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The Islands Connectivity Plan, to replace the current Ferries Plan, will be produced during 2022 and engagement and consultation on this will enable substantial public and community input.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05400 on 24 January 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05411 on 24 January 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

The Scottish Government has engaged widely with stakeholders and partners about the introduction of a licensing scheme for short-term let accommodation. Since January 2020, Ministers and or Scottish Government officials have had 13 meetings with representatives from different local authorities in Scotland. Details of these meetings, including when control areas were discussed, can be found in a recent Freedom of Information response at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202100228791/ .

When deciding to designate all or part of an area as a short-term let control area, a planning authority must submit their proposal to Scottish Minsters for approval. We are aware the City of Edinburgh Council and Highland Council are currently progressing plans to designate control areas, in order to address pressures created by secondary letting, but these have not yet been submitted to Ministers for consideration.

A fundamental purpose of the scheme is to ensure basic safety standards are met in all types of short-term let accommodation across Scotland. It is therefore mandatory for operators and licensing authorities to abide by the scheme, which will help to ensure the safety of guests and neighbours. The Scottish Government would expect local authorities to act in compliance with their statutory duties if a licensing authority did not have a licensing scheme in place by this date, it could be subject to challenge. If a failure to comply with statute was successfully judicially reviewed, the Court of Session could order that particular action be taken to remedy that.

In 2021, we published draft guidance for licensing authorities, letting agencies and platforms to inform our consultation. We are now in the process of reconvening the stakeholder working group, which includes local authority representatives, to update and publish revised guidance to enable operators and licensing authorities to review their preparations for implementation.

The guidance sets out that we want licensing authorities to take a risk-based and proportionate approach that will enable them to sustainably recover their own costs associated with establishing and administering the licensing scheme within a ‘not for profit’ fee based structure. Section F of our updated Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) , published on 23 November, also provides further information about recovery of costs through fees.

In line with Scottish Government’s Digital Strategy, we have encouraged licensing authorities to work towards a digital first approach to administering the scheme. We have also encouraged licensing authorities to have paper copies of relevant information, and the application form, available upon request for people who cannot access them online and to provide support to access online services at their offices.

The report by Element Energy noted that a combination of increased up-take of Sustainable Aviation Fuel and behavioural change is the lowest risk pathway to achieving the 33% reduction in aviation emissions needed to meet Scotland’s emissions targets. Our consultation to inform the development the aviation strategy, which closes on the 21 January, includes questions on how the Scottish Government can help to reduce the environmental impact of aviation and meet our climate change targets. The responses to the consultation, alongside other relevant evidence and wider Scottish Government policy, will inform decisions on the final content of the strategy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05411 on 24 January 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

The Scottish Government intends to allocate up to £5.1m per annum to cover the costs of the advocacy provision over a four year period. All of the funding is provided for the establishment and operation of the new service. However, this is a demand-led service and until it has been operational over a period of time it will not be possible to develop a detailed breakdown of when funding will be drawn down.

To ensure continuous improvement of the service, and to inform the next procurement exercise, we will monitor demand and review expenditure over the contract period. Subsequently, the contract value will be updated in the Public Contracts Register ahead of any extension or retendering for this contract.

The Inquiry must, and will, be given the resources necessary to discharge its task. It will be fully funded by the Scottish Government. Costs are to be determined by how the Inquiry is run by the independent Chair. For that reason, as with other inquiries, we have not set a fixed budget for the Inquiry.

The Inquiries Act 2005 requires the Chair to avoid any unnecessary cost, whether to public funds or to witnesses or others.

Following the end of Professor Ken Muir’s ‘ consultation on the replacement of the Scottish Qualifications Authority and the reform of Education Scotland’ , on 26 November 2021, Professor Muir is preparing his report and recommendations, which the Scottish Government expects to receive soon.

Our approach to managing the Covid-19 pandemic has been underpinned by our Framework for Decision Making since its publication in April 2020. The Framework set out the key principles that guide our decision-making in responding to and managing the four key harms of Covid-19. These four harms are distinct but inter-related and comprise the direct health impacts of Covid-19; non-Covid-19 health harms; societal impacts; and economic impacts.

Covid-19 is first and foremost a public health crisis, and the use of legislative powers has been necessary to in order to limit transmission of the virus and save lives. We know that Covid-19 is not about to suddenly disappear, which is why we are currently undertaking work to consider the necessary adaptations to handle any future phases of the pandemic as proportionately and sustainably as possible.

We are working on a revised Strategic Framework, which will set out how we can adapt to managing the virus in the medium to long-term as it becomes endemic. This includes an update to our strategic intent by moving towards developing the necessary flexibility and resilience in our health and social care systems, wider public services, economy and society to deal with potential new variants of Covid-19 or other public health threats.

The updated Framework will set out how we can live as freely as possible while controlling the harms that the virus can cause, using lessons learned during the epidemic to benefit Scotland going forward. We are consulting with businesses, organisations and others across society as part of this process, and we will bring the update to Parliament in the coming weeks.