Bus operators use their own commercial judgement to decide on service routes, frequency and fare structure, including booking procedures. Any changes must be consistent with the processes enforced by the Traffic Commissioner.

Day to day operational activity and booking processes are the responsibility of individual bus operators in line with their conditions of carriage. The choice to offer advanced booking and charge a fee to passengers including National Entitlement cardholders is at the operator’s discretion.

Where a booking fee is charged it is not part of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme reimbursement process and the Scottish Government does not cover the cost.

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to modernising deer management to tackle high deer numbers, specifically in order to help us to achieve our biodiversity and carbon objectives. We continue to pursue a wide range of actions to deliver this commitment.

NHS Highland was escalated to stage 2 of the NHS Scotland Support and Intervention Framework for their vaccination services in late 2023 and since then Scottish Government officials have been engaging closely in an improvement and assurance process which includes the Board Chief Executive and Director of Public Health. As part of this process, the Scottish Government receives a wide range of management information from NHS Highland. The best available information on comparative uptake rates of childhood immunisation through GP practice-delivered and NHS board-delivered vaccination services in Argyll and Bute was shared by NHS Highland with the chair of the GP committee in Highland on 2 July.

The Scottish Government expects Health Boards to reach the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of 95% uptake of childhood vaccinations.

The most recent childhood data for NHS Highland, which includes quarterly data since 2015, is published by Public Health Scotland: Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland - Quarter and year ending 31 March 2024 - Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland

The trend data for NHS Highland shows that as of March 2024, the uptake rate of children who have received the 3-dose full primary course of the 6-in-1 vaccine by 12 months of age is 90.2% and by 24 months of age it is 94.4%. Since March 2023 this shows a decline of 3.2% uptake by 12 months of age and an increase of 0.4% uptake by 24 months of age.

The Scottish Government does not hold information regarding how many schools have had asbestos removed in the last three years. Local authorities have statutory responsibility for the control and management of asbestos within their schools.

Although health and safety is not devolved to the Scottish Government, we take the issue of asbestos within schools very seriously and expect local authorities to strictly follow the Health and Safety Executive's recommendations. Moreover, we have recently engaged with local authorities and the Health and Safety Executive regarding asbestos in schools.

Quarterly data for the percentage of children who have received their full primary course of the 6-in-1 vaccine, which protects children against pertussis, and other diseases, by 12 months and 24 months of age, is published by Public Health Scotland: Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland - Quarter and year ending 31 March 2024 - Childhood immunisation statistics Scotland - Publications - Public Health Scotland

This includes the national uptake and uptake for NHS Highland since June 2015.

Maternal pertussis immunisation is offered to pregnant women between 16 and 32 weeks of pregnancy. This provides protection to infants in the first weeks of their life, before they are offered vaccination as part of the Childhood Immunisation Schedule. Uptake data is held within the individual NHS Health Boards.

The Scottish Government’s future legislative programme will be set out as part of the upcoming Programme for Government in due course.

In the meantime we are working on those Deer Working Group recommendations that do not require primary legislation through the Strategic Deer Board .

In addition to this, as set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Action: Policy Package , we are developing a package of incentives schemes for deer management to pilot across Scotland. These local schemes will be implemented this year in different parts of Scotland to test different approaches to incentives and to better understand the barriers to deer management.

Compliance monitoring was carried out by NatureScot staff on two licences issued for the use of more than two or more dogs, as provided for under section 4 of the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023.

On both occasions, NatureScot staff were content in the operation and there were no infringements or issues of concern.

The Scottish Government’s 'Managing Deer for Climate and Nature: consultation' closed on 29 March 2024. This consultation sought views on proposed legislative changes to Scotland’s systems of deer management, including in relation to a number of recommendations made by the Deer Working Group (DWG) in their 2020 report.

The responses are currently being analysed and an update will be provided in due course.

Teachers in Scotland are required to spend 35 hours on professional learning per year and to engage in a Professional Update process every five years as a requirement for registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

As set out in the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers Handbook, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure a wide range of professional learning development opportunities and the teacher’s responsibility to undertake a programme of agreed professional learning. This should be capable of being discharged within contractual working time.

In terms of the provision of professional learning for teachers at a national level, Scotland’s national education agency will have an important role in supporting a thriving professional learning sector through a national framework for professional learning and will build on the existing and well-regarded national leadership professional learning programmes.

Establishing the new Centre for Teaching Excellence will also ensure every teacher is supported in delivering high-quality teaching. Effective professional learning, development and dedicated time for collaboration is critical to improving performance in the classroom.