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We want to ensure there is appropriate support for young carers so that they can be children first and foremost.

Alongside Young Carer Grant the Scottish Government funds non-cash support through the Young Scot Young Carers Package. It is available to young carers aged 11-18 and provides tailored discounts and opportunities including high value e-vouchers, wellbeing boxes and vouchers for family days out.

Also, under the Carers Act 2016 all young carers have a right to a young carer statement. This involves an outcome based conversation about the young carer’s personal circumstances and must include information about the impact of caring on their wellbeing and whether the care they provide is appropriate.

Regrettably, a start date for the review is not confirmed at this time. It is important that the review of the guidance on patient travel expenses reimbursement is considered within the context of wider reform on access to health care which is already in progress. This will inform both how and when the review is taken forward.

In 2023 we prepared the draft Transport to Health plan and have been engaging with Health Boards, Regional Transport Partnerships and other partners to take forward a range of commitments to improve joined up working on transport to health. The plan will be published in September and a workplan has been agreed.

The Marine Directorate is adequately resourced to deliver against the First Minister's priorities and to meet its core Statutory and Regulatory obligations. We continually review our workforce management plan to ensure we are recruiting to match our delivery. Although we do not hold the vacancy information requested, you can find a variety of Scottish Government workforce information online, including the latest Scottish Government Workforce Statistics. Scottish Government Workforce Statistics March 2024 – gov.scot

Despite deeply challenging financial circumstances, we are investing record funding of £1.55 billion in policing in the current financial year, which is an increase of £92.7 million. It is for the Scottish Police Authority, working with the Chief Constable, to determine how to allocate its budget to meet policing priorities.

Enforcement of all traffic offences is a matter for Police Scotland, which operates independently of Scottish Ministers. However, the Scottish Government fully supports Police Scotland and its partners in dealing with the misuse of such vehicles. Local policing teams are ideally placed to identify where the misuse of such vehicles is causing distress to the public and ensure that those areas can be prioritised to prevent future incidents.

The Scottish Government was previously in contact with Police Scotland in June 2022 about the issue of quad bikes and other off-road vehicles. Police Scotland then outlined work ongoing within local policing divisions in raising awareness of the dangers of misusing such vehicles. The Scottish Government has encouraged local authority partners to continue to work closely with Police Scotland on these issues.

The Scottish Government has not conducted research to discover the rate of ‘false negatives’ after the application of the FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) test.

Public Health Scotland are best placed to advise on research they have undertaken. Public Health Scotland can be contacted at: General enquiries - Contact us - Public Health Scotland

We are aware of the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, enforceable in England and Wales but, as yet, have no intelligence on how effective it has been in preventing this sort of crime.

The theft of agricultural plant and machinery is a significant concern to our rural communities and can have serious consequences for the agricultural sector in terms of cost and confidence. The Scottish Government continues to work with partners across the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) and through the continued expansion of the local partnerships against Crime (LPARCS) across Scotland with this sort of theft a priority for the group.

SPARC and the local partnerships share intelligence on organised crime groups operating across borders, providing specific information to the rural and farming community on how to best secure and prevent theft of equipment, as well as other crimes. They also demonstrate crime prevention measures in relation to the marking, tracking and securing of farm machinery and tools, including in the highest impacted areas.

The information requested is not held centrally by Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government collects information on the types of temporary accommodation provided or arranged by the local authority which a household makes a homelessness application to. Information on the location of this accommodation is not collected. Temporary accommodation data by local authority is released on an biannual basis as part of the Homelessness in Scotland statistics

I met Beatrice Wishart in July 2023 to discuss the work carried out by Dogs Against Drugs (Shetland) and have corresponded with her since. Dogs Against Drugs (Shetland) receives funding from the Scottish Government-funded Shetland Alcohol and Drugs partnership and has previously received a one-off grant from the Serious Organised Crime Community Grant Scheme. I have agreed to provide a further one-off grant of £30,000 to help meet current pressures while my officials assess the longer term funding position against an extremely challenging financial climate.

We recognise the potential impact of the cladding remediation programme on developers and on the building of new homes. These issues will be among those being considered by an in-depth economic analysis, which is in development. 

All new homes, regardless of tenure, are required to comply with Scottish building regulations, which set minimum standards for a wide range of building function and performance topics. Responsibility for compliance rests with the party commissioning the works (the owner or developer).

Our guidance for Registered Social Landlords and local authorities on the grant-funded element of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme (MHDGN 2023/01) outlines the specific quality standards that new build affordable homes receiving funding are required to meet. For example, new build homes which are delivered directly by Registered Social Landlords and local authorities should meet, as a minimum, the design criteria indicated as a ‘basic’ requirement within the Housing for Varying Needs design guide.

Individual Registered Social Landlords and local authorities may also have their own additional design and quality standards which they require affordable homes that they procure to meet.