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A total of 254 Target Enhanced Recruitment Scheme (TERS) bursaries have been taken up by GP trainees in the South Scotland parliamentary region since 2018. A full breakdown is included in the following table.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13195 on 21 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Local authorities and schools are required to ensure that all food and drink served in schools meets the nutritional standards set out in The Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2020. Further information about nutritional standards is available in our Healthy Eating in Schools guidance which is available on the Scottish Government's website through the following web link: Healthy eating in schools: guidance 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

There is no specific requirement for school meals to be hot although it would be difficult to meet the nutritional standards set out in the Regulations without providing hot options. The Regulations provide flexibility for local authority school caterers to design menus which meet local needs and circumstances. This would allow for example, more hot choices to be offered during the colder winter months and more cold options during warmer months.

The Scottish freight gauge programme identified several sections of the Aberdeen to Central Belt route that would benefit from infrastructure interventions to allow larger intermodal freight containers that are common in road haulage which would support modal shift from road to rail. Such works would also facilitate the clearances between trains and infrastructure necessary for electrification.

I am advised by my officials in Transport Scotland that Network Rail is refining its proposed scope of works for the Aberdeen to Central Belt project, which will be considered by the Scottish Ministers in the new year.

We are working closely with NHS Boards to support a range of local initiatives designed to meet the basic and practical needs of junior doctors, and their teams. This includes access to quiet spaces to support health and wellbeing, the installation of lockers and further support to facilitate out of hours catering. The Scottish Government is determined to deliver the recommendations of the Expert Working Group’s report on junior doctor wellbeing and have begun introducing further improvements to working conditions. We are on track to meet the key recommendation of limiting consecutive days of long shifts, with 99% compliance achieved in August 2022.

Energy debt is a matter reserved to the UK Government, so the Scottish Government does not hold this information. I suggest contacting Ofgem in the first instance.

Scottish Government analysts have estimated that the UK Government’s current price cap (Energy Price Guarantee) of £2,500 puts 860,000 (34%) of households in Scotland in fuel poverty and 600,000 (24%) in extreme fuel poverty. In line with the Energy Price Guarantee rising by £500 from April 2023, we estimate that there will be around 980,000 fuel poor households in total (39%) and 860,000 in extreme fuel poverty (34%).

The Scottish Government intends to achieve the required Aberdeen to Central Belt project outputs by the end of 2026.

“Approval in principle, Asset Manager accepts design” is an internal Network Rail approval stage. This signifies the point at which designs are at a sufficient level to be approved to move forward to be designed for construction. A revised date for when the design will be approved following the refinement of the scope referred to in answer to question S6W-12919.

I therefore refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12919 on 21 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government is planning to deliver the identified Aberdeen to Central Belt funding by the end of 2026. The funding will be spent on a series of infrastructure upgrades including signal enhancements and specific capacity alternations to facilitate the operation of more and faster trains on the same route.