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The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government is investing £62 million, through the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB), to support 276 new battery-electric buses and charging infrastructure. 137 of the buses will be built in Falkirk, bringing the total number of buses being built in Scotland with Government support to 344. ScotZEB Phase 1 included a “community benefit” criteria that all bids were scored against. Guidance encouraged bidders to be creative and innovative in finding ways that their bid would deliver wider benefits, giving the example of creating jobs or enhancing economic development, including in the local area. The review of Phase 1 of ScotZEB will consider how this criterion might be strengthened in the future.

We are fortunate that one of the world’s leading manufacturers of zero-emission buses, Alexander Dennis, is headquartered in Scotland. Alexander Dennis’s order book is typically comprised of about 25% of orders from Scottish operators, with the remainder coming from other parts of the UK or beyond, while the highly skilled, green jobs benefit the local community. Through the Falkirk Growth Deal, including £1 million from Scottish Government, ADL will lead on the creation of a Public Transport Net Zero Tech Cluster to focus on cost effective decarbonisation of public transport. This will include the creation of a campus with an R&D centre of excellence, a high-tech incubator and a dedicated flexible carbon neutral manufacturing space.

The Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce is a short life group comprised of leaders from the bus operating, bus manufacturing, finance, energy and public sectors. Its remit is to explore the hurdles and opportunities in transitioning to a zero emission bus fleet. It is not a decision making body, it does not exercise any statutory functions nor handle any funds and its role includes helping to shape and inform relevant Scottish Government policy commitments.

We aim to publish a draft of the Islands Connectivity Plan for consultation by the end of the 2022.

In addition to the £3m announced on 10 February 2022, the First Minister announced a further £3m for the City Centre Recovery Fund on 22 February, bringing the total to £6m. Funding is awarded directly to local authorities to take forward local recovery priorities and allocated based on city size. The Scottish Government is working at pace with the seven cities to deliver this fund to support economic recovery, attract visitors and increase footfall back into our city centres in line with priority aims identified City Centre Recovery Task Force.

The gender equality strategy was last discussed by the Scottish Government and the Scottish National Investment Bank on 14 December 2021.

Scottish Government considers there to be sufficient abattoir capacity in Scotland for farmed venison and flexibility to increase that capacity if required. For wild venison, £80,000 has been made available through the Covid Recovery Opportunities Fund to create new local chill and processing units. These will be demonstration projects and will support delivery of the Scottish Venison Strategy action to invest in area-based facilities to maintain wild carcass quality and build supply of local product. Contracts have recently been offered and details of the projects will be announced in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06789 on 8 March 2022. The Scottish National Investment Bank’s forthcoming gender equality strategy will include information on how it intends to collect data. 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 .

Over each of the last five years FLS has spent the following on deer culling contracts on Scotland's national forests and land:

Community Needs Assessments were carried out for all routes included in the 2012 Ferries Plan and will be updated alongside the Islands Connectivity Plan (ICP). We have commenced work to support the following live investment projects;

Mallaig – Lochboisdale Vessel Replacement Project

Oban – Craignure

Gourock – Dunoon – Kilcreggan