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The period a transport appraisal or business case, undertaken in accordance with STAG, is valid and relevant is dependent on the evidence and information provided in the report. The purpose of this evidence is to reflect the current conditions in the study area and other aspects of appraisal as set out in current STAG guidance, such as the problems and opportunities. Therefore, the appraisers and decision makers must take a view on whether that evidence base is sufficient to make the investment decision, which includes the relevance of the data used in the analysis.

As set out in the STAG Managers Guide , STAG is a key part of a transport related business case needed to inform decision making on transport interventions. A transport appraisal in accordance with STAG aligns with the Strategic Business Case (SBC) stage, the initial stage of business case development in line with Transport Scotland’s Guidance on the development of Business Cases .

If there is an intervening period between evidence gathering and decision making, appraisers would be expected to update an existing STAG report, where appropriate, to take into account any changes in the intervening period affecting the evidence and information in the report. Examples may include: changes in transport demand or provision in a study area; changes in demographics and needs of an area; newly published and relevant national policies, strategies and plans; and updates to STAG.

The Scottish Government does not collect or hold this information.

The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places the statutory responsibility for local roads with the local road authorities, including parking on local roads. They also have a duty under the Disabled Persons' Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009, in particular circumstances, to exercise their power to make it an offence to park in a disabled parking place without displaying a blue badge.

Enforcement of these spaces is therefore the responsibility of traffic wardens, local authority parking attendants, civil enforcement officers and Police officers.

However, as part of the implementation of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 parking provisions, we will be undertaking a publicity campaign to highlight inconsiderate parking including the misuse of disabled parking bays.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to legislate on the model adopted by land-owning land maintenance companies.

We are however, currently working on a non-statutory voluntary Code of Practice in relation to the dismissal and replacement of land-owning land maintenance companies. The Code would introduce guidance on the minimum standards expected from any land-owning land maintenance company following a request from homeowners formally requesting to dismiss and replace them. This would include information that such companies should provide to homeowners, following the transfer of the ownership of the land, and future arrangements for maintaining the land.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities

The Scottish Housing Regulator collects information from social landlords on performance against the standards and outcomes of the Scottish Social Housing Charter. This includes information on the total number of emergency and non-emergency repairs completed during the reporting year. The published Scottish Housing Regulator Charter Data information is available at Statistical information | Scottish Housing Regulator .

A proposed station at Thornhill was assessed as part of the preliminary appraisal stage of second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2). The outcome of this was that this station reopening did not form part of the strategic transport investment recommendations within STPR2. Instead, recommendations, set out in STPR2, for rail focus on the decarbonisation of the remainder of the network; measures to increase the amount of freight travelling by rail and improving connectivity between our 7 cities.

However, there remains a path for regional or local rail projects to come forward, and Transport Scotland will consider these subject to a strong business case being developed in accordance with Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) and suitable funding being available.

The consultation period on the 45 STPR2 recommendations is open until the 15 April 2022, further details are available via the online STPR2 consultation portal: https://consult.gov.scot/transport-scotland/strategic-transport-projects-review/ .

In the current financial year, between April 2021 and October 2021, 2,985 people living in Falkirk Local Authority received one or more payments for Social Security Scotland benefits they applied for. The mean average amount received by recipients living in Falkirk during this time was £519. These figures include applications made for Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods, Funeral Support Payment, Young Carer Grant, Job Start Payment, Scottish Child Payment, and Child Disability Payment.

Between April 2021 and October 2021, 2,695 Carer’s Allowance Supplement payments of £231.40 were made to people living in the Falkirk Local Authority. Statistics for Child Winter Heating Assistance by local authority covering winter 2021-2022 are due to be published on 26 April 2022.

The £10 million Tenant Grant Fund, launched last September, is being administered by local authorities who are best placed to target and deliver the funding to vulnerable tenants who are facing potential eviction and homelessness within their local area.

We are aware that local authorities are proactively raising awareness of the Tenant Grant Fund, with many establishing links with local housing advisory services such as Citizens Advice Bureaus and Law Centres. Some local authorities are also raising awareness of the fund directly with private landlords, encouraging them to get in touch if they have a tenant who has fallen into rent arrears as a direct result of the pandemic and requires support.

The Scottish Government also continues to promote the Tenant Grant Fund across social media platforms and we are working with key stakeholders to identify any further opportunities to raise awareness of the fund, particularly amongst private rented tenants.

The Scottish Government is not aware of reports that Greenbelt is selling off its land. Scottish Ministers have no powers to intervene to stop individuals or companies from selling land in private ownership.