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Alongside the Heat in Buildings Strategy we published a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment which sets out the evidence relating to capital and running costs of converting to zero emissions heat.

We recognise that the costs of conversion for island and rural homes can be higher than equivalent urban properties for a variety of reasons, including supply chains, transport needs and weather disruptions. Further details and mitigating actions are set out in the Heat in Buildings Strategy Island Communities Impact Assessment , and we will publish an Islands Energy Strategy later this year. Our Heat in Buildings Supply Chain Delivery Plan will include a specific focus on developing local supply chains particularly in our islands and remote communities to help bring costs down.

The financial implications for households will depend on how heat and energy efficiency measures are funded and financed. This is an area of active policy development. We already run schemes to help households retrofit their properties to cut emissions, and are committed to supporting those least able to pay. We have established a new Green Heat Finance Taskforce which will recommend ways the Scottish Government and private sector can collaborate to scale up investment.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) estimates there are a total of around 1,900 workers at their three sites in Scotland: Dounreay, Chapelcross and Hunterston A. The NDA estimates there to be an additional 800 contracted jobs associated with Dounreay.

We do not currently hold data for nuclear decommissioning jobs relating to EDF Energy and Ministry of Defence owned sites in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises that the decommissioning of nuclear sites requires the retention of a highly skilled workforce over many years. We also recognise that the skills of the workforce decommissioning Scottish nuclear sites could ultimately be utilised by the renewables sector as part of our transition to net zero.

In December 2020 the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland published the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) setting out the actions required to ensure Scotland’s labour market is able to effectively support the transition to net zero. For example, as a priority action identified in the CESAP, the Green Jobs Workforce Academy administered by Skills Development Scotland, launched on the 23 August 2021 to help workers identify and access relevant green jobs and training.

Whilst the Scottish Government supports the Accreditation Programme for Psychological Therapies Services, there is no requirement to make an application. The Scottish Government is developing a Psychological Therapies and Services standard for Scotland by June 2022 which is being developed with Stakeholders and those with lived experience. This will link very closely with the Psychological Therapies MATRIX for Scotland which is a stepped guide to planning and delivering evidence-based psychological therapies within NHS Boards in Scotland.

This will describe what good quality evidence based psychological care will look like for all ages, all levels of need, and in all settings (such as health, education, and prisons) and will describe not only what applied psychologists do but also the high standards expected of those delivering psychological therapies

Psychological therapies and psychological services across Scotland will then be expected to deliver care that meets this standard including quality and quantity of care delivered.

The Scottish Government are currently collating this information for an Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) request which will then be published for the public by its deadline of 8 February 2022.

In the 2021-22 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government committed to the introduction of a Human Rights Bill within this Parliamentary session.

The Human Rights Bill will incorporate into Scots law, as far as possible within devolved competence, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This includes a right to adequate food, as an essential part of the overall right to an adequate standard of living.

The Climate Justice Fund does not currently contribute to projects tackling forest fires or reforestation in the Amazon Basin or Indonesia. The focus of the Fund is on actions to achieve climate justice, principally supporting communities most affected by climate change build a more resilient, inclusive and equal future. Projects in Scotland's three international development partner countries of Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia will remain the primary focus of the expanded Fund.

We consulted on a draft of the Heat in Buildings Strategy in February 2021. 178 individuals and organisations responded. This consultation asked for views on the impact of the strategy on island and other remote communities. We have published the analysis of the consultation alongside the Strategy.

Alongside the consultation, we organised a series of 7 consultation workshops, including one on Place, one on Communities and one on Islands. These were open to all interested participants, aiming to communicate the vision and actions planned as part of the Strategy and collect feedback.

The consultation events were attended by 156 individuals in total, and included representatives of organisations, community groups, housing associations and local authorities located in rural and island areas of Scotland.

We have also published an Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) drawing on the engagement and responses generated from the Draft Heat in Buildings Strategy consultation. Officials also met with islands representatives from Highlands and Islands Enterprise during the initial stages of the ICIA. Where possible negative impacts on island communities were identified, relevant mitigating actions were outlined. The ICIA also noted multiple positive impacts heat decarbonisation will bring to islands communities.

The Scottish Government has not sent such a letter. The draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) proposes radically improved and significant new policies aimed at addressing the climate emergency, including a proposed new policy which states: ‘When considering all development proposals significant weight should be given to the Global Climate Emergency.’ Once adopted, NPF4 will form a part of the statutory development plan and will be a material planning consideration, requiring the policies and priorities set out in NPF4 to be influential factors in planning decisions.

The draft NPF4 is currently subject to Scottish Parliamentary scrutiny, alongside a public consultation, prior to a finalised version being presented for Scottish Parliament approval. We are working towards laying a final version of NPF4 in the Parliament for approval this summer, following which it will be adopted by the Scottish Ministers.

I also refer the member to the Scottish Government’s earlier answer on the issue of the climate emergency in planning decision making, given in the answer to question S6W-02155 on 6 September 2021. 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 .

The independent Office of Rail and Road has determined that the five year settlement in Control Period 6 (2019 – 2024) will be £2,245m; this represents a 16% increase compared to £1,925m in Control Period 5 (2014 to 2019). This determination is based on the work Network Rail expects to carry out within the entire funding period.

The overall planned rail infrastructure budget for Control Period 6 (2019 to 2024) remains £2,245m and is continuing to fund Network Rail fully in line with this.

In each year of any 5 year funding period, Network Rail programmes its workbank, which may increase or decrease from year to year, and this defines its in-year funding requirement from the ORR determination. This is why the entry in the Scottish Budget can show year on year increases or decreases.