Falling birth rates are a demographic trend replicated across many high-income countries, with significant future implications for our economies, communities and public services.

The Family Friendly Nation strand of our Population Strategy sets out our ambition to ensure Scotland is the ideal place to raise a family. In delivering this, in November 2022, the Ministerial Population Taskforce published ‘Attitudes to Family Formation in Scotland’ to update our evidence base about family planning and ideal family size.

Next steps are being considered by the Taskforce, including scoping potential policy lessons from international comparators to support people to have the number of children they wish to have.

In his latest letter to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee (NZET) on 11 October, Ferguson Marine’s interim Chief Executive reported that recent acceptance sea trials were successfully completed and assured the Committee that a definitive handover date will be provided as soon as it is confirmed. I will then write to the NZET Committee to give the Scottish Government’s response to the latest progress update on the delivery of MV Glen Sannox. The vessel is now in the final stages of delivery, with all parties collaborating to complete the remaining technical details.

We want Scotland to be the best place in the world to grow up. As part of our approach, we recognise that online platforms, including social media, can have both a positive and negative impact on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing and that it is important to support people to use social media in a healthy and balanced way.

Keeping children and young people safe online is a priority for the Scottish Government and while we recognise that regulation of the internet remains a reserved matter, we have successfully engaged with the previous UK Government to strengthen protections for children in its Online Safety Act. The Minister for Victims and Community Safety and I met with the online safety regulator Ofcom in August to discuss their strategy for online safety in Scotland.

Following the appalling acts of violence and disorder seen elsewhere in the UK over the summer, the First Minister wrote to social media companies Misinformation, racism and hateful material online: letter to social media companies - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) asking them how they are combating the spread of misinformation and steps being taken to address racist/hateful speech across platforms, and officials are considering responses. Our commitment to this work was further set out by the First Minister recently in response to a question on this issue in Parliament Written question and answer: S6F-03493 | Scottish Parliament Website

We have provided over £400,000 to children and young people’s organisations since 2020, to fund a range of initiatives including the Young Scot Aye Feel online hub and the Mind Yer Time resource, with some of the work focusing on addressing social media usage amongst children and young to help them navigate online spaces and use screen time in a healthy and positive way.

Additionally, our national resource for parents - Parent Club - has a range of information and advice to support parents to manage their child’s screen time, and to have informed conversations with their children on screen time, social media and internet use. The Scottish Government funded public awareness campaigns in 2022 and 2023 to inform parents and carers about the risks of online harm and how to protect their children online which linked to Parent Club resources. In addition, the Scottish Government has recently published guidance for schools on the issue of mobile phones in schools, which supports education authorities and schools in their consideration of limiting access to mobile phones in schools.

In September 2021, the Scottish Government published the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People: Principles and Standards of Care: Children and young people - national neurodevelopmental specification: principles and standards of care - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) which sets out seven standards for service providers to ensure children and young people who have neurodevelopmental profiles receive support that better meets their needs. This recognises neurodevelopmental differences are estimated to affect around 10% of pupils in Scotland’s mainstream schools, and their additional support needs.

We are working with Health Boards and Local Authorities towards implementing the Specification in full. As part of this, we have provided over £1 million to fund five pilots which are focusing on various aspects of the Specification, including implementing our Getting It Right For Each Child approach and multi-agency working. We are working to share the learning from these with all appropriate stakeholders to support wider implementation of the specification across Scotland and inform future service improvements.

More broadly, every child and young person should be able to access support for their mental health and wellbeing when and where they need it. Since 2021, we have provided local authorities with £15 million per annum to deliver community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services for 5-24 year-olds and their families.

A Scottish Government official met with pupils and representatives of the Council, at Beath High School on 18 March 2024. This was an opportunity for pupils to present on their concerns and for them to get an understanding of the School Food Regulations and that flexibility exists for Fife Council to address the issues raised by the pupils in a way that balanced local preferences alongside nutritional needs. Following the meeting, Fife Council and the pupils were to discuss matters further to identify what changes could be made to the meals offer in their schools.

At this time we cannot provide an update further to that of S6W-26556, as we await the publication of the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s (SAWC) Responsible Cat Ownership Working Group report.

Shared ownership has an important role to play in delivering a just transition, by giving communities the chance to make an investment in a commercially owned renewable energy project.

Whilst mandating shared ownership is a matter reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government encourages developers to offer shared ownership opportunities to communities as standard on all new renewable energy projects, including repowering and extensions to existing projects.

Additionally, the Onshore Wind Sector Deal includes a commitment to publish a framework of practical approaches to support and encourage community shared ownership models, to assist communities, and developers and funders to engage in shared ownership opportunities.

Excepted establishments are a subset of relevant education establishments. Both terms are defined in Section 31 of the Education (Scotland) Bill. Only some of the Chief Inspector’s powers apply to excepted establishments.

Colleges are an excepted establishment. This means that the Chief Inspector will have the power to inspect colleges that provide fundable Further Education, but only at the request of Scottish Ministers under section 30(2)(c), or by voluntary arrangement (section 32 of the Bill). This will enable the current arrangement with the Scottish Funding Council to continue.

Caravans and static homes provided by employers through a Service Occupancy Agreement are not subject to housing standards. Where agricultural land is used for the accommodation of people involved in farming operations on a seasonal basis, a site licence for a caravan is not required.

Employees’ rights will depend on what is written in their employment contract and will depend on the individual circumstances of the case. However, if an employee has a Private Residential Tenancy, then they will have the same rights as a private tenant.

Having considered the circumstances and in response to the damage caused by unconsented activity in the area of the Parallel Roads of Lochaber Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Scottish Ministers have begun drafting a Nature Conservation Order (NCO). This is being developed in parallel with enforcement action being taken by The Highland Council and Scottish Forestry and an ongoing Police Scotland investigation.

Taxis and private hire cars (PHCs) are a vital part of transport networks for citizens, businesses and visitors across Scotland, and all taxi and PHC drivers should be able to go about their work without the threat of any violence and abuse from their customers.

Taxis and PHCs are licensed under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (“the 1982 Act”). While the Scottish Government has responsibility for the overarching legislation, the day to day administration of the licensing regime, as set out in the 1982 Act, is devolved to independent licensing authorities – in effect the 32 Scottish local authorities.

Within this context, any reports of non-payment of fares, and/ or abuse of drivers would be directed to the local licensing authority and the local police. The Scottish Government does not hold data in relation to the non-payment of taxi and PHC fares or abusive conduct towards taxi and PHC drivers.

The Scottish Government recommends that licensing authorities should actively promote and facilitate good links between the taxi and PHC trades and the local police force, including active participation in any crime reduction initiatives.

Owners and drivers of vehicles will often want to install security measures to protect the driver. Licensing authorities may consider that this is a matter best left to the judgement of the owners and drivers themselves. However, it is recommended practice for licensing authorities to consider, as part of their licensing policy under the legislative framework of the 1982 Act, sympathetically, or indeed actively encourage, their installation.

Further information about security measures in vehicles is available in the taxi and PHC licensing best practice guidance document published by the Scottish Government, in conjunction with Transport Scotland, last year: https://www.gov.scot/publications/taxi-private-hire-car-licensing-best-practice-licensing-authorities-taxi-private-hire-car-operators-3rd-edition/pages/7/.