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We recognises that disabled women and girls are at greater risk of violence than non-disabled women and girls, and women with a learning/ intellectual disability are more likely to experience sexual abuse than other disabled people.

Through our Delivering Equally Safe (DES) fund, we are providing £19m per year to support 121 projects that focus on early intervention, prevention. This includes projects that provide advocacy support to disabled women. We have extended the fund till 2025.

We have also, along with our partners, established a Gender Based Violence Steering Group to reduce incidences of violence and empower women with learning/intellectual disabilities and/or autistic women to have safe and loving relationships.

The latest Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) results estimate that 3.4% of females aged 16+ with a disability experienced at least one violent crime in 2019/20, which is above that for all females aged 16+ (2.0%). The survey defines disability as a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last at least 12 months, and which reduces a person’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities.

We will continue to gather this evidence, including publication of the next SCJS findings in Autumn 2023. These results will cover a full years’ worth of interviews through to December 2022, with the prolonged gap since 2019/20 due to the earlier suspension of the survey in March 2020 to restrict social contact during the pandemic.

We also recently incorporated updated questions on partner abuse and violence against women and girls into the 2023/24 survey, which were identified as a key priority by survey users.

The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 (“the Act”) includes the duty to have regard to island communities. This means that a relevant authority as listed in the Schedule of the Act must consider island communities when carrying out its functions.

There are 71 relevant authorities listed in the Schedule of the Act including funding bodies such as Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

A relevant authority can demonstrate compliance with the duty to have regard to island communities by making such arrangements as it considers appropriate to review any policy, strategy or service (as the case may be) which it develops or delivers in carrying out its functions, and either, in the case where the authority must prepare an island communities impact assessment under section 8(1) of the Act, by preparing that assessment, or in any other case, by making such an assessment or taking such other steps as the authority considers appropriate.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges faced by our rural and island communities and works closely with stakeholders and partners to ensure that those challenges are addressed.

All relevant authorities listed in the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 , must have regard to island communities in carrying out their functions. They must prepare an Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) in relation to a policy, strategy or service, which is likely to have an effect on an island community, which is significantly different from its effect on other communities (including other island communities). The islands team supports colleagues from across the Scottish Government as well as relevant authorities in completing ICIAs. This includes offering island specific knowledge, published ICIA guidance , and providing links to key stakeholders.

As committed to in the Policy Prospectus, we are developing a Rural Delivery Plan, which will provide a platform to prioritise and progress existing work to seize opportunities and address the challenges faced by rural Scotland, as well as drive greater rural mainstreaming and reprioritise action to support our rural communities.

Where Scottish Government has the powers to do so, we have provided funding that responds to rural and island communities’ specific needs through, for example, the Islands Programme and our Community Led Local Development (CLLD) programme.

Over the period 2021-2026, the £25.8 million Islands Programme is providing targeted capital funding to support delivery of the National Islands Plan across a range of areas, including tourism, infrastructure, innovation, energy transition and skills. We have invested over £14.6m of CLLD funding in our rural communities following the end of the LEADER programme in December 2021.

There are many other, independent organisations which provide funding that may benefit rural and island communities. The terms and conditions applied to each open fund are clearly stipulated when a fund is announced. Scottish Government has no locus in setting these terms unless it is a fund which is being distributed on our behalf.

Former employees of Circularity Scotland attended a Deposit Return Scheme Four Nations Interoperability Workshop in Edinburgh on 27 June 2023 following the organisation going into administration to provide insight into their experience of DRS in Scotland. Scottish Government officials have continued to work with staff acting for Circularity Scotland, administrators and partners.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with Scotland’s airports, including Glasgow Airport, to help them grow international connectivity, while not returning to previous levels of emissions. Our aim is for Scotland to be as well connected as peer nations and regions, and we have regular engagement with Glasgow Airport to discuss potential opportunities. Our engagement with Scotland’s airports is commercially sensitive and I am unable to share specific details.

Transport Scotland, in partnership with VisitScotland and Scottish Development International, works to help Scotland’s airports secure new routes that are essential for inbound tourism, business connectivity and the economy as a whole. In May, representatives from this cross government partnership attended the route development forum Routes Europe 2023, supporting Glasgow Airport and the other Scottish airports in attendance.

In March this year, the Scottish Government supported VisitScotland in rolling out a demand-building campaign to encourage travellers to seek direct flights to Scotland from across our key markets, with airlines serving Glasgow included in this campaign.

Building safety is a matter for the owner - who in this case would be individual local authorities - acting in accordance with the relevant health and safety legislation. Before any decisions can be taken on funding, it is important to understand the scope and nature of the issue.

Health and Safety legislation is not devolved to the Scottish Government. The Health & Safety Executive is the UK-wide regulator for health and safety and they intend to carry out research into buildings which contain RAAC. The research methodology is in the final stages of development which includes assessment tools to help measure the risks associated with RAAC planks. We will monitor the research when it is commissioned and apply the findings and recommendations appropriately.

The Scottish Government has budgeted £1.1m for the Circular Textiles Fund for 2023-24. The fund is being administered by Zero Waste Scotland on the Scottish Government’s behalf.

Future budget allocations beyond 2023-24 will be confirmed through the annual budget setting process.

The Scottish Government does not produce any statistics on persistently or severely absent pupils. This is because it is the responsibility of local authorities, not Scottish Government, to monitor attendance locally within their own school estate. The Scottish Government routinely gathers data on attendance - National Statistics on attendance and absence rates are collected and published every two years with attendance and absence snapshots to be published approximately once a month throughout the 2023-24 school year.

The Scottish Government has recently published refreshed guidance on community engagement and consultation in relation to forestry plans and proposals. The purpose of the guidance is to provide greater clarity around the existing engagement and consultation processes during the development and approval of woodland creation schemes, including commercial forestry projects. The document outlines why community engagement and consultation is important, the processes involved in the development and approval of forestry plans and proposals, roles and responsibilities, and the opportunities for communities to be involved in the development of those plans.

Furthermore, the UK Forestry Standard sets out the technical requirements that applicants developing woodland creation schemes, funded under the Forestry Grant Scheme, should meet in terms of opportunities for the new woodland to enhance landscape and biodiversity opportunities and how to mitigate impacts. These requirement also include the need for detailed wildlife, habitat and landscape surveys and assessments where appropriate.

Under the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman Act 2002 The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is excluded from considering complaints about the curriculum offering or teaching. They can consider complaints about complaints handling.

While the Curriculum for Excellence provides the overarching framework and sets out the eight curriculum areas, the statutory responsibility for the delivery of education sits with local authorities and schools under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.