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The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of applications which have been earmarked to be used for temporary accommodation. It is for grant applicants to allocate the properties acquired.

In relation to the number of applications which have been (a) received and (b) approved for the National Acquisition Programme I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27110 on 14 May 2024.

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 4G Infill (S4GI) Programme completed in November 2023 with the successful delivery of 55 new masts. No further masts will be deployed through the S4GI programme.

The Scottish Government is committed to the principle that local communities should be involved in the decisions about land that affect them, including those relating to forestry.

Consultations are an essential part of the decision-making process in forestry, and last year Scottish Forestry updated guidance that sets out the Engagement and Consultation Processes for forestry plans and proposals in Scotland.

Where significant harvesting plans are proposed this will normally involve two stages, firstly applicants are expected to engage with communities and neighbours, providing them with an opportunity to input `before plans have been finalised, and secondly Scottish Forestry runs a formal public consultation exercise as part of decision making process for applications involving significant tree harvesting.

As of December 2023, Scotland’s operational onshore wind capacity is around 9.5 GW. Within the project pipeline there is additional 13.9 GW of potential onshore wind capacity in Scotland. This consists of:

• 1.7 GW under construction.
• 4.8 GW awaiting construction.
• 7.4 GW in planning.

Energy Trends: UK renewables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

A key industry commitment from the Onshore Wind Sector Deal was to publish a pipeline report on how Scotland may achieve its ambition of 20 GW of onshore wind by 2030. Scottish Renewables have committed to updating the report on a biannual basis. Scottish Onshore Wind Project Pipeline Analysis Dec 23 FULL REPORT (scottishrenewables.com)

NHS Boards were informed of their individual baseline budget for 2024-25 on 19 December 2023, the same day as the 2024-25 Scottish Budget.

Their baseline budget is further supplemented by Scottish Government directorate funding allocations throughout the year, to arrive at their revenue resource limit for 2024-25. NHS Boards draw cash from the Scottish Government throughout the year as required.

NHS Lothian and Consort Healthcare are in an on-going discussion on areas that have been identified where maintenance and improvement is required. This process is continuing, and NHS Lothian regularly meet and discuss all aspects of their administration with Scottish Government officials to enable support to be offered.

Since its creation in 2015 to the end of March 2024, LAR Housing Trust has acquired/developed 740 homes for mid-market rent supported by a Scottish Government loan of £55 million. 175 of these were previously National Housing Trust units. Whilst LAR Housing Trust has brought valued diversity to the provision of mid-market rent housing in Scotland, we carefully consider all of our delivery routes to best achieve our objectives and meet our Scottish Public Finance Manual obligations. The Scottish Government has confirmed to LAR Housing Trust that there is no provision for a further low interest rate loan.

Over many years, the Scottish Government has encouraged LAR to leverage in alternative sources of capital. Building on what has been achieved to date, LAR Housing Trust is in an excellent position to innovate and pivot to new opportunities, including making progress on the sites acquired in Granton and elsewhere.

Scotland’s woodland creation planting target is set out in the Climate Change Plan. The plan includes ambitious targets for woodland creation, aiming to increase woodland cover from around 18% to 21% of the total area of Scotland by 2032, with the planting target increasing to 18,000 hectares annually.

Although Scotland faces the most challenging budget settlement since devolution, the Scottish Government remains committed to maximising the important contribution forestry makes in tackling the climate emergency.

We fund woodland creation through the Forestry Grant Scheme, which has made £39.2 million available to support woodland creation in 2024-25.

Woodland creation projects, including both planting and natural regeneration schemes are being approved on an ongoing basis and whilst this funding will not allow us to reach this year’s target, it will help create over 9,000 hectares of new woodland. This will help maintain the level of planting close to the average achieved over the last 5 years and allow for increased planting in the future should funding from the UK Government be forthcoming. Putting this in context, it will still allow Scotland to create more woodland than the rest of the UK combined.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving the A96. This is despite stark challenges we face as a result of the severe budgetary restrictions imposed by the UK Government including an almost 9% cut in our capital budget.

The current plan is to fully dual the route and as part of this process we are undertaking a transparent, evidence-based review of the programme, which includes a climate compatibility assessment and other statutory assessments.

The significant interest in the review’s initial consultation, with nearly 4,600 responses, generated 11,000 options to improve the corridor. It is only right that appropriate time has been taken in order to properly examine and fully appraise these.

It is expected that the draft outcomes from the Review, including the climate compatibility assessment, will be consulted on in the coming months, before a final decision can be reached.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail.