A series of Transport Scotland led workshops has been held from June 2021 with Network Rail and ScotRail. The purpose of these workshops has been to develop the policies and strategies for the new ScotRail Trains Limited arrangements.

Transport Scotland is also engaging in bi-weekly joint steering group meetings with both Network Rail and ScotRail at senior level to ensure the coordination of mobilisation arrangements between the parties.

Regulations amending the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 were made today.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment (No.5) Regulations 2021 amend the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Requirements) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (“the principal regulations”) and will take effect on 17 December 2021.

The Amendment Regulations expand the existing requirement in regulation 4 to have regard to guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers about measures to minimise risk of exposure to coronavirus. The new provision also requires the taking of such of the measures as are reasonably practicable.

These Regulations also extend the distance from 1 metre to 2 metres where an exemption from wearing a face covering applies in certain indoor settings. This includes in the workplace; when leading an act of worship; rehearsing or performing or in certain parts of a marriage ceremony.

The Regulations have been published at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ssi/2021/475

There is now a suite of 15 ecosystem health indicators relating to condition, function and resilience of ecosystems, available on Scotland’s Environment Web at: https://www.environment.gov.scot/our-environment/state-of-the-environment/ecosystem-health-indicators/ . NatureScot is currently working on updates to the indicators to take advantage of new data that have become available.

At the time of the 2018 discussion paper, NatureScot and the James Hutton Institute were working to develop two new indicators, for nitrogen pollution and summer temperatures. Both indicators use bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) which are very sensitive to environmental change. This work has been completed and the additional indicators are available on Scotland’s Environment Web, at: https://www.environment.gov.scot/our-environment/state-of-the-environment/ecosystem-health-indicators/resilience-indicators/ .

A statutory review as required by section 11F of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is currently underway which will be complete early in 2022.

We are also currently developing the scope for a wider review of aspects of snaring including the question of a ban. Details of this review will be announced in due course.

The Scottish Government is committed to upholding the highest standards of animal welfare and we shall, of course, engage widely with stakeholders as part of this work.

At 1 October, all six local authorities in the pathfinder programme have mainstreamed their support provision and remain committed to delivering a Housing First programme. I can confirm that the Housing First pathfinder programme formally ends on 31 March 2022. The Scottish Government has provided local authorities with 50% of funding for the final year to support the mainstreaming of Housing First. This funding ended on 30 September 2021.

To support the scaling up and mainstreaming of Housing First, the Scottish Government has been working in partnership with Homeless Network Scotland on a suite of tools to support local authorities and their partners:

• Publication of a National Framework which provides a comprehensive overview to all organisations involved in developing and implementing Housing First e.g. local authorities, health and social care partnerships.
• Development of a ”check-up” process has been undertaken to support the scale-up of Housing First and enable measurement against the Housing First principles. The check-up process involves self-reflection, peer input and includes a sounding board of experts to help local authorities improve their programme.
• A dedicated monitoring framework to capture Housing First progress across Scotland’s local authorities. The monitoring framework collects in-depth detail on all Housing First tenancies from 1 April 2021 on a quarterly basis. The second quarterly progress report was published on the Scottish Government website on 30 November 2021.

Scottish Government’s funding of Rapid Rehousing Transition Plans support the development of Housing First across Scotland. Officials are supporting local authorities through regular meetings and on an individual basis. These foster a supportive environment to ensure effective implementation of Housing First programmes across Scotland. Homeless Network Scotland’s annual Housing First Conference on 31 March 2022 will coincide with, and celebrate the end of, the pathfinder programme.

The latest annual data available, published in March 2020, estimates that 24% of children lived in relative poverty, after housing costs, in Scotland in the period 2017-20.

These statistics predate the impact of Covid-19 on the financial security of families and the removal of the £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits. Data covering the first year of the Covid pandemic (2018-21) will be published by the end of March 2021.

We recognise the challenge faced in reaching the interim child poverty targets for 2023-24, that is why we have declared a national mission to tackle child poverty and have committed concrete action including the doubling of the Scottish Child Payment from April 2022.

The Scottish Government will publish the second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan by the end of March 2022, setting out a range of actions which will put us on a critical path to the targets set.

Transport Scotland has been liaising with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) about the appropriate processes necessary for the commencement of ScotRail Trains Limited including issues such as Operator Certificates.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all school-aged children and young people in Scotland have access to a digital device by the end of this parliament. Given the scale and complexity of this programme of work, the 100 days commitment was to commence planning not to deliver the devices.

In 2020/21, we provided £25 million of funding to councils across Scotland to tackle digital exclusion, resulting in over 72,000 pupils receiving a device to support their learning.

The following table shows the number of devices distributed via that funding, as reported by individual local authorities.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.