I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26978 on 7 May 2024, which details the spend and homes delivered by local authority areas through the 2022-2023 National Acquisition Programme.

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

There is no maximum number. Normally all vehicles queuing are convoyed through in the first convoy cycle. Those who miss the convoy vehicle are required to wait for it to return.

The Scottish Government remains committed to introducing a high quality and clinically safe thrombectomy service in Scotland.

We have invested more than £35m to date in the delivery of a thrombectomy service in Scotland and will continue to work with our stakeholders to further develop and support delivery of an equitable service across Scotland to maximise patient access.

The Scottish government will announce more comprehensive spending plans for 2025-26 in its budget, scheduled for 4 December.

The Scottish Government has no plans at this time to commission further research in relation to student housing.

Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030 sets out a vision for Scotland to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030 and a long-term goal where no one is seriously injured or killed on our roads by 2050.

In response to interim figures in 2023 showing an increase in road casualties in Scotland, the Scottish Government has allocated a record £36m for road safety investment in the 2024/25 financial year. Latest figures in 2024 show that fatal casualties are tracking 26% above the same period last year.

In response to this, a range of interventions totalling £5.5m will be delivered. These include driver behaviour campaigns targeting speeding and seat belt use, as well as advancing the use of distracted driver technology. Additionally, local projects will focus on reducing pedestrian and cyclist casualties.

Further initiatives include launching a consultation on the National Speed Management Review, overseeing the £10m Road Safety Improvement Fund to support local authorities reduce casualties and risk, and the rolling out of a pioneering training and education programme which includes the development of the world’s first Safe System Manual for road safety practitioners.

This comprehensive approach underscores the Scottish Government’s unwavering commitment to achieving its goal of making Scotland’s roads among the safest in the world by 2030.

A National Review of Care Allowances was published in 2018 which highlighted that each local authority is able to develop their own adoption allowance scheme within the parameters of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (‘the 2007 Act’). Under the 2007 Act, local authorities have a duty to assess someone’s need for adoption support services and to provide this support.

Adoption agencies should ensure that prospective adopters are made aware at the earliest opportunity of the adoption process about the purpose of an adoption allowance, as well as the process for applying.

In addition, the Adoption Support Services and Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2009 (‘the 2009 Regulations’) are designed to ensure that those persons identified in section 1 of the 2007 Act can access and receive the ongoing support for an adoption required to ensure the improved outcomes associated with adoption. It is the duty of local authorities to implement these duties to ensure that adoptive families receive this support.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that adoptive families receive the support they need, when and where they need it throughout life. This includes the provision of over £770,000 funding in 2024/25 to organisations delivering services and support to adoptive families and practitioners.

We are committed to tackling health inequalities and providing access to the highest quality of care for all, which is why our ambitious cancer strategy has a focus on reducing inequities in access to all cancer care, and cancer outcomes.

We continue to support improving timely access to cancer services. We committed in our Programme for Government to opening a further Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Service (RCDS) in 2024/25, bringing our national total to six.

A clinical refresh of the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer is also underway via the Centre for Sustainable Delivery to help ensure the right person is on the right pathway at the right time. This is further supported by a new primary care cancer education platform Gateway C, which was launched on 30th April in NHS Scotland.

Since 2016, the Scottish Government has provided funding to ensure that adult social care workers, delivering direct care in the third and private sectors, are paid at least the Real Living Wage (RLW).

As employment powers are reserved, this uplift is funded by the Scottish Government but processed, delivered and assured by Local Authorities through the annual contract variation process. This year, the Scottish Government transferred £230 million to Local Government to deliver the uplift to at least £12 per hour.

As we do not have access to the relevant contractual information in England, we are unable to estimate how much it would cost to replicate this approach in England or the subsequent Barnett consequentials.

In the absence of Barnett consequentials, the Scottish Government’s commitment to prioritise funding a minimum RLW rate clearly demonstrates the value we place on the Scottish social care workforce.

NatureScot only receives cull return data from the five local authorities that manage deer on their land. The remaining local authorities do not undertake deer culls, and therefore do not provide cull returns.

Naturescot has funded local authorities approximately £37,000 over the last seven years to produce deer management plans and deer statements alongside providing expert advice and guidance. NatureScot will continue to work with local authorities to support their deer management efforts.

Alongside our work to reduce deer populations which should have an impact on reducing the number of deer involved in road traffic accidents, we are also taking action at ‘hotspots’ where there are higher numbers of deer vehicle collisions.

NatureScot and Transport Scotland have been recording and analysing deer vehicle collisions (DVCs) across the Scottish road network since 2008. Between 2022 to 2025 several ‘hotspots’ for DVCs were identified as part of this work, most of which were in the Central Belt. NatureScot are now running a project looking at site-specific mitigation options in three Central Belt sites. This includes site visits to liaise with landowners over deer management.

Alongside this, a ‘Deer Aware’ media campaign is being run in the Central Belt. The campaign warns drivers on trunk roads of the increased likelihood of deer on the road in the spring.

We are also investigating the practicality of incorporating wildlife crossings into the design of the proposed replacement pedestrian bridges across the M8 trunk road near to Junction 3, Livingston. Such ‘green bridges’ can service multiple users and provide a safe alternative route for wildlife across busy roads.