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There will be a) a positive impact with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as we decarbonise our rail network and reduce the number of diesel trains operating on the network and b) & c) with ScotRail’s proposed May 2022 timetable we will see around 44,000 additional seats daily between today’s timetable and May 2022 encouraging passengers to consider train as an alternative means of transport thus, supporting modal shift.

The Scottish Government supports implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and agrees with others in the international community that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law; making it harder for a peaceful two state solution to be reached.

In 2018, the Scottish Government published Guidance on Due Diligence: Human Rights [1] , setting out how we, our executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should undertake appropriate due diligence on companies, including their human rights record, before entering into an investment relationship with them. This list of 112 companies identified by the UN Human Rights Office as being involved in activities related to illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine, during the period from 1 January 2018 to 1 August 2019, is one piece of information to be considered in that due diligence process.

Existing policy guidance on procurement outlines actions that public bodies can take if they believe there are grounds to exclude companies active in any illegal settlements from bidding for public contracts [2] .

I have asked officials to write to the Chief Executives of relevant public bodies to remind them of the policy guidance, make them aware of this UN list and ask them to provide information to officials on any relationships they have with companies on this list. Following this, I will write to any companies, thus identified, seeking an update on their activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and what they are doing to cease those specific activities- as identified by the independent international fact-finding mission, which provided the basis for their inclusion in this list.

On account management services or other support, as noted in response to question S6W-00182 on 27 October 2021, Scottish Enterprise is confident that it has acted in full accordance with their internal due diligence procedure, introduced in 2019. This procedure follows from the 2018 Scottish Government guidance.

As policies and procedures on due diligence and procurement are updated the Scottish Government takes account of the latest findings and recommendations of international bodies such as the UN.

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

[1] https://www.gov.scot/publications/due-diligence-checks-good-practice-guidance/

[2] https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20160106214501/http:/www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/Procurement/policy/SPPNSSPANS/policy-notes/SPPN2014/SPPN42014

The Scottish Government supports implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and agrees with others in the international community that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law; making it harder for a peaceful two state solution to be reached.

In 2018, the Scottish Government published Guidance on Due Diligence: Human Rights [1] , setting out how we, our executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should undertake appropriate due diligence on companies, including their human rights record, before entering into an investment relationship with them. This list of 112 companies identified by the UN Human Rights Office as being involved in activities related to illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine, during the period from 1 January 2018 to 1 August 2019, is one piece of information to be considered in that due diligence process.

Existing policy guidance on procurement outlines actions that public bodies can take if they believe there are grounds to exclude companies active in any illegal settlements from bidding for public contracts [2] .

I have asked officials to write to the Chief Executives of relevant public bodies to remind them of the policy guidance, make them aware of this UN list and ask them to provide information to officials on any relationships they have with companies on this list. Following this, I will write to any companies, thus identified, seeking an update on their activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and what they are doing to cease those specific activities- as identified by the independent international fact-finding mission, which provided the basis for their inclusion in this list.

On account management services or other support, as noted in response to question S6W-00182, Scottish Enterprise is confident that it has acted in full accordance with their internal due diligence procedure, introduced in 2019. This procedure follows from the 2018 Scottish Government guidance.

As policies and procedures on due diligence and procurement are updated the Scottish Government takes account of the latest findings and recommendations of international bodies such as the UN.

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

[1] https://www.gov.scot/publications/due-diligence-checks-good-practice-guidance/

[2] https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20160106214501/http:/www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/Procurement/policy/SPPNSSPANS/policy-notes/SPPN2014/SPPN42014

Our 2018 Guidance on Due Diligence: Human Rights sets out how the Scottish Government, our executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies should undertake appropriate due diligence on companies, including their human rights record, before entering into an investment relationship with them. Building on this, Scottish Enterprise’s Customer Due Diligence Procedure, introduced in 2019, sets out the process that it follows to undertake human rights due diligence checks on companies it works with. Such checks are based on a rigorous process and independent evidence. Scottish Enterprise is confident that it has acted in full accordance with this Procedure.

Following the allocation of £2.1 billion provided to date to NHS Boards and Integration Authorities to support additional COVID-19 costs, a further £482 million is now being provided to NHS Boards and Integration Authorities in 2021-22 to meet ongoing costs associated with Covid-19. This includes funding for PPE, Test and Protect and delivery of Covid-19 vaccinations.

