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We recognise that the opportunities for physical activity, particularly for organised sport, have been significantly affected by the restrictions. Our approach during the pandemic has been to permit as much sport and physical activity as much as possible in a safe way, in particular prioritising under eighteen sport, recognising the importance to both physical and mental health.

Our Programme for Government commits to doubling investment in sport and active living to £100 million a year by the end of this Parliament. That investment will enable us to rebuild capacity and resilience in the sector following the pandemic, and ensure we address inequalities in access to physical activity and sport.

sportscotland works in partnership with all 32 local authorities to invest in and support the Active Schools Network. Over the coming year, we will also work with sportscotland on the next steps to ensure that Active Schools programmes are free for all children and young people by the end of this Parliament, providing them with more opportunities to take part in sport before, during and after school.

We invested over £20m in our Get into Summer Programme across Local Authorities and 18 National Partners to support the wellbeing and mental health of those children and young people most impacted by Covid. This included funding of £1.4m to sportscotland for Active Schools coordinators, Sports Development officers and Community Sport Hub officers to enhance opportunities for all children and young people to participate in activities and experiences over the summer.

This information is publically available through the SEPA Waste Discover Data Tool: https://informatics.sepa.org.uk/WasteAllSources/

We are actively working with potential investors in plastic reprocessing capacity in Scotland. Zero Waste Scotland have commissioned work to better understand and forecast the volumes of materials, including plastics, collected for recycling.

Once it goes live, Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme will create a stream of high value plastic which will be attractive to reprocessors. Our £70 million fund to improve recycling infrastructure will also help to improve the quality and quantity of recyclate collected.

In addition, we are working with the other governments of the UK on reform of the packaging producer responsibility system to provide greater incentives for domestic reprocessing.

The Scottish Government has had no approach from either Sector regarding increasing the numbers of spoken language interpreters.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is the national, strategic body that is responsible for funding teaching and learning provision, research and other activities in Scotland's colleges and universities. It’s budget provides investment in Scotland's colleges and universities to support the development of well-educated, highly-skilled people and to enable sustainable, inclusive economic growth through enhancing skills and securing world-class research and cutting-edge innovation.

Scottish universities are autonomous institutions therefore it is for the individual universities to decide how to distribute the places it receives between faculties, what courses to offer, and how many of the total funded places will be available on each course.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is committed to protecting Scotland’s marine wildlife. The current regulatory framework provides a high level of individual and site based protection measures for our iconic marine wildlife with processes in place to ensure that action can be taken where required. It is an offence to deliberately or recklessly disturb European protected species, including whales, dolphins and porpoises. Under the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020 these offences could result on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding £40,000 (or both) or on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or a fine (or both).

The Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code provides advice on how to minimise disturbance to marine wildlife, when enjoying the Scottish coast. We would encourage anyone watching or encountering marine wildlife to follow its advice at all times.

There are voluntary agreements in some parts of Scotland around the use of jet skis, including duration of use and timings. We are not aware of a specific agreement covering Wardie Bay. These agreements are not a statutory requirement. If someone suspects that a wildlife crime has been committed, they should report the incident to Police Scotland.

There are voluntary agreements in some parts of Scotland around the use of jet skis, including duration of use and timings. We are not aware of a specific agreement covering Wardie Bay. These agreements are not a statutory requirement.

Our natural geography brings the benefit of increased opportunity to access both freshwater and our unique coastline and we will continue to promote and ensure the safe enjoyment of Scotland’s diverse landscape.

The Scottish Government works closely with Water Safety Scotland (WSS) and other partners, including local councils, Police Scotland and Scottish Fire & Rescue Service to implement and support initiatives that can help raise awareness, this includes providing grant funding to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the Scottish Community Safety Network to help promote a co-ordinated and preventative approach to water safety across the country.

WSS has produced a guide on Water Safety Policy in Scotland which is available online.

Ferrymuir Gait is a ‘private’ road, as defined by the Roads (Scotland ) Act 1984 and serves land owned by Scottish Ministers and infrastructure required for the safe operation and maintenance of the Forth Bridges. Ferrymuir Gait housing development shall not be accessed from this road and shall instead takes access from the local road network, which is the responsibility of the City of Edinburgh Council.

Consequently, and as this is a planning issue, it would be for the City of Edinburgh Council as local Planning authority to consider the access arrangements to the Ferrymuir Gait housing development and resultant impact of road traffic on the environment and the health / quality of life of residents.

First-time buyers can access a variety of support to become a home owner, including the Help to Buy Smaller Developers Scheme and the Low Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT). In addition, the first-time buyer relief for Land and Building Transaction Tax means that an estimated 8 out of 10 first-time buyers pay no tax at all.

Despite being closed to new applications, the main Help to Buy scheme and First Home Fund continue to benefit first-time buyers across Scotland with settlements occurring throughout this financial year.

Four nations discussions on policy for fully vaccinated travellers has benefited from analysis and research from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, the Joint Biosecurity Centre and other sources.

The success of the vaccination programme means we have now started to change restrictions that apply to fully vaccinated travellers from Amber list countries. Initially this applied to UK residents who have been vaccinated by the NHS.

From 2 August, fully-vaccinated passengers arriving from amber list countries in EU member states*, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, microstates of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City, and the USA do not have to quarantine or take a day 8 test upon arrival in Scotland.

They have to carry with them a form of certification to provide details of their vaccine status. For US arrivals, this proof is a CDC card showing you are fully vaccinated, along with proof of residence in the US. All arrivals from Europe must show a record of vaccination through the European Digital COVID Certificate.

Amber arrivals who have been fully vaccinated must take a pre-departure test before arrival into Scotland, alongside a PCR test on or before day 2 after arrival.