Transport Scotland publishes the results of all regulated procurements through contract award notices on the Public Contracts Scotland website. In addition to the award of contracts, we also apply this requirement to call-off contracts awarded under framework agreements including the contracts placed under Multiple Supplier Framework Agreement for Maritime Consultancy Services.

Ministers are carefully considering the outline business case for the Small Vessel Replacement Programme. This is an important issue and an update will be provided once a decision on investment has been taken. This is expected to be taken shortly.

CMAL has met with trade union representatives throughout the design process of the programme, most recently in October 2023.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Duty holders are expected to deliver a safe environment for all users of non-domestic buildings including hotels. The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 requires that duty holders carry out a fire safety risk assessment of relevant premises to identify any risks to the safety of persons caused by fire, including the risk posed by combustible cladding.

The Scottish Government has produced guidance for those who have responsibility under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 for ensuring fire safety in hotels in Scotland: Fire safety - existing premises with sleeping accommodation: practical guidance - gov.scot ( www.gov.scot )

I refer to previous answers to question S6W-19363 on 7 July 2023 and S6W-23734 on 4 January 2024. Following recent successful recruitment, the core CHFS3 team consists of 13 FTE staff. 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 .

Recent reports of bus service withdrawal have tended to concern commercial routes. The majority of services in Scotland operate in an open de-regulated market and the provision of local bus services is a matter for individual bus operators who use their own commercial judgement on service routes, frequencies and vehicle types.

Under the Transport Act 1985, where there is a social need for particular bus services which are not being provided commercially, local authorities can subsidise these at their discretion. This procedure allows local transport authorities to influence the frequency, routing of services or vehicle types used however this is entirely a matter for the local authority to consider and action.

The "Travel Strategy and Innovation" budget line was not used to fund the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Investment fund pilots, and will therefore have no impact on the pilots.

Details of the RAAC survey programme are available on NHS Scotland Assure’s website which contains a link to each NHS Boards’ RAAC webpage for current information about progress of the survey programme.

Our block grant funding for this Budget is derived from the UK Government's spending decisions and has fallen by 1.2% in real terms since 2022-23 – a real terms drop of £0.5 billion. The reality is that the amount Scotland has available to spend is still largely driven by the block grant set by successive UK Governments whose constraint of public expenditure prolongs the austerity felt by public services. We fully recognise that all difficult funding decisions have an impact and while there is significant pressure across all Scottish Government budgets in 2024-25, we have reviewed funding options and have identified budget resource for the Mark Scott Awards for 2024-25.

The responsibility for the balancing of grid lies with the National Grid Electricity System Operator. More information including data on balancing costs can be found here: Balancing costs | ESO (nationalgrideso.com) .

The Council Tax system in Scotland provides for a 100% exemption from Council Tax for homes that are not habitable, and are undergoing major repairs, which lasts for up to 12 months. Further, local authorities have the discretion to apply a Council Tax discount of up to 50% to an unoccupied property at any time. As there is no time limit to this discretion there is no date at which any discount must expire.