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From December 2022 to April 2023, The Scottish Government consulted on the proposal to introduce Highly Protected Marine Areas across 10% of Scotland’s seas by 2026. In June 2023, ahead of providing a fuller update, I announced that the Scottish Government would no longer seek to progress this proposal. A full analysis of consultation responses was carried out over the summer and on 7 November 2023, a detailed analysis report was published alongside the Scottish Government’s response .

The independent due diligence on the initial request for capital investment, which included a request for a new plating line, concluded that further work is required to develop a robust business case and support an investment that is compliant with subsidy control rules. Scottish Government is therefore working with Ferguson Marine to examine options to develop the initial investment proposal so that it is compliant with subsidy control rules and aligned with current and potential future commercial opportunities for the yard.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The independent Scottish Housing Regulator publishes the costs of statutory managers in the final report of each statutory intervention. The reports are on their website.

The Scottish Government published data on children in temporary accommodation as returned via the HL3 collection alongside the annual Homelessness in Scotland 2022-23 publication. This can be found in the supporting documents webpage here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/homelessness-in-scotland-2022-23/documents/

This was the first time this data has been published as all local authorities have only been able to provide this data from April 2022. The data prior to 2022 has not been published as it is incomplete and not of sufficient quality.

The data published shows snapshot figures as at 31 March 2023 for a) all households in temporary accommodation, b) the number of households with children or a pregnant woman in temporary accommodation, and c) the number of children in temporary accommodation, by accommodation type and local authority. This replicates the headline figures that are published from the snapshot aggregate (HL2) data collection. To protect the confidentially of individuals and households, Scottish Government only releases aggregated statistics and not individual application level data. Additionally, figures have been rounded to the nearest 5 for disclosure control purposes.

Comparisons between HL2 and HL3 snapshot figures were published in the supporting document above. This showed differences between the two sets of data and confirmed that further quality assurance with Local Authorities is required. Further information on the quality assurance can be found on the “Additional information” worksheet in the children in temporary accommodation excel workbook in the link above.

The Scottish Government is currently undergoing Official Statistics quality assurance with local authorities to assess and improve the quality of the data that has been received since April 2023. The current plan is to publish snapshot HL3 data, with necessary caveats annually, with the next publication of this data due in Summer 2024.

Scotland already has one of the most generous childcare offers in the UK. In 2023-24 we are investing around £1 billion in the delivery of 1140 hours of high quality funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) to all three and four year olds and about a quarter of two year olds who face the most disadvantage.

The 1140 hours offer already equates to 30 hours per week during term time for all three and four year olds and eligible two year olds regardless of their parents' working status – putting children first.

The First Minister recently announced in the Programme for Government that over the next year we will work with local government and partners in the ELC sector to significantly expand our childcare programme, including our targeted offer for two year olds, focusing on those who will benefit the most.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22695 on‎ 15 November 2023 which will be communicated separately. 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

This is an operational matter for ScotRail and we understand that discussions between ScotRail and RMT on this matter are on-going. We fully expect all parties to engage constructively on this matter.

The Scottish Government does not support Driver Only Operations and continues to specify a requirement for a second member of staff to assist passengers on every ScotRail train.

Scottish Government has a Corporate Records Management Policy that is clear that everyone, including Minister and SpAds, are expected to ensure that material, regardless of its origin, is made part of the official record. Scottish Government systems are set up in a way that gives people time to move information to the official record before any auto deletion occurs.

he system of Dog Control Notices is operated by local authorities. Information requested on what breeds, or types, of dog have most often been the subject of Dog Control Notices in each year since 2018 is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government funded the creation of the Scottish Dog Control Notice Database. This national database went live in February 2022 and brings together the records of all local authorities into a centralised database, that is accessible by local authorities and Police Scotland.

The national database was created and is managed by the Improvement Service. The following table provided by the Improvement Service shows the requested Dog Control Notice information for 2022 and 2023.

Active Dog Control Notices on 31 December 2022

Further to the answer S6W-21885, we have been clear that if increased teacher numbers are not maintained, we reserve the right to withhold or recoup funding which has been given for this purpose.

That data will be available following publication of the Summary Statistics for schools in December.

In assessing whether these conditions have been met, we will consider any mitigating circumstances individual councils may wish to put forward.

Local authorities are aware of these arrangements.