Transport Scotland has recently undertaken a significant engagement exercise with local authorities, in partnership with the Improvement Service and National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). This has allowed us to assess offline application processes, including capacity and uptake of applications through schools, and we have provided additional support to facilitate this where it has been requested.

We have provided a communications toolkit and promotional materials to local authorities, schools, further education bodies and a wide range of other stakeholders. Engagement has been positive with the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, Universities Scotland, Colleges Scotland, and others, who have aided in the promotion of the scheme to students through college and university networks.

Transport Scotland also launched freebus.scot in May to help improve communications about the scheme, simplify information about the application process, emphasise the benefits of the scheme, provide tips for safe travel and, ultimately, increase uptake across Scotland.

The following table outlines how many homes are proposed to be built as part of each successful application for the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme (VDLIP). The VDLIP provides funding to cover capital costs associated with remediating and unblocking long-term vacant and derelict land sites. Additional funding to support the delivery of new homes, where this is part of the project proposals, is considered as a part of the application process by the independent investment panel.

All businesses with a bricks and mortar presence in their community are eligible to sign up, except for gambling and betting businesses. As of 16 August 2022, 3,839 businesses have signed up to the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card scheme. The table below details the number of businesses that have signed up to the scheme by local authority area.

As of 16 August 2022, 16,478 cards have been purchased. In addition, in week commencing 15 August, Glasgow City Council issued 85,000 pre-paid Scotland Loves Local cards to eligible households within the local authority in receipt of Council Tax Reduction as at 1 June 2022. Five other local authorities, which have indicated they will also issue pre-paid cards, have yet to confirm their proposals for distribution.

The June 2021 Agricultural Census reported 50,231 agricultural holdings in Scotland. Of these 285 holdings were over 3,000 hectares in size, 433 over 2,000 hectares in size, 874 over 1000 hectares in size and 1,794 over 500 hectares in size. Please see the following table for figures relating to number of holdings by area size and region.

From 29 August, a person moving from England to Scotland, who is in receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) at the time of moving, will have their award moved to Adult Disability Payment via our case transfer process. As a result they will experience no gap in payment.

In the future, following completion of case transfer, the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022 allow for Adult Disability Payment to be awarded from the day after the day on which an individual’s entitlement to PIP ends, following a move to Scotland from elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

Staff in the Social Security Directorate are working across a number of benefits and functions. It is therefore not possible to fully attribute implementation costs to any particular benefit. Implementation costs for Pension Age Winter Heating Assistance are therefore contained within the Social Security Advice, Policy and Programme budget line of the Scottish Budget, which is £195.4 million for 2021-22 and £219.6 million for 2022-23.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all children in primary school receive at least two hours of physical education (PE) every school week, and that all young people in secondaries 1 to 4 receive at least two 50-minute periods of PE every school week. Under Curriculum for Excellence, schools and local authorities have the flexibility to decide upon the content of PE at local levels taking into account the needs and circumstances of all children and young people in attendance. This includes whether Bikeability training should be made available within PE.

Where a school is considering whether to offer Bikeability training as a part of PE, we would urge that there are clear links to the Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes within physical education and that the learning is appropriate for all learners within the lesson. Alternatively, schools could also consider offering Bikeability training as an extra-curricular activity. Any school interested in obtaining more information about Bikeability training can access this through Cycling Scotland's website on the following link: Bikeability Scotland - Schools - Cycling Scotland .

The report of the study on goosander and cormorant diet on four Scottish rivers will be published imminently.

(a) Since Scotland’s Redress scheme was launched in December 2021, 1,468 survivor applications and 88 next of kin applications have been received, as of week commencing 29 th August 2022.

(b) 189 redress applications have been passed to Redress Scotland for consideration and, of those, 136 have had an initial determination made.