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We are investing £752 million in affordable housing in 2023-24 to increase the delivery of more affordable homes, the majority of which will be for social rent, including supporting a £60 million national acquisition programme.

To effectively meet housing need and support affordable housing priorities across different areas we want to support all tenures whilst still prioritising social rented homes.

We remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 of which at least 70% will be for social rent and 10% in rural ands island areas.

The Scottish Government’s draft national Good Food Nation Plan sets out six over-arching Outcomes which indicate key areas to further develop our status as a Good Food Nation. These Outcomes have been developed with regard to a range of issues and principles set out in the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, including the role of the food system in improving animal welfare and the importance of recognising all parts of the supply chain. The consultation on the draft national Good Food Nation Plan launched on 24 January and closes on 22 April ( https://consult.gov.scot/agriculture-and-rural-economy/national-good-food-nation-plan/ ).

We are aiming to increase the consumption, production, and provision of local food. The Scottish Government is using its legislation and policies to maximise the impact procurement can have for public bodies, suppliers and local suppliers and the Scottish economy. To promote local and sustainable produce public bodies have the flexibility to:

• Design menus that include Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) food
• Specify food produced according to recognised assurance schemes, e.g. Quality Meat Scotland, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Red Tractor, RSPCA, or equivalent bespoke company systems
• Specify free range and organic food
• Specify requirements based on menu plans that are based on freshness, high nutritional value using food in season and flexible and frequent delivery times
• Divide contracts into small product lots and geographic areas to encourage the active participation of local businesses where it is proportionate to do so
• Introduce a facility on some frameworks to enable small manufacturers who do not have national delivery logistics in place to bid on a supply only basis
• Introduce a secondary price list within tenders to allow framework suppliers the choice to offer Scottish produce

The Scottish Government is committed to continuous improvement in animal welfare: a statutory review into animal welfare legislation is due to be published in 2025. In 2023 there was a Programme for Government commitment to consult on phasing out cage production for laying hens and gamebirds: this will be published in due course.

The Scottish Government has a broad range of delivery programmes which make advice and funding support on energy efficiency and low carbon heating available to households and businesses across Scotland. The Home Energy Scotland (HES) and Business Energy Scotland (BES) advice services offer free, bespoke, impartial advice, and also act as the gateway to our flagship fuel poverty scheme, Warmer Homes Scotland, and to other Scottish Government funding schemes such as the HES Grant and Loan and the SME Loan and Cashback.

Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) supports the construction of new zero direct emission heat networks and communal heating systems, as well as the expansion and decarbonisation of existing heat networks across Scotland.

Registered Social Landlords are encouraged to make use of available funding sources for retrofit, which includes the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund. This fund supports both the deployment of clean heating and ”fabric first” enhancements, helping landlords deliver warmer and more energy efficient homes.

Communities and local council areas are also supported through Area Based Schemes (ABS), delivered by all local authorities in Scotland, which target fuel poor areas to provide energy efficiency measures to a large number of Scottish households and help reduce fuel poverty, and the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) which provides advice and funding to communities across Scotland looking to develop renewable energy, heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects.

Officials from the Scottish Government met with North Lanarkshire Council on 25 January 2024 to discuss matters relating to the consultation involving Condorrat and Baird Memorial primary schools. Although the consultation has concluded and these matters are being considered by the Council, including input from statutory consultees, the Scottish Government is aware that final decisions have not yet been taken by the Council and a further meeting will be arranged at an appropriate time.

Data on Recorded Police Warnings are published as part of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland national statistics. The next bulletin, covering the 2022-23 financial year, is expected in late Summer 2024.

In recognition of the ongoing pressures on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, including the Office of the Public Guardian, additional funding for SCTS in 2024-25 was prioritised. The 2024-25 budget provides an additional £9.7 million resource and £3.9 million additional capital budget . As a non-Ministerial public body, d ecisions on the allocation of these additional resources are for the judicially-led SCTS Board.

STPR2 is a long-term vision of this government’s ambition for transport investment and highlights essential projects for the next two decades. Given that this is a 20-year programme, some elements will not commence immediately. The delivery of the STPR2 recommendations is subject to the funding allocations agreed by Parliament each year through the annual budget process.

The Scottish Government is facing a real terms cut in our capital budget. The flat and falling funding trajectory from the UK Government will and has significantly impacted our ability to deliver on our capital infrastructure commitments.

The UK Government have not inflation-proofed their Capital Budget which is forecast to result in 9.8% real terms cut in our capital funding over the medium term between 2023-24 and 2027-28.

Given the worsening outlook for capital, it will take more time to prepare the multi-year capital allocations and to refresh the infrastructure investment pipeline. We are therefore having to make tough decisions on our infrastructure projects pipeline to ensure we spend within our means while delivering for the people of Scotland.

Development of the STPR2 delivery plan is underway. This takes account of the current financial climate and is examining existing schemes across all modes in addition to the STPR2 recommendations.

Estimated costs for each recommendation was considered during detailed appraisal stage of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review.

The appraisal reports can be accessed here: Final technical report - December 2022 - STPR2 | Transport Scotland .

The Public Bodies referenced in the minutes of 11 October in respect of the presence of RAAC were NHS Lanarkshire, the Scottish Police Authority, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and SportScotland.

Definitions of destinations used in the Scottish Government's positive destination statistics can be found in the background notes of the relevant publications, for example in section 7.4.1 of the 2021/22 Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver destinations publication . This includes definitions for Higher Education, Further Education, Training and Employment. Note that those still attending education at school are not included in these statistics. The definitions are reproduced below.

Higher Education: includes leavers following Higher National Diploma (HND) or Higher National Certificate (HNC) courses, degree courses, courses for the education and training of teachers and higher level courses for professional qualifications. It includes programmes at a level higher than the standard of the National Qualifications, i.e. above SCQF Level 7. Leavers with a deferred, unconditional place in higher education have also been included in this category.

Further Education: includes leavers undertaking full-time education which is not higher education and who are no longer on a school roll. This may include National Qualifications.

Training: includes leavers who are on a training course and in receipt of an allowance or grant. It also includes leavers who are on local authority or third sector funded training programmes that are in receipt of a training allowance or those participating in Community Jobs Scotland.

Employment: includes those who consider themselves to be employed and in receipt of payment from their employers. It includes young people undertaking training in employment through national training programmes such as Modern Apprenticeships and Graduate Apprenticeships.

From 23 March 2022 to end September 2023, 15,765 homes have now been delivered towards the 110,000 affordable homes target, of which 12,188 (77%) are homes for social rent.

We are expecting the next set of quarterly statistics, covering the period to end December 2023, to be published towards the end of March.

We remain focused on delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 and to support that we will bring forward the review scheduled for 2026-27 to 2024, which will concentrate on deliverability.

The homes provided through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme comprise homes for social rent, for mid-market rent and for low cost home ownership. These homes take various forms including; new build homes, rehabilitation projects, conversions and off-the-shelf purchases of both new and second hand homes.