The most recent sector-wide Landlord Registration data shows that in August 2023 there had been no decline in the number of registered properties for rent. While it is an administrative rather than a statistical source, the data shows that there were 342,542 private rented properties registered in Scotland, slightly more than the 339,632 properties registered in August 2022, before the introduction of the emergency Act. It is important to note however that there is likely to be a time lag on this data, particularly in relation to how frequently information from landlords is updated on the system.

The emergency Act is giving important support to tenants, providing them with much-needed stability in their housing costs. It has gone further than anywhere else in the UK in helping protect tenants across the rental sector.

As part of our ongoing duty to keep the provisions of the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 under review, a series of reports have been published setting out the evidence as to why the Scottish Government believes the Act remains necessary and proportionate. You may wish to note that the most recent report was laid in Parliament on 1 June.

We will continue to monitor the data to identify emerging impacts on the availability of properties for private rent.

Through the Block Grant, the Scottish Government's policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow them the financial freedom to operate independently. It is their responsibility to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on youth work, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

I have portfolio responsibility for hospital arranged post mortem examinations. These are undertaken for deaths in hospitals to establish the medical cause of death and require consent from the individual or the family.

Separately, post mortems can be carried out under the direction of the Lord Advocate as part of an investigation into a death. These are a matter for the Lord Advocate and the Scottish Government does not comment on or get involved in these.

The present state of the pandemic has been transformed by science, moving away from population level restrictions to strong programmes of vaccination and therapeutics.

As part of our enhanced surveillance systems, we continue to monitor, assess and be ready to respond to COVID-19 and other health threats. Any response including change to guidance on use of face coverings or face masks will be driven by the data and evidence gathered as well as expert advice as illustrated in the answer to question S6W-18103 on 31 May 2023 from Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour.

A risk-based approach to face coverings and face masks is in place across all settings with respect for those who may be unable to or wish to wear a face covering.

There are currently no general Covid-19 restrictions in place but the advice remains the same – please take up the offer of vaccination when invited, and try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if you have symptoms of a respiratory infection. If you have symptoms but do need to go out, wear a well-fitting face covering if possible.

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

Scottish Government is in regular communications with Ferguson Marine and CMAL around the delivery of MV Glen Sannox and MV Glen Rosa.

The CEO of FMPG provided his latest formal update to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee on 22 August 2023 with a commitment to provide a detailed follow up by the end of September 2023 following completion of a detailed review of costs and delivery timescales.

This is an operational matter for National Museums Scotland and the Board of Trustees.

National Museums Scotland has advised officials that it is not looking to acquire one of the lifeboats from the RMS Queen Mary for the National Collection.

NMS does not actively collect full sized aquatic vessels in its transport collection. Space and storage limitations would prevent them from being able to care appropriately for an object of this size.

These were pre-RET products that had always been intended to be removed at the point RET was introduced across the Calmac network from 2015.

Following representations from the community, Transport Scotland are engaging with Calmac on this matter to consider whether any interim replacement product can be put in place. This will need to consider any practical challenges and any costs associated with the reintroduction of a similar product that will function with the new system.

A wider review of fares policy will be undertaken as part of the consultation on the Islands Connectivity Plan in due course.

11 out of 14 territorial NHS Scotland Boards have long COVID pathways in operation. The following table outlines anticipated commencement date of the remainder, where applicable.

The list of NHS Scotland buildings which have two or more characteristics consistent with the presence of RAAC was provided in the response to question S6W-19366 on 21 July 2023. This list has also been made available on the NHS Scotland Assure website: RAAC -List of Properties v1 Jul 23 (nhs.scot). This list forms the NHS Scotland Assure RAAC survey programme, which commenced in July 2023. The eight NHS Forth Valley buildings on this list have not yet been surveyed and there are no indications any NHS Forth Valley buildings may have to temporarily close due to the presence of RAAC.

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

Targeted testing is in place to support clinical decision making and surveillance. We are working closely with Public Health Scotland, our clinical advisors and the other UK nations to routinely review our position and the clinical advice on COVID-19 in light of new variants. Evidence to date does not support a return to widespread community testing however we will continue to monitor the situation closely.