The findings from the Heriot-Watt study present a disturbing picture of racial and sexual abuse that food delivery drivers have experienced in the course of their work.

The Scottish Government is clear that there is no place for harassment or abuse in the workplace, and everyone deserves to be respected and to feel safe in their working environment no matter their job or industry. All employers have a duty of care to protect the health, safety and welfare of their workers.

While the legal powers governing Health and Safety and Employment are reserved, this government will continue to promote its Fair Work policy, to make workplaces fairer and more inclusive but also safer and healthier environments for all workers. We encourage all employers to have in place robust workplace policies for handling issues such as bullying or harassment.

We are developing, and will publish by summer, a delivery plan for the refreshed Equally Safe Strategy to enable its aims and vision to be progressed in a practical way. This strategy seeks to prevent and address all forms of violence against women and girls, including in the workplace, specifically violence, abuse, and exploitation directed at them because of their gender. This behaviour is predominantly carried out by men and stems from deep-rooted gender inequality.

The Scottish Government's annual teacher workforce planning process is informed by a statistical model which estimates the number of Initial Teacher Education students required to maintain teacher numbers. The model considers a number of inputs, including projections of the number of teachers retiring.

The Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which comprises a range of key education stakeholders, is also considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to protecting teacher numbers, and we are offering local authorities £145.5m in this year’s budget for that purpose. This funding will allow councils to protect teacher numbers in order to support children’s education.

The number of premises that are either due to be delivered or have been delivered on the 15 islands that have had new subsea cables installed as part of the Scottish Government’s £600 million R100 contracts are in the following table.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS takes a multidisciplinary approach to meet both the emotional and physical needs of those in our care, as well as taking steps to safeguard prisoners and staff from the harm of illicit substances. We work closely with NHS partners and others to meet individual needs, including those receiving treatment for substance use and those abstaining from substance use.

Within our estate the SPS recovery agenda is strong, and we work collaboratively with third sector partners, including the Recovery Consortium, to ensure we meet the needs of those on their recovery journey.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone living with diabetes can access the care that they need to live their lives well. This includes increasing access to diabetes technologies.

Between 2016 and 2022, we invested £29.6 million of additional funding to support the increased provision of diabetes technologies.

I am delighted to confirm that this financial year, up to £8.8 million of funding will be made available to expand access to diabetes technologies in Scotland. The focus will primarily be on providing access to all children that want Closed Loop Systems, but will also allow us to continue increasing access to adults.

This investment will allow us to continue developing innovative care models for diabetes in Scotland that have a focus on digital pathways and peer support.

The Scottish Government published the refreshed National Events Strategy for Scotland 2024-2035 today.

Developing this strategy has been a collaborative effort, shaped by voices from across the event sector, Trade Unions, Local Authorities and the wider public sector. Following a consultation and engagement process clear agreed priorities have emerged to shape a strategy that provides focus for the whole sector, bringing everyone together to deliver a shared ambition.

This strategy can sustain and develop a dynamic, resilient, and responsible events sector that is a valued part of Scotland’s wellbeing economy, maintaining Scotland’s reputation as the perfect stage for events. It will ensure Scotland continues to support a dynamic portfolio of events – from regular local community events to Scotland’s signature events and festivals, to one off international business, cultural and sporting events.

The Scottish Government remains committed to continuing to work with the existing strong partnerships across Scotland – as well as creating new relationships in a collaborative and cohesive approach, helping to maximise our collective resources.

A copy of the strategy is available using this URL – https://www.visitscotland.org/about-us/what-we-do/events .

Pre-election guidance, informed by UK general election guidance and consistent with the devolved administrations, was published on the Scottish Government Website on 24 May: UK General Election 2024: guidance for civil servants - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

In addition, the Permanent Secretary wrote to me on 27 May outlining the impact of this guidance on the Scottish Government’s planned business: https://www.gov.scot/publications/pre-election-period-advice-letter-to-the-first-minister

This advice means that during the restricted period which extends until 4 July, strategic policies due for publication, including the Programme for Government, the Medium Term Financial Strategy, the Scottish Government’s draft tax strategy and the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, should be deferred.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people get the support they need to reach their full learning potential, including those with autism.

It is for local authorities to determine the most appropriate educational provision for pupils, taking into account both their legal responsibilities and the individual circumstances and wishes of children, young people, and their families.

The decision to adopt part-time learning should be taken in agreement with the school and the local authority and should also take into account the circumstances of the individual learner including existing planning arrangements in place for the child or young person.

The Scottish Government continues to work in partnership with Education Scotland and a range of stakeholders to improve professional understanding of, and support for autistic learners in all settings.

In light of the budget settlement for 2024-2025, and the financial pressures being faced across the Scottish Government, the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme in Scotland has been temporarily suspended to allow resources to be targeted at priority areas .

(a) Following a public consultation a draft Biodiversity strategy was published in 2022. The strategy sets out our clear ambition for Scotland to be Nature positive by 2030 and to have restored and regenerated biodiversity across the country by 2045.

A further consultation in September 2023 sought views on key elements of Scotland’s overall Biodiversity Framework including the draft strategy, supporting delivery plan and elements of a proposed new Natural Environment bill. We are working through the analysis and subject to ministerial approvals the plan is to publish the strategy and delivery plan later this year.

(b) The deadline for nominations from communities and organisations that would like their area to be considered for designation as a new National Park was 29 February 2024. Nominations were received from the Galloway, Lochaber, Loch Awe, Scottish Borders and Tay Forest. The nominations are currently being appraised against the criteria outlined in the published appraisal framework - New National Parks: nominations guidance and appraisal framework - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This appraisal framework was finalised following public consultation.

Following the completion of this appraisal process and the submission of a report, Ministers will decide which of the nomination should be taken forward to the next stage. The National Park proposal(s) will be published and will set out the area which it is proposed should be designated as a National Park.

A statutory process will then commence, starting with a detailed exploration of the National Park proposal that will be led by a ‘reporter’. This process is estimated to take around 9 months and will involve extensive consultation and engagement with local communities, stakeholders, businesses, local authorities, community councils and relevant public bodies and interest groups in order to further develop, test and refine the National Park proposal in light of local views and circumstances.

The reporter’s report to Scottish Ministers will take into account any views on the National Park proposal that are expressed during the consultation. The report will be published and laid before Parliament.

Following the publication of this report, and subject to legal conditions being met, the Scottish Government will then lay a designation order before Parliament in order to establish the new National Park(s). This process will include a 12-week public consultation on the draft designation order. Following this period of consultation a final designation order would then be laid before parliament.