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The Scottish Government is committed to building resilience to the locked-in impacts of climate change, as part of a just transition.

The approach to planning for adaptation in Scotland follows the statutory requirements of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Alongside continuing to deliver the wide range of actions set out under the current statutory Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme (2019 – 2024), the Scottish Government is also now developing the next such Programme for publication in 2024. This Programme will respond to the full range of current and future climate risks for Scotland, as independently identified by the Climate Change Committee in its evidence base for the January 2022 update to the statutory UK Climate Change Risk Assessment.

As part of preparing the next Adaptation Programme, the Scottish Government is currently looking at options for early actions to enhance responses in the highest priority risk areas identified by the Climate Change Committee. These priority risk areas include both the impacts on food supply chains and distribution networks from climate-related disruption and those on human health, wellbeing and productivity from increased exposure to heat in homes and other buildings.

The UK Government advise that current measures in place against Russian products should prevent any such steel entering the UK from Russia. They further advise that they have not been made aware of any issues on this matter.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11081 on‎ 29 September 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

We are aware from other infrastructure projects that construction costs have been impacted by increases in inflation, as well as a rise in materials, fuel and wages as a result of the pandemic, exit from the European Union and the situation in Ukraine. The full impacts will not be known until the tender bid and evaluation stage for the Ardrossan project has been undertaken.

The National Collections are an important part of Scotland’s culture. As part of setting and reviewing annual budgets for grant in aid, the Scottish Government maintains close contact with National Museums Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland about their cost and revenue, in order to continue to ensure that their permanent collections remain open to the public free of charge.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11081 on‎ 29 September 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

Scottish Ministers are required by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to review the National Outcomes within five years of their previous publication. The 2015 Act stipulates the consultation requirements, including its period, consultees, and requirement to consult with and lay a final report in the Parliament.

I confirmed to the Finance and Public Administration Committee our plans for the review of the National Outcomes on two occasions ( 21 September 2021 and 31 May 2022 ) explaining that the external engagement for the Review will commence in 2022, with the aim of laying the statutory report in Parliament during the third Parliamentary term in 2023.

While recruitment is rightly an operational matter for ScotRail to manage, the Scottish Government is supportive of the ambitious target to increase apprenticeships.

ScotRail Trains Ltd. has confirmed that it is still aiming to have recruited 220 apprentices by 2025.

To help achieve this target, ScotRail is working to embed an ‘apprenticeship first’ approach to recruiting for a number of roles in its organisation, and is undertaking productive discussions with the rail trades unions on this.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11009 on‎ 30 September 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

A wide range of Scottish Government support is available to Scottish wool producers and manufacturers through the Find Business Support webpage ( https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/ ) and our enterprise agencies who work with companies to discuss their specific needs. This includes grants (e.g. Business Innovation and Growth Grants), other funding, advice, help and events.

The £2m Circular Textiles Fund (CTF), administered by Zero Waste Scotland and backed by the Scottish Government assesses projects on the basis of how effectively they will accelerate a circular transition in Scotland. Information on eligibility criteria for applicants to the Circular Textiles Fund is available at: https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/faqs-circular-textiles-fund .

More broadly, the Scottish Government will consider the quality of land available for grazing when directing support payments to sheep farms.

For example, the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) and the 2022 Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (SUSSS) provides additional support to maintain sheep flocks in farms reliant on poorer quality rough grazing found in Scotland’s Basic Payment Region three.

These payments help farmers and crofters maintain the social and environmental benefits that sheep flocks bring to these areas.