Scottish Government officials have been meeting regularly with the UK Government and the other devolved nations to discuss and share plans around the potential impact of synthetic opioids. These meetings are now occurring on a monthly basis. This issue has also been raised on a number of occasions at a Ministerial level, including at the recent British Irish Council Ministerial meeting in January and the UK Drugs Ministerial meeting which took place in November.

The early warning system using wastewater analysis and overdose reports will provide vital information in terms of changes in the drug supply and in identifying changes in use in different locations. Scottish Water are involved with this work and we will get the data on a quarterly basis and this will feed into our surveillance plans.

It is vital that we are able to share surveillance information, intelligence and details on changes in drug trends between the different administrations, particularly as the illegal drug supply is not impacted by borders.

The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) undertook a data collection exercise in December 2023 on the presence of RAAC in social housing. Findings of this have been published by SHR giving a breakdown of the number of homes identified as containing RAAC and how many were still under investigation. At that time, 953 homes were identified with RAAC present across 9 social landlords and 27,318 homes were still under investigation. This was further broken down by landlord and analysed by local authority area. The findings are available on the SHR website FOI requested copy of RAAC dataset | Scottish Housing Regulator .

SHR also sought additional information on homes where social landlords have maintenance obligations, provide factoring services, or have previously sold. The intelligence gathered suggests RAAC has been primarily used in public sector house building.

SHR are currently undertaking further data collection and have requested updates from landlords where investigations are still ongoing and will release their findings in due course. SHR will continue to engage with landlords who have identified RAAC and the Scottish Government will be engaging directly with the affected landlords through the RAAC Cross Sector Working Group.

Operational decisions, including those such as dispute resolution, are a matters for individual colleges.

The Scottish Government has no role to play in these processes.

During the First Minister’s recent meeting with the Arab Ambassador Corps in London, the First Minister set out his vision for Scotland around the three pillars of equality, community, and opportunity, focusing on Scotland’s economic potential and commitment to social justice. The First Minister also outlined Scotland’s role in the world including the Scottish Government’s commitment to good global citizenship and belief in democracy, rule of law and human rights. In this context, the First Minister reaffirmed the importance of international solidarity in the face of shared global challenges such as the climate emergency, Russia’s war against Ukraine and the current crisis unfolding in the middle east.

The meeting was conducted under the Chatham House rule, as such specific issues attributable to participants are not noted.

Spending data on additional support for learning (ASL) is provided below. This data is collected from local authorities via the 2022-23 Local Financial Returns (LFR). These figures show that spending on ASL by local authorities reached its highest level on record, £926m in 2022-23.

Local authorities are asked to provide this data in line with guidance to ensure returns are completed on a consistent basis to allow for a reasonable degree of comparability. However, these figures may be affected by variations in local accounting practices and education strategies. It is important to bear this in mind when making comparisons between local authorities and years.

Local authorities are asked to record all centrally funded ASL expenditure under Special Education, irrespective of where it is delivered. Decisions about prioritisation and budgets, including those for the provision of services for pupils with additional support needs, are a matter for individual councils. We recognise the challenges facing authorities in balancing their need to meet a wide range of statutory duties, local priorities and local circumstances.

Table 1 shows gross revenue expenditure on (ASL) education for 2022-23, split by Pre-Primary, Primary, Secondary and Special Education.

Table 1 – 2022-23 ASL expenditure by Local Authority (£000)

The Scottish Government have commissioned RSM UK to provide analysis of the capacity requirements associated with the new model of neonatal care.

The scope of this work is to model the current and future demand and requirements for neonatal intensive care cot capacity, in order to inform regional implementation planning.

The work has involved engagement with operational and strategic stakeholders to collect feedback on implementation considerations, of which accommodation requirements has been documented.

Detailed analysis and quantification of accommodation capacity requirements is not in the scope of this work. However, this is a key part of the model of neonatal care described in Best Start and we expect all Boards to provide emergency overnight accommodation on the unit for parents who need it, with other accommodation for neonatal parents nearby. Boards are expected to include provision for this in their planning.

We also provide support to all families with babies in neonatal care to cover the costs of food, travel and accommodation as part of our Young Patients Family Fund.

The report is due to be finalised by the end of March 2024.

In December I announced plans to provide refreshed guidance to schools on the use of mobile phones, as part of the joint action plan to respond to the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research. The existing guidance was produced in 2013 and it is right that this is reviewed in light of the evidence provided by the Behaviour In Scotland's Schools Research 2023 and PISA. I have committed that the refreshed guidance will be developed in consultation with the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools. The updated guidance will be published in Spring 2024.

Dentists operating in rural areas can also apply to the remote areas allowance. The allowance is calculated on their proportion of NHS earnings to total earnings and therefore can be awarded up to £9000 per year. Other allowances are available for dentists as available in the Statement of Dental Remuneration.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25557 on‎ 25 March 2024. 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

In 2019 the Scottish Government instituted a period of legal reform for the framework underpinning Scottish road works, expanding and strengthening the range of existing powers roads authorities have.

Since 2023 Scottish Ministers have taken action on enforcement powers, through empowering roads authorities by endorsing a new Code of Practice for reinstatement, which introduced a UK leading six year guarantee for utility works. We have committed to a review of road works Fixed Penalty Notices (the fines to be levied), due to start in 2024.

Authorities already have an existing power to undertake any outstanding work directly and recharge all costs, should the utility fail to act. These are all discretionary powers, and it is for each roads authority to determine whether it is appropriate to use those powers in each situation.