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We have undertaken the full suite of assessments required for the introduction of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill and these were published on the Scottish Government website on 14 June 2023. There is no requirement to assess the potential impact of Bills on developing countries. We are, however, committed to ensuring Scotland remains a global leader in equality, inclusion and human rights, and recently I met representatives of Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace Justice & Peace Scotland > Home (justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk) , from Malawi, who gave a very informative and moving presentation on Human Rights and Mining.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

The analysis of the Scottish Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) consultation and the Scottish Government response were published on the Scot.gov website on Tuesday 7 November. These documents can be accessed via the following links:

Consultation Analysis Report: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835214763

Scottish Government Response: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835214756

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

A total of 13,697 accused were reported to COPFS for the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2023 with charge(s) which fall within the Scottish Government Classification of "Drugs – Supply, and where it can be identified that cannabis was the relevant controlled drug.

This can be broken down as follows:

The teaching standards set by the General Teaching Council for Scotland require teachers to be able to identify and respond appropriately to pupils with difficulties in or barriers to learning. Initial Teacher Educations supports student teachers to be able to support the child in question themselves or to seek specialised information and specialised support if necessary. Scottish Ministers have recently outlined in our Programme for Government 2023-24 our commitment to work with teachers to provide additional professional learning opportunities while seeking to build on the Additional Support for Learning Action Plan.

In 2022-23, the Scottish Government provided over £500,000 to voluntary sector organisations to support children and young people with additional support needs, including sensory loss. This includes funding to the Scottish Sensory Centre to support the training of school staff to provide effective support to Deaf children and young people.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

Since the independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates, we have implemented a range of key reforms and changes to the non-domestic rates system, some of which came into effect on 1 April 2023.

Scottish Government has asked Health Board Chief Executives within each region to nominate a lead Chief Executive to plan and deliver the changes to neonatal intensive care through the Regional Planning infrastructure. Health Boards will submit detailed implementation plans to the Best Start Programme Board and the NHS Chief Operating Officer, with the expectation that the National model is rolled out by 2025. To support planning, the Scottish Government has commissioned national modelling and capacity work.

The Best Start Implementation Programme Board is considering the future role of the Perinatal Sub Group (which undertook the Options Appraisal Process) to support implementation.

It is the responsibility of the Regional lead Chief Executives to determine whether they will set up implementation working groups and set their terms of reference and membership, and whether they will publish their papers. Timescales for completion of implementation have been set by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) collects information about the physical characteristics of Scotland’s homes. The SHCS gathers data on the age of the dwelling broken down into six categories, pre-1919, 1919-1945, 1945-1964, 1965-1982, 1982-2002, post-2002. The age bands used reflect different architectural styles, construction techniques and building regulation standards. In the SHCS, traditional buildings are defined as pre-1919 built as evidence shows that construction methods moved away from solid stone walls to more modern practices at this time. The proportion of the housing stock in each local authority area comprised of traditional buildings is included below. Averaged over 2017-2019 we estimate that around 19% of occupied dwellings were constructed pre-1919.