The Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce is a short life group comprised of leaders from the bus operating, bus manufacturing, finance, energy and public sectors. Its remit is to explore the hurdles and opportunities in transitioning to a zero emission bus fleet. It is not a decision making body, it does not exercise any statutory functions nor handle any funds and its role includes helping to shape and inform relevant Scottish Government policy commitments.

We will be publishing the Lived Experience Panel Specification shortly.

Our Draft National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) sets out how our approach to planning and development will help achieve a net zero, sustainable Scotland by 2045, including through a suite of 35 proposed new or updated national planning policies. Draft policy 19 on green energy supports renewable energy development other than in national parks and national scenic areas, subject to an assessment of impacts on a case by case basis. Criteria for assessing proposals are also set out, including impacts on communities.

We laid the Draft NPF4 in the Scottish Parliament on 10 November 2021. Alongside Parliamentary scrutiny of the draft, we are running a public consultation, supported by an extensive engagement programme, and comments are invited by 31 March 2022. Following this period, we will consider the responses received and any appropriate amendments to the draft NPF4 before presenting a final draft to the Scottish Parliament for its approval, in advance of adoption by the Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government will be providing a £150 cost of living award to all households in council tax bands A to D, including those who are not receiving a reduction under the Council Tax Reduction scheme. Local authorities will also be provided with funds from which to make £150 payments to certain categories of low income households which are exempt from council tax, including those accessing housing support services or living in temporary accommodation. In addition, we are providing an extra £10m to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund to help households at risk of self-disconnection, or self-rationing energy use.

The Scottish Government has activated the Bellwin Scheme which offers additional revenue support to local authorities to assist with immediate and unforeseen costs that meet the qualifying criteria in the aftermath of emergency incidents such as the storms referenced. However, payments are only made once a local authority has exceeded its Bellwin Threshold which represents 0.2 per cent of their net revenue budget for the year in question, for Aberdeenshire Council this is £1,075,171. This is the amount that all local authorities are deemed to set aside to cover unforeseen emergencies

My officials are in regular contact with Aberdeenshire Council and the Council is aware that any interim Bellwin claim should be submitted to the Scottish Government within 4 months of the date of the incident. I can confirm that, to date, the Scottish Government have not yet received a Bellwin claim from Aberdeenshire Council.

However, in 2021-22, Aberdeenshire Council will receive £479.2 million to support local services, which includes an extra £19 million or 4.1 per cent to support services compared to 2020 21. Further funding of almost £521.3 million will be provided in 2022-23, which includes an extra £44 million or 9.2 per cent for vital day to day services.

The Scottish Government is aware of the impact the necessary public health restrictions have had on businesses and our £375 million package of support for businesses was targeted at those who were the most immediately affected by measures introduced to control the spread of Omicron.

We announced an £80 million Covid Economic Recovery Fund for local authorities to support local economies and cities recover from the pandemic. This fund empowers councils to consider the needs of local businesses, communities and households and to target support to maximise economic recovery in their areas The flexibility of this fund ensures councils can provide support where they know the need is greatest and this has been welcomed by COSLA. Officials are working with local authorities on delivery arrangements, and funding will be transferred to local authorities in their General Revenue Grant in the last two weeks of March.

The 2019-20 Scottish Budget included a £29.5 million provision for implementing the Scottish Government’s commitment to extend free personal care to all those under 65 who need it. The allocation given to each local authority in 2019-20 is included in the following table. This funding has been baselined into the Local Government Settlement.

The Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland (the Care Inspectorate) was established on 1 April 2011 following the commencement of the Public Services Reform (Scotland Act) 2010 (“the 2010 Act”) and encompassed other bodies such as the Care Commission. The statutory role and functions of the Care Inspectorate are as set out in the 2010 Act and does not extend to a role in the distribution of public or private funding across care homes.

This information will be published on 15 March 2022 as part of the 'Supplementary Statistics on schools in Scotland' statistical release.

Data on teachers will be published here Teacher census supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Data on support staff will be published here School support staff statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The outputs from Project Neptune will be considered alongside the suite of existing documents that support our ambitious vision for Scotland’s transport system for the next 20 years.