We will continue to engage and listen to the views of landlords, tenants and investors, through the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Stakeholder Group, the Housing Investment Taskforce, as well as ongoing targeted stakeholder engagement.

Crewing levels will be comparable with existing small vessels to ensure safe manning and operation of the new vessels when they are introduced. CalMac Ferries Limited will continue to engage with crew and unions ahead of the vessels introduction. Further detail on particulars of the vessels is available in Q&A documents on CMAL‘s dedicated SVRP website - Small Vessel Replacement Programme | CMAL Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (cmassets.co.uk).

ScotRail matches its resources to best meet passenger needs during expected grow in demand, for example when special events are happening.

ScotRail advises that it added extra carriages for travelers attending the Largs Viking Festival at the weekend of 31st August and 1st September 2024 and maintained an hourly service to Largs on 7th September. Extra carriages were added to services ran on Sunday the 8th September to provide better capacity.

Scottish Ministers are responsible for the safe operation and maintenance of the trunk road network. The requirements for surfacing materials used on the trunk road network are laid out in the Specification for Highway Works and the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. These documents do allow some use of road planings in certain circumstances. They can be used in the lower foundation layers of all road types, depending on levels of traffic or as a base layer when mixed with a small amount of cement and foamed bitumen. Finally, small proportions of road planings can be recycled into hot and warm mix asphalt, which are generally used in the upper layers of a road.

The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places the statutory responsibility for local roads’ improvement, maintenance and repair with local road authorities. Local authorities have a duty to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

Where the maintenance liability for new roads being built within new residential developments is to be adopted by the Local Authority then the relevant local road authority will define the required specifications and standards and these govern what may be used.

The Scottish Government has allocated £548,723 in this financial year 2024/25 to the Scottish Book Trust (SBT) to deliver the Reading Schools Programme. Since the Scottish Government began funding the programme in 2018, SBT have received a total of £1,592,923, including this year.

SBT also received funding of £28,750 from Scottish Government in 2023-24, to deliver a Reading Schools Early Years pilot in seven childcare settings across Angus.

The Scottish Government funds the Scottish Book Trust (SBT) to deliver the SBT Reading Schools programme and therefore SBT is responsible for setting the criteria for core, silver and gold accreditation.

Reading Schools encourages a whole-school approach to establishing a healthy reading culture in schools across Scotland. The Reading Schools Accreditation framework details the key areas considered crucial to building and sustaining a whole-school reading culture and are mapped against How Good Is Our School? 4. In order to be accredited, a school must provide evidence of how they have achieved the standard described under each of the key areas. Schools retain their accreditation for three years, before being required to evidence further developments to sustain reading culture.

The SBT Reading Schools Framework can be accessed online here: https://www.readingschools.scot/framework

The Scottish Government is investing in rail services across Scotland, including the rolling programme of electrification. East Kilbride line electrification is now under way and I have recently announced that ScotRail is to procure replacement trains for the current InterCity High Speed Train fleet. The work continues to develop further procurements to replace and renew the ScotRail fleet as it ages

As with any litigation, the details of any settlement are confidential to the parties involved in that litigation. The Scottish Ministers however can confirm that the total costs incurred by the Scottish Ministers in relation to the cases of McMaster & Others v the Scottish Ministers and MacKay & Another v the Scottish Ministers is £1,033,302.75.

The City of Edinburgh Council set their 21-day timescale during the Wester Hailes pilot and the timescale is based on experience gained during the pilot programme.

The timescale allows owners to reflect and seek advice but is short enough to prevent undue delays to the repairs. The council have provided numerous extensions to this timescale where requested by owners.

The prescribed Notice to Leave that landlords must use to end a private residential tenancy includes important information for tenants and signposts to a number of organisations, such as Citizens Advice Scotland and Shelter Scotland, should they need advice and support to understand their rights. It also directs tenants worried about having somewhere to live to contact their local authority to discuss their circumstances.

Local authorities are obliged by law to offer minimum of temporary accommodation, advice and assistance for people who are at risk or who are experiencing homelessness. They are best placed to provide advice on housing options and what further support they can offer.

For short assured or assured tenancies, the Notice to Quit landlords must use to end the tenancy advises tenants about getting legal advice or contacting organisations who provide housing support if they are unsure of the validity of the Notice. It advises that help with all or part of the cost of legal advice may be available under the legal aid legislation.

Scottish Government are providing up to £2 million this year to support the Early Resolution Advice Programme administered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board, which supports projects in the third sector, to provide assistance and representation for people at risk of, or facing court action related to debt and housing matters.