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The Scottish Government and its agencies collaborate closely with their counterparts in Wales and England on the control of INNS. Scottish Government officials have played an active role with their counterparts in drafting the 2022-2030 Great Britain Invasive Non- Native Species Strategy. This key document sets out our agreed, collaborative approach to preventing invasive non-native species reaching our shores, through surveillance, early detection and rapid response provisions and long terms management and control of species already established. The provisions in the Strategy will be implemented in Scotland through the Non-native Species Action Group, and similar partnerships, which has representatives from the public and voluntary sectors.

In September 2021, the Scottish Government announced £250,000 from the Humanitarian Emergency Fund (HEF) for Afghanistan. However, given the acute need and deteriorating conditions, this was subsequently increased to £360,000. £120,000 was awarded to Tearfund while £240,000 was awarded jointly to Christian Aid and Islamic Relief. These projects have now concluded and a report on their outcomes and results will be made publicly available in due course.

The Scottish Government subsequently awarded a further £240,000 from the HEF to the Disasters Emergency Committee for their Afghanistan appeal launched on 15 December, bringing our total commitment to Afghanistan to £600,000.

Through our Affordable Housing Supply Programme, over this parliamentary session, we will make available over £156 million of funding for the South Lanarkshire Council area to support delivery of social and affordable homes. Details of the resource planning assumptions for this period can be accessed on our webpage – Affordable housing: resource planning assumptions to councils 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

This funding will support the delivery of projects identified as strategic affordable housing priorities to the area, as set out in the Council’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP), and will be administered through our Scottish Government More Homes local area team, working with delivery partners across the local authority area. A copy of the South Lanarkshire Council SHIP should be available online and is updated annually.

Based on the 2022-27 SHIP, it is estimated that over 3,000 affordable homes could be delivered across South Lanarkshire in this parliamentary term including over 700 in East Kilbride. It should be noted that the SHIP is a moveable document and planned figures are subject to change throughout the course of a financial year.

The Scottish Government and its agencies collaborate closely with their counterparts in Wales and England on the control of INNS. Scottish Government officials have played an active role with their counterparts in drafting the 2022-2030 Great Britain Invasive Non- Native Species Strategy. This key document sets out our agreed, collaborative approach to preventing invasive non-native species reaching our shores, through surveillance, early detection and rapid response provisions and long terms management and control of species already established. The provisions in the Strategy will be implemented in Scotland through the Non-native Species Action Group, and similar partnerships, which has representatives from the public and voluntary sectors.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people living with hypothyroidism are able to access the best possible support and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

We expect clinicians to adhere to current guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment options from authoritative sources such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the British Thyroid Association (BTA).

As set out in the response to S6W-06821 on 10 March 2022, the vast majority of homelessness funding provided to local authorities in the annual local government finance settlements since 1999 has been included in the block grant. It is at each local authority’s discretion as to how they use this resource to prevent and respond to homelessness, which includes providing temporary accommodation. This has been supplemented in recent years by additional, identifiable resource as follows:

Scotland is committed to playing our part in welcoming and supporting all Asylum Seekers, Refugees and displaced people.

The UK’s Syrian Resettlement Programme, also known as the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS), ended in March 2021. The programme matched people with accommodation identified by local authorities prior to their arrival in the UK. All 32 of Scotland’s local authorities participated in the programme, supporting 3,328 refugees to settle in communities across the country.

All 32 local authorities have also confirmed their participation in Afghanistan Relocation and Resettlement Schemes. So far, there have been 127 families (520 individuals) relocated to 20 Scottish local authorities.

It is the Home Office who have responsibility for hotel accommodation for Afghan families across the UK. Its data currently shows that there are 12,000 people in hotels across the UK.

Data relating to visas and arrivals under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, including the Scottish super sponsor scheme, is published regularly by the UK Government;

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-visa-data-by-country-upper-and-lower-tier-local-authority

a)We do not request that each applicant provides a breakdown of green space created and/or restored by the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme. However, 20 projects have received funding from the low carbon Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme to date and the projects listed in the following table include green space creation as their primary focus.

As for all major road projects, owners of land purchased for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will receive fair compensation, independently assessed by the District Valuer.

Negotiations are ongoing between the District Valuer and claimants for the remaining compensation cases for land purchased on the scheme. Each of these claims are being considered on a case by case basis on their own individual circumstances to ensure a fair compensation figure is agreed in accordance with the compensation code. Final payment can only be made once agreement is reached between the parties.

The Land Compensation (Scotland) Act 1973 (as amended) also provides a mechanism for compensation in the loss in value of a property when attributed to the use of new or improved roads. Part I of the Act extends compensation to those who have not had land purchased for the scheme but are affected by the use of a new or improved road. Part I compensation claims relating to the depreciation of property from the use of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route are currently under active consideration by the District Valuer. Negotiations are anticipated to commence with claimants and their representatives in the coming months with payment following thereafter once agreement has been reached.