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The Scottish Government is committed to supporting and enabling people to be more physically active. Mean sedentary time at work is monitored through data gathered from the annual Scottish Health Survey. The Scottish Government work closely with Public Health Scotland, The Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC), and other experts to understand the latest research on the negative health impacts of sedentary behaviour.

The first meeting of the Expert Group took place on 25 April 2024 and its lifespan was initially expected to be around one year, although there was scope to extend this, and it’s now likely to continue beyond this time.

The group aims to share an update on its progress, and timeline for potential recommendations, to the Scottish Government for consideration in late April.

Responsibility for fire safety and monitoring at Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) sites rests with the duty holder/site owner. Many BESS locations are unmanned and monitored remotely, meaning there is typically no immediate life risk. Some BESS sites may have welfare facilities for workers during short, irregular shifts (outside of construction or decommissioning phases), and certain buildings on these sites may fall under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 in terms of general fire safety. However, these sites are normally not subject to fire risk regulations due to the processes taking place on site.

SFRS adheres to the National Fire Chiefs Council’s guidance for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), developed with the safety of both the public and emergency responders in mind.

A dedicated working group within SFRS will continue to monitor the increasing number of BESS applications and their development, alongside the Service’s role in the planning, consultation, and progression of these sites.

SFRS’ protection efforts focus on four key areas:

• The impact of life safety in the event of a fire.
• A risk-based approach to safety.
• Emerging intelligence, including operational insights and partner communications.
• Post-fire audits and analysis.

A strong focus on prevention and the adherence to industry safety standards is essential for managing risks. The SFRS specialist fire safety enforcement and community safety teams will continue to collaborate with partner agencies, and their highly skilled firefighters are ready to deploy standard and specialised national resources to any incident as needed.

It is important to make sure that the start date of the annual flu programme reflects the expected peak of flu circulating to ensure maximum vaccine efficacy.

The 2024 Winter Flu and Covid programme (FVCV) launched on 9 September with the child flu programme. This was the earliest the programme in Scotland could start the child programme, due to vaccine supply deliveries.

Vaccination of adult flu groups began on 16 September, with the main flu and COVID-19 co-administration launching on 23 September. As per previous winter programme, Boards used the first two weeks of the main programme to focus on our most vulnerable citizens, notably residents in care homes for older adults and the housebound. Community appointments then began on 7 October.

These launch dates were based on two factors;

1.Advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination & Immunisation (JCVI): The JCVI advice noted that Health Departments should ideally aim to vaccinate their adult flu population in October and November, in order to vaccinate the eligible population prior to the beginning of the flu season, and to minimise the impact of vaccine waning.

2.Availability of COVID-19 vaccine supply: The vast majority of COVID-19 and flu vaccines are co-administered (currently 95.2% as of 26 January), for maximum convenience for people who are eligible for both. As such we had to wait for COVID-19 vaccine supplies to be available in Scotland to start that main phase of the programme, and 23 September was the earliest possible date.

During planning for its winter programmes, the Scottish Vaccination & Immunisation Programme (SVIP) takes multiple, complex factors into account when arriving at programme dates. These include JCVI advice on programme timings and cohort eligibility, the risk of emerging new COVID-19 variants, flu and COVID-19 vaccine supply availability and clinic capacity within the system.

These factors change annually, meaning that programme start dates will shift and therefore a direct comparison is difficult.

The Salmon (Fish Passes and Screens) (Scotland) Regulations 1994 were revoked in 2013. Therefore, there have been no prosecutions for offences under these regulations since 2021.

The Salmon (Fish Passes and Screens) (Scotland) Regulations 1994 were revoked in 2013 and regulation of activities affecting the water environment, including barriers to salmon migration, is now done under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011. This framework allows for a broader suite of enforcement options compared with the Salmon (Fish Passes and Screens) (Scotland) Regulations 1994, which only allowed prosecutions.

The Scottish Government is aware of the Spanish Tax Lease system.

The phasing of the permitted development rights (PDR) work programme has been kept under review to ensure that it reflects – and helps to promote – the Scottish Government's strategic priorities. As a priority, Phase 3 of the review focussed on PDR for domestic and non-domestic renewable energy equipment. The amended scope of Phase 3 reflected the cost and climate crises, and the need to ensure the planning system plays its part in helping to support households and businesses to adapt their properties.

We still expect to revisit the PDR related to private ways / hilltracks at a future point. This is a complex issue of interest to a wide range of stakeholders with differing perspectives, and requires very careful and detailed consideration.

Myself and the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity have not met formally with the Coastal Communities Network Scotland whilst the fishing industry were present as part of the discussion, since we were appointed to our roles in May 2024.

The Scottish Government welcomes IBD UK’s latest report, Crohn’s and Colitis Care in Scotland: A Vision for Change and is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Whilst our role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, it is NHS Boards locally who are responsible for service delivery. We expect Boards to follow best practice and adhere to current guidelines and standards when providing care and support for people with IBD.

Our workforce planning guidance requires NHS Boards to take a demand-led approach by determining future staffing requirements in line with healthcare needs within their locality.

Anyone needing urgent medical help should contact their GP or NHS 24 (Telephone 111).

The management of the Police Scotland Estate is an operational matter, and is the responsibility of the Chief Constable under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority.

Police Scotland is considering the future of both the Possilpark (Saracen) Police station and their former police station in Springburn. Police Scotland consults widely on its plans for public facing properties, including disposal, in advance of any decisions being made.