Scottish Ministers have been clear that it is for the Scottish Government, accountable to the Scottish Parliament, and not the UK Government to decide how policies in devolved areas are developed and delivered in Scotland, including allocation of funding, in line with the devolved settlement. Scottish Government and UK Government Ministers and officials have had extensive engagement on the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill and further detailed engagement around the Bill is ongoing.

The establishment of new Gaelic medium schools is a matter for local authorities and the Scottish Government will seek to provide support where possible. Officials from the Gaelic and Scots team discussed these matters with COSLA in a meeting in June 2022 and there were further exchanges in September 2022. The establishment of new Gaelic medium schools or Gaelic medium units in schools features regularly in discussion with local authorities and in particular the Gaelic and Scots team has discussed these matters recently with the following local authorities; Glasgow, Edinburgh, Highland, Argyll and Bute, Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire and North Lanarkshire.

The Scottish Government last discussed expanding access to environmental health courses accredited by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland with tertiary education providers on 28 June 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20615 on 14 August 2023 which provided an update on the Scottish Government’s REM policy, including links to the publication of the outcome report from the consultation which ran from 15 March to 22 June 2022. That report can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781805256588

The REM consultation outcome report confirmed that legislation relating to the mandatory introduction of REM to all scallop dredge and large pelagic vessels fishing in Scottish waters, and to all Scottish scallop dredge and pelagic vessels fishing outwith Scottish waters, will be introduced to the Scottish Parliament in 2023.

The report also confirmed that further work will be undertaken to scope options for the wider use of REM in other fleet segments (specifically vessels in the demersal fleet with an overall length of 12 metres or more) but that this will be considered in conjunction with the development of the Scottish Government’s Future Catching Policy.

The Scottish Government has also published a consultation on extending vessel tracking and monitoring technology on under 12 meter commercial fishing vessels. The consultation documents can be found here: https://consult.gov.scot/marine-scotland/improving-inshore-fisheries-data/ The consultation closes on 7 November 2023.

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

Since 1 April 2019 the (a) average (mean) time between a new woodland creation application being submitted to Scottish Forestry and a decision on the application being communicated to the applicant is 89 days and (b) the median time is 70 days.

Scotland's Gross Fixed Capital Formation in 2022 was £34,384 million. This was 18.4 percent of onshore GDP in that year.

The Scottish Government does not hold the specific information you have asked for. However, information about Circularity Scotland Limited’s (CSL) creditors is available on Companies House at the following link CIRCULARITY SCOTLAND LIMITED filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (company-information.service.gov.uk) .

The UK Government’s 11th hour decision to undermine DRS in Scotland will have affected businesses across Scotland that were preparing for the launch of the Scottish scheme. We wrote to the UK Government on 16 May, 19 May and 23 May 2023 to inform them of the potential impact a delayed decision on the Internal Market Act exclusion, or not providing an exclusion, would have on businesses. In our letter dated 2 June 2023, we specifically highlighted our concerns about the impact this would have on CSL.

The Scottish Government is enabling access to superfast broadband through the R100 contracts (North, Central and South) and the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS).

As at 30 June 2023, the total number of properties included in the R100 contracts yet to receive a connection in the (a) Aberdeenshire and (b) Angus local authority areas are as follows:

Core central funding for digital technologies across health and social care in each of the past three years is as below:

22-23 - £99,522

21-22 - £ 112,267

20-21 - £103,232

The Scottish Government is aware of the pressures faced by the Social Care sector at present and while the Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland, it is local authorities and health and social care partnerships who have the responsibility for commissioning appropriate services for local needs. We are however, taking steps at a national level to assist in reducing these pressures.

We are continuing to invest in social care to support the people who deliver, and rely, on these services with £1.7bn being provided for social care support and integration in 2023-24.

We have invested a further 3.6 million pounds to continue the development and expansion of Hospital at Home services. This additional funding brings the Scottish Government’s total investment in Hospital at Home services to more than 10.7 million pounds since 2020 and will see the number of patients accessing Hospital at Home grow by 50%.

We are progressing our commitment to increase spend in social care support by 25% by the end of this Parliament - an increase of over £840m, laying the groundwork for the establishment of a National Care Service.