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The Scottish Government recognises that surveillance is a critical part of our approach to monitoring and managing the spread and prevalence of mycoplasma pneumoniae, Covid-19 and other respiratory infections. Public Health Scotland (PHS) are responsible for delivering Scotland’s National Respiratory Surveillance Plan with the support of the Scottish Government.

As part of PHS’s work, respiratory infection levels, including those of mycoplasma pneumoniae, and their impact are closely monitored throughout the year using various sources of data, including microbiological sampling and laboratory test results from community and hospital settings, NHS 24 calls, primary care consultations, hospital admissions, and mortality by cause. Intelligence generated from the different Scottish surveillance systems, including for mycoplasma pneumoniae, are used to inform proactive measures to prevent spread and ensure timely clinical response.

There are currently 25 members of the Co-Production Group. Six are serving teachers, and two additional secondary teachers have been invited to join the group, which will bring the total to eight. The following stakeholders are represented:

• Teachers and practitioners
• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
• Education Scotland
• Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)
• Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE)
• General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS)
• Association of Directors of Education (ADES)
• Education Institute of Scotland (EIS)
• NASUWT
• School Leaders Scotland (SLS)
• AHDS
• Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCiS)
• Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA)
• CLD Standards Council
• Early Years Scotland
• Scottish Social Services Council
• National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture

The Co-Production Group is one part of the overall co-production process. Ongoing additional engagement with teachers and stakeholders will take place as part of the design process.

The Scottish Government supports a range of activities through the Forestry Grant Scheme and is seeking to maximise delivery of woodland creation whilst maintaining support for management of existing woodland. Scottish Forestry publishes regular Briefing Notes to inform customers of the funding available and how the funding is split across the range of grant budget categories and priority activities supported through the Forestry Grant Scheme. These Briefing Notes can be viewed at: Scottish Forestry - Forestry Grant Scheme .

The information can be extracted from the publicly available Renewable Energy Planning Database ( Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ). The following table draws out the number of battery projects planned across Scotland up to the end of December 2023.

Table 1: Extract from Renewable Energy Planning Database up to the end of December 2023 (published January 2024)

As an employer located in the Edinburgh Low Emission Zone (LEZ), there are several steps we are taking to prepare for its enforcement:

1. Understanding the LEZ regulations: We have familiarized ourselves with the specific regulations of the Edinburgh LEZ, including which vehicles are affected, emission standards, and any exemptions or grace periods. The SPCB as a body is not exempt and the basement car park can only be accessed by vehicles traveling through the LEZ , therefore all vehicles (except those exempted such as blue badge holders and emergency vehicles) using the Parliament car park will need to be compliant. Our car park is small compared to the number of people who access the Parliament each day with only 65 spaces, 47 of which are bookable (including 6 accessible bays and 6 electric charging spaces). More information about the LEZ is available on the City of Edinburgh Council website: Low Emission Zone – The City of Edinburgh Council.

2. Our fleet vehicle: The SPCB has one fleet vehicle used for visiting constituency offices. This vehicle has been identified as not compliant with the LEZ, so will be replaced with an electric van.

3. Promoting Sustainable Travel: The SPCB Sustainable Travel Plan available here encourages passholders and visitors to adopt sustainable travel patterns and details alternative ways such as public transport, walking, cycling and wheeling or carpooling, to commute and visit Holyrood.  We have good rates of sustainable travel to the building, in 2022 21% of building users walked to work, 10% cycled and 45% came by public transport.

4. Hybrid working: Since the pandemic the Parliament operates flexible work arrangements with telecommunication facilities. This allows employees to work from home or adjust their work schedules to avoid peak traffic times, opening up more public transport options and reducing the need for commuting into the LEZ.

5. Communications Programme: We are planning a suite of communications in the run up to the start date of the LEZ (1^st June) which will inform passholders about the LEZ regulations and how they can comply. There will be communication to all those that book parking spaces in the car park at Holyrood and to the wider staff body that access the Parliament building.

By taking these proactive steps, the SPCB can ensure compliance with the Edinburgh Low Emission Zone regulations.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenging financial circumstances that local authorities, and indeed the entire public sector are currently facing.

