The delivery of woodland creation will be focused within a Gross area of 4380ha by 2050. Delivery of this will be achieved through the protection of both advanced and developing natural regeneration, as well as through active planting, which will take the form of the creation of Seed islands, located in specific areas of the broad seed island zone. Enrichment planting within advanced regenerating areas and throughout the network of burns found within the catchment, as Riparian corridor planting along the banks. It is expected that the potential woodland cover, within the woodland creation zone will average 15%, at a density averaging around 600 stems/ha. This will vary throughout the catchment, specific to the location i.e. patchy and or higher/lower pending site conditions.

There is evidence of 415ha of existing advanced natural regeneration already within the catchment, achieving the standard for established woodland using criteria set by Scottish Forestry and Forestry and Land Scotland, this will be claimed in 2024.

As part of the Islands Connectivity Plan, Transport Scotland plans to carry out Community Needs Assessments for the islands and peninsulas of the Clyde and Hebrides and Northern Isles Ferry Services. These Community Needs Assessments will identify options for transport connectivity, including the existing ferry services.

A draft of the updated Community Needs Assessment methodology was shared with, and presented to, a group of the following key stakeholders and their feedback was fed into the final version:

• Shetland Islands Council.
• Orkney Islands Council.
• Comhairle nan Eilean Sar.
• Argyll and Bute Council.
• North Ayrshire Council.
• The Highland Council.
• Shetland Regional Transport Partnership (ZetTrans).
• Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS).
• Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).
• Serco Northlink Ferries.
• CalMac Ferries Ltd.
• Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd.
• Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS).
• Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
• Ferries Community Board.
• Young Islanders Network.

A breakdown of spend from the main Rural and Islands Housing Fund in each year since the funds were launched in 2016-17, broken down by rural (mainland) and Islands is provided in the following table. The Rural and Island Housing Fund plays an important role in offering support to community organisations and other eligible applicants while complementing the significant delivery through our mainstream programme by Councils and Registered Social Landlords in rural and island areas.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27393 on 28 May 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

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the Supporting Transgender Young People in School guidance remains up to date and fit for purpose. As with any significant legal or policy developments, we will consider whether the guidance requires to be updated to reflect these.

Phase 3 of the Review of Permitted Development Rights (PDR) has focussed on new and extended PDR for domestic and non-domestic renewable energy equipment to help address the climate and cost crises. A public consultation setting out proposed changes, including details on prior notification/prior approval arrangements, ran between May and August 2023 and several local authorities responded.

I will take decisions on the portfolio matters that the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture has recused himself from, with the exception of a single issue where I also have a conflict. On this matter, decisions will be taken by the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Finance.

The detail of these is reflected on the Scottish Government website at www.gov.scot 

We have implemented extensive reforms to streamline and improve the planning system to support our economy and give greater certainty to developers and investors. Our reforms include removing certain applications from the system, increasing capacity to focus on applications where most value can be added; extending the review cycle of Local Development Plans to allow planning authorities to focus on delivery; and appointing Scotland’s first National Planning Improvement Champion to work with all those involved to support improvement within the service.

We recognise there is scope to improve on current planning timescales with the most recent annual data for the 2022-23 period showing that the average timescale for major developments is 39.5 weeks, and local (non householder) development is 14.4 weeks. It is important to note that there can be many reasons for delays in determining applications, including requests for and submission of additional information, delays with responses from consultees and the requirement for a legal agreement. However, constructive and collaborative working between applicants and authorities means that consistently over 93% of applications are approved annually.

Our current consultation "Investing in Planning - a consultation on resourcing Scotland's planning system" aims to further support improvement in the delivery of planning services, including streamlining the assessments required to support applications, project managing applications, improving engagement and taking a proactive approach to development and consenting.

An annual report will be published by Scottish Government in Summer 2024 detailing progress made in the first year of the Cancer Action Plan for Scotland 2023-2026 . Officials have been working with third sector organisations to determine what additional measurements for monitoring improvements in blood and neurological cancer pathways would be useful. Officials also continue to work with Public Health Scotland (PHS) to progress developments in data availability, including emergency presentation data.

The Scottish Government continues to engage regularly with key stakeholders regarding implementation of the Children (Scotland) Act 2020 (the 2020 Act). We are currently prioritising work across the Scottish Government in light of increased budget pressures.

There has been detailed discussions with the Care Inspectorate on child contact services regulation, with a view to the Care Inspectorate taking on the role of independent regulator.

We plan to establish a short-life working group later this year with key stakeholders on child welfare reporters, which will inform the development of policy around the new register under the 2020 Act.

There has also been engagement with stakeholders in relation to special measures for vulnerable witnesses and parties. Part 3 of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill, if enacted, will extend provisions in the 2020 Act, relating to certain family cases, to civil cases more generally.