There are blocks of recycling bins along each of the floors in the Members block, this includes a can bin at each of the tea points.  There are fewer of these bins than other types of recycling bins because we generate fewer cans than other types of recycling.  We are reviewing the recycling points in the MSP block and we plan to add another set of can bins to each floor.  We have also recently had to order a replacement can bin for the second-floor tea point, so this bin has been temporarily unavailable but will be back by Friday 8th December.

The Scottish Government is continuing to engage with Screen Scotland and other parties to explore all avenues for supporting the future of the Screen Machine.

We recognise the huge importance of the Screen Machine’s unique cultural, educational, and wellbeing benefits to communities across Scotland, particularly for those who otherwise would struggle to visit the cinema.

We welcome the funding provided by Screen Scotland earlier this year, which allowed Screen Machine to lease a temporary replacement cinema until April 2024.

The Scottish Government has agreed a package of support for people whose homes and businesses were affected by Storm Babet.

Funding is being provided to eligible local authorities to allow them to issue flat rate grants to all households and businesses suffering from the impacts of Storm Babet. The grants will comprise a £1,500 community recovery grant for those whose properties have been flooded, and a £3,000 business recovery grant for businesses, community groups and organisations impacted by flooding. Grants will be administered by eligible local authorities which are those that had an exceptional red warning for rain during October’s storm. Letters offering funding have been issued to Dundee City Council, Angus Council, Aberdeenshire Council and Perth and Kinross Council to enable them to make the grant payments.

We are also providing Angus Council with additional funding of up to £100,000 to help those families who have lost everything to resettle and rebuild their lives. We have also announced funding to help farmers repair floodbanks damaged by the extreme rainfall during October.

Today the Scottish Government published the third Delivery Plan for the National Transport Strategy , which outlines the actions it has taken to deliver the vision and priorities in 2023 and what actions will be undertaken in the coming year.

The first Report to Parliament was also published today, setting out the steps the Scottish Government has taken in delivering the Strategy since its launch in February 2020. The publication of the Report fulfils our commitment in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019.

Transport and travel data has been routinely collected through our annual official statistical publications, however it has not been possible to accurately report on the performance of the Strategy on an annual basis. This is primarily due to our data collection methods being affected by the pandemic and comparisons between the baseline position and travel in 2020 and 2021 not being robust due to the profound impact that the pandemic had on travel behaviour over this period.

The first monitoring and evaluation report setting out what progress has been made will be produced in 2024. The update will primarily provide analysis on the performance of the Strategy against headline indicators, utilising data gathered in 2020, 2021 and 2022, qualitative case studies from our stakeholder groups and transport partners and data from additional sources.

I was concerned to hear of the situation at Tots Bots Ltd and the people affected by this announcement are our immediate priority. The Scottish Government is providing support through our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE). A PACE event was held on 17 November which was attended by 10 former Tots Bots employees and to date 17 further PACE engagements have taken place.

Businesses in Scotland can access advice, guidance and financial support from a wide range of organisations across the public sector. There are over 750 publicly funded interventions to support businesses in Scotland including through grants or loans, consultancy, research, training opportunities and self-help guides. Most of this is available to any business, anywhere in Scotland, whatever stage of growth it is at.

On non-domestic rates, the Scottish Budget 2023-24 ensures the lowest poundage in the UK for the fifth year in a row and supports a package of reliefs worth an estimated £749 million. This includes the most generous Small Business Bonus Scheme relief in the UK which is estimated to save ratepayers £249 million this year.

The Scottish Government is also working with the enterprise agencies, local government, and other public bodies to improve the way we support businesses through the Business Support Partnership. A range of business support is available via Business Gateway and Scottish Enterprise and can be accessed via findbusinesssupport.gov.scot

The idea for a Women’s Business Centre was among a suite of options considered in the review led by Ana Stewart culminating in the publication of Pathways for a New Approach to Women in Entrepreneurship. The Pathways report was published in February 2023 following extensive consultation and contained a wide range of recommendations on provision of advice and support, access to finance and investment as well as entrepreneurial education and use of disaggregated data. As that report did not recommend the establishment of a Women’s Business Centre we will now work to progress the recommendations from Pathways instead. In June 2023 the Scottish Government accepted the Pathways report in full and began work to implement its key recommendations. The first phase of that work established the Pathways Pre-Start Fund to support more women, and other under-represented groups, into business ownership and to realise their entrepreneurial potential. The 20 projects receiving funding have been published at Pathways Pre-Start Fund: funded programmes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government opposes the inappropriate use of fire and rehire practices and we are clear that the practice does not represent Fair Work. In cases where contractual changes are necessary, there should always be appropriate and meaningful consultation

While employment law remains reserved, we encourage employers in Scotland to follow good practice in decisions regarding their workforce.

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

Any concerns from residents in relation to general noise disturbances, fall under the remit of the local authority, in this instance Stirling Council.

The responsibility for determining applications for planning permission, and planning enforcement of such decisions, rests primarily with the planning authority for the area, in this case Stirling Council. Such applications are required to be determined in accordance with the development plan for the area unless material considerations indicate otherwise – More information can be found on the Scottish Government Website, specifically Planning circular 3/2022: development management procedures - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

SPS remains committed to engaging with local residents.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring everyone who is eligible to vote can do so and is working with partners to look at potential new ways to increase registration levels amongst under-represented groups including young people.

Curriculum for Excellence provides opportunities for young people of all ages and stages to develop their political literacy skills. This is most likely to feature in the social studies curricular area, which, helps young people develop as responsible, informed citizens with a global outlook covering important topics, including democracy and voting.

To support schools and teachers there is an extensive range of materials and resources to draw on, including the “You Decide” Political Literacy resource from Education Scotland, which provides guidance on how to ensure that learners use their voice, participate and contribute to decision-making processes.

The Electoral Commission provides free, impartial resources for schools and youth groups to use to support young people to develop their understanding of the voting process. Their resources include a series of lesson plans linked to the curriculum and interactive activities and videos, which cover topics such as how to register to vote, what happens at the polling place and how to find information about candidates.

The Commission also works with education partners to run a campaign called Welcome to Your Vote Week each year to encourage schools and other organisations to have conversations with young people about democracy. They can get involved in a range of ways, including organising a voter registration event or democracy day. In 2023, 150 schools and youth organisations participated.

The Commission recently began a partnership with Children in Scotland to bring together young people from across Scotland to inform its future work and ensure it meets the needs of young people, including the messaging that will help drive registration levels.

Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) send Invitations to Register to all those on the schools lists that are eligible to register. EROs report good engagement with schools, particularly those run by local authorities, where they get a good response to invitations to register. The reduction in franchise age to 16 means that all attainers to the local government register are in full time education as they will be under the age of 16. Most EROs are also supplied with lists of all students at Scottish Universities who are resident and eligible to register.

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 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.

The statutory responsibilities arising from the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 Act are, in the main, duties to maintain the local road network. That legal framework gives discretion over maintenance decisions, direct operations and reinstatement entirely to local government. There is no role for the Scottish Government to become involved in how any local authority discharges their discretionary powers, or to mandate how any specific site should be resourced by the road maintainer.

It would be appropriate for any complaints about how the work is progressing to be raised via local authorities normal complaints process, and then via the Public Services Ombudsman, if escalation is required.

In the case of a roads authority site which is improperly guarded, incorrectly notified or otherwise causing a danger, both the Health and Safety Executive and the Scottish Road Works Commissioner have powers to investigate any alleged failure to meet safety standards. The Scottish Government are unaware of any safety issues being reported for this site.