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The Scottish Government held a public consultation on the draft of the new physical intervention in schools guidance in 2022 Physical intervention in schools: draft guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The consultation closed at the end of October. We are carefully considering all responses received and recognise that there are calls for further legislation in this area. A consultation analysis report is currently being prepared for my consideration by education officials.

Alongside the publication of the guidance, and in line with our original commitments, we are exploring options to strengthen the legal framework in this area during the course of this parliamentary term. This includes the option of placing the guidance on a statutory basis.

Keeping children safe from abuse and exploitation is a key priority for the Scottish Government. We are committed to ensuring that robust child protection measures are in place across Scotland.

That is why we are taking forward a range of work with our partners, including Stop It Now! Scotland and the NSPCC, to both prevent abuse and intervene early to ensure that risk and harm to children and young people is recognised and acted on quickly and effectively. For example, in February of this year, we delivered a public awareness campaign across a range of radio, TV and digital channels to inform parents about the risks of online harm and how to protect their children online.

Cross-directorate Government-supported work-streams collectively take action to prevent and protect children in Scotland from child sexual abuse and provide appropriate support to victims and survivors of such abuse. This includes funding to support a range of activity and programmes with a particular focus on early intervention and prevention and the revision of the National Child Protection Guidance that defines and clarifies roles and responsibilities for everyone working with children and young people, setting out the foundation for protective action to keep children safe from harm.

The most recent statistics show the number of children on the Child Protection Register in Scotland has decreased and is the lowest rate of any nation in the UK. The number of looked after children is also at its lowest level since 2006.

The breadth of work happening across Government and our commitment to a continuing focus on prevention and early intervention is such that we do not think that a national strategy to tackle child sexual abuse is required at this time. The Scottish Government will keep under review whether a dedicated strategy is needed in this sensitive and important area.

As part of our pledge towards decarbonisation, the Scottish Government is working towards our commitment to phase out the need for all petrol or diesel cars in the public sector fleet by 2025 and for all other new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.

In line with this commitment, all internal combustion vehicles (ICE) procured since 2018 are light commercial vehicles and at time of purchase, there were no suitable fully electric (EV) or plug in hybrid (PHEV) alternatives available. These vehicles will be replaced at end of life with either EV or PHEV replacements.

No ICE cars have been procured since 2017.

The Ukraine Longer-term Resettlement Fund remains open for applications where Scottish Government funded works can be completed by 31 March 2024, and we continue to actively encourage Councils and RSLs to apply to the Fund to boost the supply of additional homes with support available for a range of housing options.

Official statistics covering processing times for Adult Disability Payment are published as a part of the regularly scheduled quarterly publication. The latest Adult Disability Payment statistical publication was published on Tuesday 14 March 2023 and the next publication will be published in June 2023. Information on the average processing time by month is included in table 9. This publication is available from

https://www.gov.scot/collections/social-security-scotland-stats-publications/#benefitsforcarersanddisabilityassistance .

Scottish Ballet is one of Scotland’s five National Performing Companies and has met with Scottish Ministers on two occasions since May 2021.

On 22 February 2022 Scottish Ballet held an introductory meeting with Neil Gray following his appointment as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and Minister with special responsibility for refugees from Ukraine.

On 11 January 2023 Scottish Ballet, along with the other National Performing Companies, met with the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture to explore how their international tours could further enhance the reputation and brand of Scotland overseas.

As a National Performing Company the Scottish Ballet receive direct funding from Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials have met regularly since May 2021 with the Scottish Ballet as part of normal grant management processes.

The Scottish Government will continue to have regular dialogue with the culture sector and, given the recent changes in the Scottish Government Ministerial team, introductory meetings between relevant Ministers and the National Performing Companies are currently being considered.

The First Minister was briefed on the Ministerial Code; Civil Service Code; Code of Conduct for Special Advisers; guidance on Collective Decision Making; procedures for making a formal complaint about a minister’s or former minister’s behaviour; Scottish Parliamentary Pensions Scheme guidance; Safeguarding and Securing Scottish Government Business guidance; the Scottish Government’s IT Code of Conduct, Records Management Plan and Policy and Security Data Handling Standard.

In addition the First Minister was briefed on the private office function; Ministerial Pay, Pensions, declarations of interests; guidance on travel, expenses and gifts; and an overview of the Scottish Government and its governance structures.

The First Minister was provided with a diary note to discuss forthcoming engagements; background information on Bute House arrangements; Counterterrorism Incident guidance; and the civil service liaison arrangements with the outgoing First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

The First Minister was also briefed on portfolio priorities and on the Bute House Agreement.

Free school meals are universally available during term-time to all children in primaries 1 to 5 at publicly-funded schools and to all children at publicly-funded special schools.

After primary 5, children and young people remain eligible to receive free school meals if their families meet the eligibility criteria set out within legislation until they leave school. This is the most generous provision of free school meals across the UK. However, it is for children, young people and their families to choose to take up this provision.

We remain committed to expanding universal free school meals to all primary school pupils over the course of this parliament, and our next step towards this will be the expansion of free school meals for all Primary 6 and 7 pupils in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment.

There are currently no plans to vary the rate of Scottish Child Payment for parents under the age of 25. We are aware that the UK Government's Universal Credit system pays a lower rate to younger parents, and we have called on them to reverse this unfairness.

The Scottish Government undertook a suite of Impact Assessments during the pandemic to help inform key decisions and assess their potential impact on those at greatest risk from COVID- 19 and on vulnerable groups, including learners.

The Scottish Government and Education Scotland also published an Equity Audit on 13 January 2021 to share our understanding of the impact that COVID-19 and school building closures had on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This also set clear areas of focus for accelerating recovery from the pandemic.

The Equity Audit and the Impact Assessments were published on the Scottish Government’s website and can be accessed using the links below.

• Closure and re-opening of schools - impact assessment
• Closure and reopening of school's version 2 - impact assessment
• Closure and re-opening of schools - children's rights and wellbeing impact assessment
• Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) for Routine Protective Measures in Schools, Early Learning and Childcare settings and daycare of children's services
• Impact Assessment for Routine Protective Measures in Schools, Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) settings and daycare of children’s services - Equalities Impact Assessment / Island Communities Impact Assessment / Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment
• Strategic framework for reopening schools and early learning and childcare settings: initial impact assessment
• Equity Audit (www.gov.scot)