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The following table summarises the rejected Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) applications, specifically Slurry Store, that have been appealed. It records the number of applications that were (a) upheld following appeal and (b) are awaiting a decision, in each year since 2015.

Please note that the 2015 round did not include a Slurry Store option and that the 2020 round was not open to new applications, rather a one year’s extension was offered to all Management options that were due to end in 2020. Not all businesses accepted the offer. Slurry Store is not a Management Option, it is capital only, and as such was not included in the round.

The 2021 round that closed at the beginning of July 2021 was also extended. These applications are still being assessed.

* Application type not included in Round

I can confirm that sport scotland received a stage 1 application for investment into the Park of Keir site. This was considered in 2019, with a decision on whether to progress the project to full application stage deferred until further information is available.

The following table summarises the rejected Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) applications, specifically Organic Farming, that have been appealed. It records the number of applications that were (a) upheld following appeal and (b) are awaiting a decision, in each year since 2015.

Please note that the 2020 round was not open to new applications, rather a one year’s extension was offered to all Management options that were due to end in 2020. Not all businesses accepted the offer. 63 Organic applications were offered an extension with 55 applications accepting.

The 2021 round that closed at the beginning of July 2021 was also extended. These applications are still being assessed.

We are working with the other administrations on the introduction of an extended producer responsibility system for packaging that will require producers to cover the full net cost of their packaging when it becomes waste. This will encourage producers to reduce unnecessary packaging and improve the sustainability of their packaging.

Public bodies already have a legal duty to take account of how they can improve social, economic and environmental wellbeing in their procurement activities. We have published guidance on waste and efficient resource consumption on our Sustainable Procurement Tools platform to support public bodies in reducing waste in their supply chains. This guidance highlights packaging as an example of where significant waste may arise, and provides examples of where reducing/ eliminating packaging can be included in the Contract Notice and Specification. In January 2021 we published SPPN 1/2021: Taking account of climate and circular economy considerations in public procurement. This policy note signposts the guidance published on the Tools and clarifies expectations with respect to circular economy considerations in procurement, outlining that procurement professionals should consider whether they can buy refurbished, repaired or pre-used rather than new.

The Scottish Government frequently includes requirements for recycling and recycled materials in our frameworks and contracts. Our IT Consumables Framework - a national framework that can be used by all public bodies across Scotland - requires the supplier to recycle all inbound packaging and encourage their partners to reduce packaging. Our Facilities Management Services Framework requires the supplier to sustainably source materials including packaging, and promote waste reduction and the circular economy through including recycled content in materials, including packaging.

The Scottish Government does not hold the requested data as the franchise agreement does not obligate the franchisee to provide this information.

The member may wish to contact ScotRail for the requested information.

Performance information for ScotRail is available on-line, at the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) Data Portal (Table 3.18). An on-line link to this table can be found via:

http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/5b6fbf8a-7fab-469e-9855-6c6cb4ff67dc

It includes ScotRail’s Public Performance Measure (PPM) information by operating sector and overall, on both a by-period and a moving-annual-average basis.

Also, ScotRail publishes quite detailed information for each four week period on by-station and by-sector PPM. This information is published at stations, and is also available on-line, via: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/performance-and-reliability

This Government has a proud record of supporting our rural and land based industries, including our beef producers. From 2018 to now we have supported the industry with a number of schemes including:

The Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme has provided total £118.8 million from 2018 to 2020. An uplift worth £12.67 million was made to this scheme via the convergence payments made in 2020.

The Beef Efficiency Scheme has provided £9.37 million to beef farming businesses since January 2018, while supporting businesses with training events and the use of carbon auditing tools.

The Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme (LFASS) also provides support to specialist beef farmers, for which £144 million has been paid out between 2018 and 2020.

The pilot Sustainable Agricultural Capital Grant Scheme offered financial support to farmers and crofters to purchase specific items of agricultural equipment and technology to support them in the delivery of direct greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions; as well as supporting sustainable farming and land use, improving land and livestock management and encouraging changes to land use to capture more carbon. The scheme proved popular and received 3,735 applications, with over 3,500 applications approved at a total value of £16.95m, of that £10.25m was awarded to 2,267 Suckler beef farmers and crofters.

As previously set out, the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland introduced a Carbon Metric for waste from 2011, making Scotland the first country to measure the carbon impact of its waste in this way, and delivering on our commitment set out in Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan.

The first metric of Scotland’s waste carbon footprint was published in 2013 by Zero Waste Scotland. The metric measures the whole-life carbon impacts of Scotland’s waste, and is a vital tool in our work to address the climate emergency.

The metric was developed by Zero Waste Scotland on behalf of Scottish Government, with input from SEPA and a steering committee formed from experts belonging to the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management.

We are working to implement our ‘ Framework on Recovery and Rehabilitation from COVID-19’ , which puts in place clear principles, priorities and objectives to support planning to meet increasing demand and provide high quality person-centred rehabilitation in different settings. A National Advisory Committee on Rehabilitation has been convened to oversee the implementation of the ‘Recovery and Rehabilitation Framework’. The board meets regularly, and minutes of these meetings can be viewed on our webpage here .

The rehabilitation programme has undertaken a significant scoping exercise through a self-assessment process to understand the current status of rehabilitation services in Scotland, from the perspective of the staff working in them.

The self-assessment tool has been circulated to all NHS Boards, Health & Social Care Partnerships, COSLA, third sector organisations, and Leisure Trusts as part of Local Authorities. The outputs from the self-assessment tool along with demand and capacity data will help us shape priorities, understand challenges and opportunities and inform funding decisions.

We will develop and implement a rehabilitation plan that will ensure everyone who requires rehabilitation will be able to access it, including those with a neurological condition.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04086 on 16 November 2021. 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 is commissioning an evaluation of the pilot approach to early learning and childcare (ELC) access for children who defer Primary 1. The evaluation research will include data collection with a sample of parents in pilot local authorities to explore their perceptions and experiences of the entitlement. We anticipate that full evaluation findings covering year 1 and 2 pilots will be published in spring 2023. Interim findings will be shared with the Deferral Working Group and published on the Scottish Government website.