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Work has been undertaken throughout 2022 to scope a Clyde Metro Programme Level Business Case. This is being undertaken collaboratively, led by Transport Scotland and its partners Glasgow City Council and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. A Delivery Plan will be prepared following the completion of the Programme Level Business Case.

No further flood protection schemes or engineering works have been removed from the list of the 42 formal flood protection schemes since the answer to question S6W-05146.

A species control agreement (SCA) is a voluntary agreement between a relevant body and a land owner or manager. NatureScot has not issued any species control agreements within that period. Scottish Forestry has issued a single species control agreement for Rhododendron ponticum, while SEPA issued a species control agreement for North American signal crayfish in 2019. The Scottish Government (Marine Scotland) issued four species control agreements for Didemnum vexillium in 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

A species control order (SCO) is a compulsory instrument which can be used to compel certain actions in regard to invasive non-native species and these may be used in situations where an SCA has failed. None of the relevant bodies have needed to make a species control order because there has never been a situation where an owner has failed to cooperate with a species control agreement.

On 22 March 2021, the Scottish Government published a draft Independence Referendum Bill. The total costs of publication were £258.22.

Costs incurred for the Lord Advocate’s reference to the Supreme Court were published on 22 September. The information can be found here: www.gov.scot/publications/independence-referendum-supreme-court-referral-legal-costs . The information will be updated with final costs later this month.

A benchmarking exercise was undertaken, as part of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review’s appraisal of Clyde Metro. That work considered UK and international cities, with a comparable population to Glasgow for both the city itself and the wider urban areas and/or metropolitan area and a comparable mix of urban public transport offerings in terms of mode, historical systems, modern systems, etc.

Applying this criteria, resulted in the identification of a list of thirteen cities across the UK and eight other European countries, comprising:

• Newcastle (UK);
• Manchester (UK)
• Copenhagen (Denmark);
• Dortmund (Germany);
• Dusseldorf (Germany);
• Rotterdam (The Netherlands);
• Bilbao (Spain);
• Lille (France),
• Gdansk (Poland);
• Nuremberg (Germany);
• Lyon (France);
• Helsinki (Finland); and
• Oslo (Norway).

The transport systems in each of the above cities was then reviewed against the following criteria; the different public transport systems on offer (e.g. commuter rail, metro, tram) and the interaction between these; the historical development of the network; socio economic factors; engineering aspects including underground running; density of stations; total length of network; and distance served by mode.

The average distance of Metro services was assessed at around 14km from a City Centre, while Tram has an average range of 9km and Commuter Rail has an average range of 40km. The 14km range is comparable to the urban area of greater Glasgow and Glasgow also had a good suburban rail network density. Therefore it was on this basis that Clyde Metro was put forward as a transport system serving up to around 15km in range from the city centre.

Crown Estate Scotland does not have powers to issue a Compulsory Purchase Order.

A review of the Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF), of which Mortgage to Shared Equity is part, was commissioned in February 2022.

The review is wide ranging and will consider all aspects of the Mortgage to Rent (MTR) and Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE) eligibility criteria including local authority property valuation thresholds and capital and equity limits.The work is being led by two full-time equivalent Scottish Government officials with support from other officials, including analysts, as required.

The main stages of the review include: identification of issues; information gathering and modelling; developing recommendations and implementation. Independent user research has been conducted with a number of key stakeholders, to identify areas of concern and gather information in relation to aspects of the process that are working well. This involved recent applicants to HOSF, registered social landlords and accredited Money Advisers from organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureaux, local authority Debt Advice services and law centres. Further consultation with stakeholders is ongoing and user testing is planned for later stages of the work.

The review will conclude in the spring of next year with implementation of any policy changes to take place thereafter.

Ministerial engagements and expenses, including those for overseas travel, are proactively published by the Scottish Government. This can be accessed via the Scottish Government website .

I made no international trips as a Minister between my appointment in May 2021 and 31 December 2021.

Ministerial engagements and expenses, including those for overseas travel, are proactively published by the Scottish Government three months in arrears in line with the Ministerial Code. This can be accessed via the Scottish Government website .

Travelling to other countries allows Ministers to promote Scotland, build relationships and boost investment - including emphasising the Scottish Government's role in working with partners to support Scottish companies.

The cost of flights for those accompanying me, up to and including trips proactively published on the SG website, are listed below.

There have been a number of significant changes to Public Health policies in relation to Covid over the summer, resulting in the profile of Covid spend reducing significantly compared to when funding was provided to IJBs.

In response to this, surplus Covid reserves will be redistributed across the sector to meet current Covid priorities, including Test and Protect and PPE provisions.