The Scottish Government will continue to ensure that our health and care services have the funding that they require to respond to this pandemic.

Details of funding allocations to NHS Boards and Integration Authorities are set out in the following table:

Our colleges and universities have been vital in our efforts to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. The decades to come will bring further significant change at pace – shifts in automation, digital developments and artificial intelligence, the move to net-zero, changes in the world of work and study, global competition for talent and resources and our future demographic, health and social care needs.

That is why we asked the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to review how it could best fulfil its mission of achieving coherence, quality and sustainability in tertiary education and research. SFC’s report - Coherence and Sustainability: A Review of Tertiary Education and Research - was published at the end of June 2021.

Our full response was published today and is available at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802015041 . The Scottish Government broadly accept the Review’s recommendations. We recognise that, given the breadth of recommendations, some require a Scottish Government lead, others are for SFC and its Board to consider further, while we expect the sector itself to respond across a number of key areas. In addition, some recommendations will require further development for consultation.

As a government, our ambition is to create the best possible environment for colleges and universities, students and employers to thrive, now and into the future. I look forward to working with them to achieve our ambitions for Scotland’s tertiary education and research system.

The advertising and promotion of alcohol entails a range of activity which is seen by children and young people across Scotland. This influences attitudes towards drinking alcohol and can encourage children and young people to start drinking alcohol or to drink more alcohol. This is why the Scottish Government will consult on potential alcohol advertising restrictions during 2022, to protect children and young people, as announced in A Fairer, Greener Scotland: Programme for Government 2021-22 , published on 7 September 2021.

The Scottish Government is required by law to regularly review all protective measures that are currently in place, such as the mandatory requirement for the wearing of face coverings in most indoor settings, including places of worship. This measure will continue to be monitored and reviewed in relation to evidence on the four harms : the direct impact of COVID-19, other health impacts, societal impacts, and economic impacts.

After a recent review, during which there was careful consideration of all of the current evidence as well as the options available, Ministers determined that the regulations on face coverings remain proportionate and should not change for the present.

At this stage of the pandemic many of the more intrusive restrictions have been lifted, but the virus and the harms that it causes have not gone away. We still continue to see hospital admissions and deaths as a result of COVID and the impacts of long COVID can be significant. That is why it remains important to maximise the use of the remaining measures such as face coverings.

While the vaccination has significantly weakened the link between new cases and serious health harms, it has not been completely broken. It is therefore important that places of worship, along with many other indoor settings, continue their good practice to reduce the spread of the virus.

We are grateful to faith and belief communities for their important role in protecting their congregations and enabling everyone, particularly those at higher risk, to access worship safely.

As with the rest of the UK, fully vaccinated travellers arriving into Scotland from non-red list countries are required to take a test no later than the end of day 2 after their arrival. Currently, the test needs to meet a minimum standard which tends to mean that a PCR test is required, although some other tests can meet the standard.

Travellers can choose to purchase a PCR test via CTM, the UK booking portal for international travel, where costs are currently £68 for a day two test and £136 for day two and eight tests, regardless of where a traveller lives in the UK. Alternatively, a traveller can book a test via one of the private providers listed on the gov.uk site. The average cost of these tests are between £55-£65 across the whole of the UK.

From 24 October, fully vaccinated travellers arriving into England from non-red list countries will be able to take a lateral flow test with photo verification for their day 2 test. This will be followed up with a confirmatory PCR test, should they receive a positive result.

We have confirmed we will align with these changes, however we have only recently received details of the proposal from the UK Government and are reviewing these prior to confirming a date for implementation.

Since the early stages of our pandemic response, the Scottish Government has been committed to a public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic in Scotland, with the purpose of scrutinising decisions taken in the course of this pandemic so far and to ensure that lessons are learned for the future. The Scottish public inquiry is expected to adopt a person-centred, human rights based approach.

Decisions about the scope of the inquiry are yet to be taken. Public engagement about a draft Scottish public inquiry aims and principles paper took place between 24 August and end of September. The Scottish Government is actively seeking the views of equality and Human Rights stakeholder groups. I also met with equality and Human Rights groups on 30 September. This feedback will help inform the terms of reference to be agreed between Ministers and the inquiry’s Chair, once they have been appointed.