No applications have been received to date because the Islands Bond has not been launched.

Following agreement with COSLA, a total funding allocation of £8 million across local authorities on a per-pupil basis for the academic year 2022 has been agreed to continue funding free instrumental music tuition in schools.

An additional allocation of around £3 million was provided for those authorities which had budgeted for instrumental music tuition fee income.

Further consultation is ongoing to develop a sustainable funding model.

The current provisions for felling permissions are set out in the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 and associated regulations, last updated in 2021.

Felling trees for the purposes of carrying out development, authorised by planning authorities, is exempt from the requirement for a Felling Permission. Here the Scottish Government’s Control of Woodland Removal Policy applies.

This policy includes a presumption in favour of protecting woodland. Removal should only be permitted where it would achieve significant and clearly defined additional public benefits. Where woodland is removed in association with development, developers will generally be expected to provide compensatory planting. The Scottish Government has no imminent plans to review its policy on the control of woodland removal.

The answer to question S6W-08058 set out the process whereby Marine Scotland Scientists produce estimates of unwanted catch calculated from information collected by scientific observers on board vessels to contribute to the fish stock assessment process run by ICES. Historically it was assumed this unwanted catch was discarded. With the introduction of the landing obligation, the majority of catch should now be landed, unless the fish are non-quota species or subject to a permitted exemption. In addition fish under the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) cannot be sold for human consumption. The scientific observers do not try to differentiate between these different portions of catch, and instead group them together into a single category, called unwanted catch.

In terms of actual quantities of discards, under Article 15 of the retained Common Fisheries Policy (1380/2013) vessels are obliged to record both fish that has been discarded under a permitted exemption and fish below MCRS that is landed. Information on recorded levels of discards under permitted exemptions is provided in response to question S6W-08825 on 8 June 2022.

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

As set out in the answer to S6W-08824 on 8 June 2022, vessels are obliged to record both fish that has been discarded under a permitted exemption and fish below MCRS that is landed. We do not, however, have a separate electronic system in place which allows for recording specific discards under exemption rules separate to other discards (e.g. those which might occur for non-quota stocks not subject to the landing obligation or fish discarded because of force majeure). This is because the electronic system in use on vessels pre-dates the landing obligation.

The information provided below has been recorded and submitted to us by vessels and relates to species which are below the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) and which are subject to the landing obligation because they are quota species.

We are unable to provide a species breakdown as some species were only reported by one vessel and may be disclosive.

Total discards recorded of quota fish below minimum size caught in ICES areas 4 and 6a in 2021 for all species, Scottish vessels landing anywhere.

The Scottish Government funds considerable research and analysis into the benefits of planting tree species native to Scotland. One example of some recent work is a niches for species model that integrates species habitat requirements for multiple species, and provides mapped outputs of their niches, and hence their potential occurrence in native woodlands. The Scottish Government will be using this work to help inform forestry planning and management.

In addition, the creation of new woodlands will continue to be underpinned by the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) which is supported by a large body of research and analysis. The Scottish Government supports tree planting through the Forestry Grant Scheme where UKFS requirements are met, and the site is suitable for the trees being planted. Over 4000 hectares of new native woodland were planted in 2020/21.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling the wasteful practice of discarding and we have set out our proposals to address this issue in our Future Catching Policy (FCP) consultation, which ran from 15 March to 7 June. The Future Catching Policy has co-management at the heart of its approach, recognising that we need to work in partnership to develop robust and workable practices to reduce unwanted catch of fish and bycatch of other marine species. This will help to reduce discarding as far as possible whilst allowing for limited discarding in certain circumstances under permitted exemptions. We do not have a target for the reduction in discards, rather we are focussed on eliminating illegal discarding, and ensuring that any discarding which does take place under permitted exemptions is properly recorded and accounted for to enable sustainable fishing activity to take place. This is in keeping with the current approach under the current EU/UK landing obligation.

A key component of the proposed FCP is to put in place additional technical (e.g. gear selectivity) and spatial (e.g. area closures to protect spawning fish) measures, designed to reduce unwanted catch further where required.The fishing industry is already heavily regulated, with many rules in place already designed to limit unwanted catch (for example, the use of square mesh panels in fishing nets in the west of Scotland Nephrops fishery, or the spatial measures within the North Sea Cod Avoidance Plan). There is scope to increase these measures through the FCP in a proportionate way.

We will be analysing responses to the consultation prior to confirming firm proposals later this year.

Following an open tender process in January, we have contracted a consortium of expert researchers to help inform our thinking on Scotland’s future peace offer. This will enable us to consider next steps in establishing the Peace Institute. The researchers will report back to us in the Summer.

The specifics of the Islands Bond policy are still being considered and will take into account the input of respondents to the consultation across all island groups.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08761 on 8 June 2022. 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