These challenges were considered and reflected in the Scottish Budget which will provide local authorities with record funding of over £14 billion in 2024-25, including £600.6 million of additional revenue funding.

Barnett consequentials accrued to the Scottish Government are added to the total available funding available to Scottish Ministers. It is then for Scottish Ministers to decide how all the resources available to them should be allocated. However, subject to the outcome of the UK Government Spring Budget, the Scottish Government has committed to pass on up to £62.7 million of additional funding directly to local government alongside any consequentials received for increased teacher pension employer contributions.

The Scottish Government published our ten year Cancer Strategy for Scotland 2023-2033 along with an initial three year Cancer Action Plan ( Cancer Plan for Scotland 2023 – 2026 ) in June 2023.

Over the next 10 years, our strategic aim is to improve cancer survival and provide excellent, equitably accessible care. The Strategy and Plan take a comprehensive approach to improving patient pathways from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and post-treatment care. We continue to place an emphasis on the less survivable cancers, including brain cancer, and improving their outcomes.

As part of this strategy, we developed a new Earlier Cancer Diagnosis Vision.

The vision includes continuing to deliver our Detect Cancer Earlier Programme, working with primary care clinicians to ensure they have direct access to diagnostic tests and quality education sources, as well as developing public campaigns to educate and empower those with possible symptoms of cancer to act early.

In addition to this work and in order to support radiology diagnostic capacity, we have funded mobile scanners to provide additional capacity for MRI and CT supporting cancer patients across NHS Scotland.

Eleven local authorities published their Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) and Delivery Plans by 31 December 2023.

Between 1 January 2024 and the time of writing, a further two local authorities have published their Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies and Delivery Plans. One of these two local authorities (Renfrewshire Council) have are yet to publish their Delivery Plan. This brings the total published documents to thirteen.

Nineteen local authorities have yet to publish their Local Heat and Energy Strategies and Delivery Plans. Local authorities cite a number of challenges that have hindered their ability to meet the deadline, including recruiting staff, procuring technical consultants, the timing of governance processes, data access and timescales for stakeholder engagement.

Scottish Government officials continue to engage closely with local authorities to support them in publishing their LHEES. This includes provision of an independent review service to provide feedback to ensure they meet the requirements set out in the guidance, one-to-one capacity support training, in-person visits to raise awareness at senior level and through tailored online sessions.

A table of local authorities which have published their LHEES and whether or not they met the deadline of 31 December 2023 is as follows.

The Scottish Government is able to confirm that we are expecting around a further 9 local authorities to publish their LHEES by the end of March 2024, with the remaining LHEES expected to be published by the end of the summer.

We are encouraged by the quality of the LHEES published to date. The local authorities have taken a reasonably consistent approach in development of their LHEES, and those covering cities and urban areas have identified strong heat network opportunities.

The Scottish Government is aware that, in developing LHEES, local authorities have faced a number of challenges which have hindered their ability to meet the deadline, including recruiting staff, procuring technical consultants, the timing of governance processes, data access and timescales for stakeholder engagement.

We continue to engage closely with local authorities to support them finalising their LHEES. Through our quarterly check ins we are able to understand their progress and provide tailored support where required including technical assistance through Zero Waste Scotland.

An LHEES review service has also been provided to act as a critical friend for local authorities, providing feedback to ensure they are able to meet the requirements set out in the LHEES Guidance.

The Scottish Government is providing long term funding to support local authorities to develop and deliver their LHEES with funding committed for each local authority of £75,000 per year until 2027-28.

It is not known how many XL Bully dogs there are in Scotland. This is within the context of an unknown number of XL Bully dogs in the UK as a whole.

While estimates are challenging, for the purposes of the new safeguards being introduced, the Scottish Government is suggesting that approximately between 5,000 to 15,000 XL Bully dogs may be in Scotland. This estimate carries with it a considerable degree of uncertainty and reflects an estimated range of 50,000 to 150,000 XL Bully dogs in England and Wales.