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On 29 Jan 2024 I wrote to the Convener of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee to confirm the Scottish Government’s intention to progress legislation to prohibit the sale and supply of single-use vapes, with a view of a ban coming into force at the earliest opportunity. This builds upon the research commissioned by the Scottish Government into the environmental impact of single-use vapes that was published in June 2023.

The Scottish Government is aware of the proposals put forward by the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers and will issue a response to it in due course.

I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

Of the 355 wards in Scotland, 162 had a population over 15,500 as at 30 June 2021. The following table shows the number of electoral wards with a population over 15,500, by local authority.

Number of electoral wards with a population over 15,500, by local authority, as at 30 June 2021

Local authorities take their own decisions about which digital tools, services and apps to deploy in their schools to support delivery of education. We expect that any digital service would be implemented in recognition of statutory duties arising from GDPR and Data Protection Act. As Data Controllers in their own right, it is for local authorities to ensure all digital services in schools comply with the relevant legislation.

Mr Hamilton’s report was published on 22 March 2021. In his letter, which is published alongside the report, Mr Hamilton makes clear that redactions were necessary in order to comply with the court orders in place (made by Lord Woolman and Lady Dorrian), in order to avoid the risk of jigsaw identification.

It would not be appropriate to publish further material that was provided in confidence to Mr Hamilton for the purpose of his investigation. Following a Freedom of Information request for the full text of the Hamilton Report, the Scottish Government provided the Scottish Information Commissioner with the full text of the report, and, in Decision 135/2022 , the Commissioner confirmed that he was satisfied that disclosing the information would lead to the identification of complainers, either directly or indirectly, contrary to the civil and criminal orders, and that the Scottish Government had complied with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act in responding to that request.

The Community Bus fund was launched on 22 September 2023, with the £0.75 million resource funding available to local transport authorities for pathfinder style projects aimed at supporting them to complete initial feasibility and preparatory work required to consider the bus powers in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, including franchising, formal partnerships and local authority run bus services. Projects are still in progress, therefore the Scottish Government will not have information on how the resource funding was spent until the end of the financial year 2023-24.

From the bids received, 10 projects are being taken forward in 2023-24 pending compliance with Fair Work First requirements. These include projects to review local bus networks to develop local transport/bus strategies, and projects to complete options appraisals with a view to developing business cases. The majority of local authorities are still in the early stages of exploring the options within the Transport Act 2019, with most projects aimed at commencing work to determine which option, if any, is most appropriate for their areas. A full evaluation will be carried out following the completion of projects throughout 2024.

The Scottish Government will explore proposals relating to inshore fishing activity as part of a broad package of management measures for inshore fisheries improvement that we will consult on in late 2024.

Our co-management Fisheries Management and Conservation (FMAC) and Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RIFG) networks will help shape our consultation proposals, enabling policy that balances our economic and environmental responsibilities. Wider stakeholder engagement on the development of fisheries management measures is ongoing and will continue during the consultation.

For both inshore and offshore MPA consultations, over and above our normal stakeholder engagement, we are using an innovative consultation approach to allow respondents to use a map-based interface to receive information and comment on a site-by-site basis, allowing those affected to understand more clearly the proposals that affect them. The consultation on fisheries management measures for offshore marine protected areas (MPAs) is currently being prepared and will be launched in the coming months, and the exact date for the inshore MPAs and priority marine features will be announced in due course.

At 30 September 2023 there were 254 directly employed staff within the Aberdeen City Council area.

The Scottish Government publishes employment figures on a quarterly basis. This data, along with a time series back to 2012 and full explanatory notes, can be found here: Scottish Government workforce information - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Scottish Government has engaged in extensive cross-departmental and multi-agency work to consider the environmental impact of single-use vapes including working closely to with other nations across the UK.

The Scottish Government has funded Angus, Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross Councils to distribute £516,000 in community recovery grants and £240,000 in business recovery grants to eligible homes and businesses affected by Storm Babet, totalling £756,000.

In addition, £100,000 was provided to Angus Council through the Homelessness Prevention Fund to help families who had been flooded to rebuild their lives, and £1.8m was pledged to support farmers to help repair damaged floodbanks. Ministers also activated the Bellwin Scheme to help affected local authorities with revenue and uninsurable expenditure resulting from the storm, and extended the eligibility period of claims from two to four months.