled childhood vaccinations when invited to give them the best protection possible against vaccine preventable diseases.

The NHS Inform website provides details of how to arrange an appointment for anyone who has not had two doses of the free MMR vaccine.

The most recent childhood immunisation uptake statistics, which were published on 19 December 2023 for the quarter ending 30 September 2023, can be found on the PHS website: Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland - Quarter ending 30 September 2023 - Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland

The Scottish Government is developing a place-based, industry specific Just Transition Plan for the region, committed to in our 2023 Programme for Government, that will outline the strategic long-term future of the industrial cluster.

The plan will outline a range of possibilities for operations at Grangemouth in 2045, including low-carbon hydrogen manufacture, carbon capture and Storage, bio-manufacturing and alternative low-carbon fuels as well as wider Just Transition impacts on the workforce, community and surrounding environment.

SG leads on this work, in partnership with the Grangemouth Future Industry Board, and has been working extensively with multiple industrial operators including Petroineos, and wider stakeholders to develop a baseline as well as a co-designed vision for the future Grangemouth Industrial Cluster.

A draft Grangemouth Just Transition Plan and Vision will be published in May 2024.

The Scottish Government has received the Care Inspectorate pay offer proposal for 2023-24. The Care Inspectorate has since made a pay award offer for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 during week commencing 19 February 2024.

The Care Inspectorate’s recognised trade unions agreed to ballot their members on this offer. The results of the trade union ballots are expected in the second week of March. Should the offer be accepted, the Care Inspectorate intends to pay their staff the first element of the 2023-24 award in their March 2024 salaries.

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We have not been approached by Unite the Union for discussions on our proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill. However, we would be happy to have such a discussion at any time - building on the wide-ranging engagement with stakeholders across Scotland that we have undertaken since our consultation was published.

Our consultation is currently open until 8 March ( Proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill: Consultation - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space ) and we encourage all organisations and households to respond.

The Scottish Government is tackling marine litter, which often ends up on our beaches, with actions detailed in our Marine Litter Strategy. The Strategy aims to address the amount of litter entering the marine environment, to achieve ecological, economic and social benefits. Our Strategy and action plan was refreshed in September 2022 and focuses on the most problematic types of marine litter including fishing and aquaculture gear, sewage-related debris, and plastic pellets. The Strategy will drive forward our work up to 2027 and co-ordinate the efforts of our stakeholders and partners, working at a national and international level to help tackle this global problem.

The Strategy covers a wide range of actions, which include: improving the management of end of life fishing and aquaculture gear to reduce litter and improve recycling rates, contributing to our circular economy; working with the UK Government and Devolved Governments to put an end to pollution caused by wet wipes containing plastic, with a UK-wide consultation on a ban on the sale of these items held in Autumn 2023; and developing international solutions to prevent plastic pellet pollution, which can be found on our beaches and risk the health of our marine wildlife. In addition to preventative actions, we support removal of beach litter through funding the work of Local Coastal Partnerships and The Scottish Islands Federation, organisations that support and co-ordinate beach cleans and local community engagement. We also fund litter removal offshore through KIMO’s Fishing for Litter scheme, and at our rivers with Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Upstream Battle project, preventing litter travelling downstream and ultimately reaching our seas and beaches.

We have not been approached by GMB Union for discussions on our proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill. However, we would be happy to have such a discussion at any time - building on the wide-ranging engagement with stakeholders across Scotland that we have undertaken since our consultation was published.

Our consultation is currently open until 8 March ( Proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill: Consultation - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space ) and we encourage all organisations and households to respond.

Scottish Government officials have engaged with the key stakeholder groups in the home education community, as well as local authorities, throughout the process of updating the home education guidance. Part of this engagement involved a consultation exercise with stakeholders, of which the published analysis and a list of stakeholders who responded can be found here: Home education guidance: consultation analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Officials continue to develop plans for engagement ahead of publication this year.