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The Age of Criminal Responsibility (Scotland) Act 2019 fully commenced on 17 December 2021. Section 78 of the Act requires the Scottish Ministers to review the operation of the Act.

The Scottish Ministers must review the operation of the Act in general, and with a view to considering the future age of criminal responsibility. The review period (of 3 years) began on the day on which section 1 came into force (ie on 17 December 2021). The Scottish Ministers are required to prepare a report on the review, publish and lay it before the Scottish Parliament no later than 12 months after the end of the review period.

An Advisory Group comprising a range of different stakeholders has been established to support Ministers with the review.

The Scottish Government remains committed to reaching its target of eliminating Hepatitis C (HCV) in Scotland by 2024, whilst recognising the impact that the covid-19 pandemic has had across all our health services.

In 2019, the Scottish Health Protection Network established the Hepatitis C Elimination Implementation Group to oversee and monitor the implementation of the Scottish Government’s Hepatitis C Elimination Strategy. Including hard to reach populations in efforts to eliminate Hepatitis C is fundamental to the Elimination Strategy, and this issue is therefore regularly considered by the Group, which meets four times per year. Along with representatives from Scottish Government, the Group is made up of clinicians, representatives from NHS health boards, and primary care and prevention leads.

In addition, in 2021 the Scottish Government provided funding to NHS Tayside to deliver the Cocoon project, which provided point of care BBV testing and treatment to people who inject drugs, whilst integrating wound care, naloxone provision and other harm reducing measures.

As the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Edinburgh Filmhouse were both part of the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), any meetings and correspondence would have been with the CMI. The last meeting the First Minister had with the CMI was as part of the All Festivals Reception at Bute House on 8 August 2022. The last meeting the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture had with the CMI was as part of the Closing Gala of the EIFF 2022 on 20 August 2022. At both meetings, the 2022 EIFF programme and the value of the screen industry to Scotland were discussed.

In the last year, there has been no correspondence between the First Minister and the CMI. The CMI last wrote to the Cabinet Secretary on 26 September 2022, outlining the financial challenges it was facing. This correspondence also highlighted that the CMI had highlighted the matter to officials at the Scottish Government and with Creative Scotland and Edinburgh City Council.

Students in further or higher education currently experiencing financial hardship should apply to their college or university for support from Discretionary Funds. We have provided £16.8m in hardship funding for the current academic year to support higher education students experiencing financial hardship, in addition to free tuition in Scotland and a range of bursary support.

I have urged college and university principals to continue to prioritise hardship funds to students most in need, taking account the impact of rising energy bills.

The Scottish Government remains focused on strengthening our screen sector and creating the conditions for continued growth through our support for increased studio infrastructure.

Working with Screen Scotland, the Scottish Government has facilitated the delivery of studio facilities across Scotland, including the large-scale film and high-end TV FirstStage Studio in Leith and a multi-camera studio at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. This is creating the conditions for continued growth across production, development, talent and skills.

Kelvin Hall in Glasgow’s West End, which was part-funded with £7.9m of Scottish Government funding through Screen Scotland, contains a flexible production space, as well as being developed to house a dedicated “entertainment” production facility for comedy, quiz, factual entertainment and “shiny floor” shows.

The Scottish Government also welcomes private and public sector projects to develop film studio infrastructure in Scotland. The enterprise and development agencies are continuing to offer support, with various aspects of business planning, including to secure financing, land and specialist advice, while respecting commercial confidentiality.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme will launch on 16 August 2023.

In line with the polluter pays principle, and just like similar schemes around the world, Scotland’s deposit return scheme is being delivered by industry. It is for obligated businesses to ensure that they are fully prepared and ready for launch.

The Scottish Government remains engaged by meeting regularly with industry, the Scheme Administrator, and other stakeholders to ensure that implementation remains on track.

Funding provided through the Youth Music Initiative Formula Fund by Creative Scotland, who deliver the initiative on behalf of the Scottish Government, was paused and then confirmed to all 32 local authorities and Jordanhill School. This was related to the management of the 2022-23 Scottish Budget. The Scottish Government’s Resource Spending Review in May 2022 related to future years’ spending.

The Scottish Government continues to work with the sector, stakeholders and the scientific community to explore practical ways to address interactions between salmon and seals in rivers.

In spring 2021 Scottish Government in partnership with Crown Estate Scotland published a report which reviewed measures that have been adopted globally and which could assist in developing non-lethal strategies to address seal predation on salmonids in Scottish rivers, as well as setting out a number of assessments and recommendations for use of, or further development of, specific measures - Review of non-lethal seal control options to limit seal predation on salmonids in rivers and at finfish farms | Marine Scotland Data Publications .

Building on the recommendations of the report, the Scottish Government continues to support practical work to investigate and develop non-lethal deterrent tools for use by wild salmonid fisheries. This is an ongoing work programme and, progress reports can be found on the Sea Mammal Research Unit’s Marine Mammal Scientific Support to Scottish Government | SMRU (st-andrews.ac.uk) .

ScotRail advises that it extended its contract with Trainline Plc as a holding position to maintain continuity of service while waiting for details of the alternative approach to ticketing which has been promised as part of the proposed Great British Railways arrangements.

You will appreciate that the UK Government has now again postponed delivery of it proposed rail reform process. Such uncertainty and delay are unhelpful.

Scottish Ministers remain committed to a Short Life Working Group specifically to consider the adoption of OCT equipment in optometry practices.

However that Group is yet to be established pending a review of policy plans following the outcome of the 2022-23 Emergency Budget Review.