Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government remains fully committed to supporting Mark Ruskell MSP in progressing his Members’ Bill to reconsideration stage as soon as possible. The Verity House Agreement includes an explicit commitment for Ministers to do this.

Now that the amended United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill has been passed by Parliament, we are preparing suggested amendments to the Members’ Bill to assist.

The British Transport Police works closely with multi-agency partners to help prevent and reduce any incidents arising on the transport network and making the transport network a safer place for passengers and staff.

A positive example of BTP’s partnership working with partners such as ScotRail includes its collaboration with ScotRail’s Travel Safe Team which sees a reduction of the number of incidents on the Scottish rail network.

Last month concluded a series of summits I held with a wide range of stakeholders on behaviour in schools. The Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research was also published and considered as part of the final summit, which set out that while the majority of pupils are well behaved there has been an increase in disruptive behaviours.

I was clear in my statement to Parliament on 29 November that I encourage local authorities and schools to consider their policies in the light of the findings of BISSR.

To support local authorities and schools, we published guidance in June 2017 - ‘ Included, Engaged and Involved – Part 2 – preventing and managing school exclusions’ . This guidance gives a stronger focus on supporting positive behaviour and approaches that can be used to prevent the need for exclusion. The guidance sets out an expectation that education authorities and schools will use the guidance to revise and review existing policies and procedures on exclusion, taking account of local circumstances and involving all partners in the development of the new policy.

Education Scotland has also published a resource to support schools or local authorities who are refreshing or reviewing their relationships and behaviour policies. This guidance on developing a local relationships and behaviour policy is available at Guidance for developing a local relationships and behaviour policy (education.gov.scot) .

Finally, we are currently working with the Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools to develop a national action plan on relationships and behaviour which we expect to be published early in the new year. We will update parliament on the action plan in due course.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) policy delivery is at an early stage and early action is focusing on how policy is being interpreted and used in decision making. Scottish Government is developing a monitoring framework to support the delivery of NPF4. This monitoring framework will cover all three elements of NPF4, which are the spatial strategy, national developments and national planning policies. Policy 15, Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods is one of the key indicator policies, and will be amongst the ones on which we will have initial focus.

On appointment, ministers are offered electronic equipment to assist them in carrying out their official duties. I have included table which outlines the devices used by each of the ministers.

Information on the allocation of CashBack for Communities (CashBack) funding and project spend is only formally collected at a local authority level, based on the geographical location of CashBack participants.

Total CashBack spend recorded for South Lanarkshire local authority area for the financial year 2022-23 was £269,129. The CashBack Fund Manager, Inspiring Scotland, has identified that £40,118 of that figure was spent in the East Kilbride constituency.

22 CashBack funded organisations have been recorded as being active in South Lanarkshire at various times since 2008. Total CashBack spend recorded for South Lanarkshire local authority area between 2008 and March 2022 was £3,289,001. Inspiring Scotland estimate that £84,549 of that figure has been spent in the East Kilbride constituency.

Information on project delivery by local authority area are available on the CashBack for Communities website: https://cashbackforcommunities.org/

The 2021-22 Programme for Government, alongside the Bute House Agreement, set out our plans to develop and implement breakfast policy for the whole parliamentary term. Subsequent Programme for Government publications have reiterated that food provision is an important part of the mission to tackle child poverty. Work to map existing breakfast provision is expected to be completed by Spring 2024 which will inform policy on school breakfasts, and a plan for breakfast provision, designed around the needs of children and families.

The Member might be aware that the British Transport Police (BTP) reports to the UK Department for Transport(DfT) and British Transport Police Authority (BTPA). The information on the level of its staff is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The Member may wish to refer to the information on the BTP’s website or contact BTP direct.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23822 on 19 December 2023. 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 a matter for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The information requested is not held centrally.