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The Scottish Government intends to publish the British Sign Language (BSL) Progress Report by the end of October 2021, which will outline progress being made towards implementing the BSL National Plan.

Local authorities received funding amounting to £21,000 per authority over 4 years from 2018 to 2021, as part of the Local Government Finance Resettlement, to facilitate on-going dialogue with their local BSL-using community to support the creation of their first-ever Authority BSL Plans.

The British Deaf Association are funded through the Equality and Human Rights Fund to support local authorities to develop and monitor their Authority BSL plans, and to engage with their local BSL-using community.

The co-operation agreement between the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party seeks to provide effective and responsible leadership in the interests of the people of Scotland.

A number of machinery of government changes are being made to reflect the agreement:

• The membership of the existing Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation will contain a minister from the Scottish Green Party.
• A Cabinet Sub-Committee on the Climate Emergency will be established.
• A working group will be established to oversee the development of effective, deliberative engagement on sources of local government funding, culminating in a citizens’ assembly.
• To support growth in Active Travel, a task group will be formed to plan the most effective route for the implementation of the 20 mph speed limit on all appropriate roads by 2025.
• The previous Ministerial Working Group on Food will be reinstated

The Scottish Government have previously been made aware of this issue and earlier this year investigated the it further. Our investigation established that this was a historical, localised issue in the Aberdeenshire area where they had not been applying the guidance fully. Two years ago they revised their internal processes to ensure assessments were carried out on applications made by organisations seeking a Blue Badge in compliance with Scottish Governments Blue Badge guidance.

We are currently undertaking a review of the guidance we provide to Local Authorities to improve the process for organisations applying for a Blue Badge and to make it clear and consistent across the country. We are also seeking to ensure that the online application form is more robust and provides organisations and Local Authorities with all the necessary information to elicit a more efficient process.

General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) do not have a contract with the Scottish Government to provide General Dental Services (GDS). They are independent contractors who make arrangements directly with the NHS Board to provide GDS in their area.

The Scottish Government work in partnership with COSLA on behalf of all 32 local authorities to negotiate a financial settlement that ensures local authorities can continue to provide the high quality frontline services that the people of Scotland expect and deserve.

The vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets, including those that are influenced by external markets forces, and to allocate the total financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02457 on14 September 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 Household Survey 2017 shows that there has been a steady increase in the number of people using food waste recycling caddies, rather than throwing food out with general waste. Less than half (48%) of households now dispose of food waste with their general rubbish. The proportion of households making use of local authority-provided food caddies was 55 % in 2017

In response to (b), the duty to segregate food waste in the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 covers approximately 80% of Scotland’s population. The latest figures are from September 2015 and can be found in Zero Waste Scotland’s report: How Much Food Waste Is There in Scotland? , published in 2016, showing that over 1.5 million Scottish households had access to food waste collection.

The upcoming review of the Food Waste Reduction Action Plan in addition to the development of a Routemap to deliver our ambitious 2025 waste and recycling targets will consider improvements to the data collection and monitoring relating to food waste.

Through Scotland’s Third Land Use Strategy 2021-2026 , we have set out our vision, and objectives to deliver multiple benefits through sustainable productive mixed land-use, including forestry and farming. To achieve our vison, we will continue to support the management of Scotland’s land in an integrated way.

The Scottish Government currently encourages the uptake of agroforestry through the Forestry Grant Scheme within the Scotland Rural Development Programme 2014-20. As we develop future agricultural and forestry support to replace the current Common Agricultural Policy, the Agricultural Reform Implementation Oversight Board will carefully consider the recommendations of the Farming 1.5 report, as well as the Farmer-led Groups, WWF Scotland, Just Transition, NFUS, Scotland's Climate Assembly's Recommendations for Action Report, the Climate Change Plan update and the Forestry Grant Scheme Customer Representatives Group, when devising practical measures for delivery.

NatureScot is developing a Natural Capital Pilot Programme that will run until 2024 and we are working closely with them to ensure linkages are made to the work underway on designing future agri-environment support. This will help deliver a sustainable, long-term approach that addresses the specific needs of Scotland’s rural landscapes.

We also work closely with farming stakeholders to encourage greater levels of woodland planting as part of farming enterprises. For example, facilitated by Scottish Government and Scottish Forestry, a new farmer-led initiative has recently been established called Integrating Trees Network . This network hosts events for farmers and crofters across Scotland and brings them together, along with experts, to share their practical knowledge, experiences and advice about the processes, objectives, challenges and outcomes of planting trees.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail and any changes to ticket office provision should follow an appropriate consultation process.

It is worth noting that the last review of ScotRail ticket office opening hours took place around 30 years ago in 1991. Since then how and where people buy tickets has changed hugely, for example through the provision of smart and mobile phone ticketing which many passengers prefer.