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Transport Scotland has undertaken to evaluate the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme following the first full year of operation. The evaluation will assess the short, medium and long term impact of the scheme by comparing conditions at different stages.

Baseline data collection is under way, including an online survey with children, young people and parents, secondary data collection, and assessment of travel behaviour, attitudes and perceptions of travel prior to the scheme’s starting on 31 January 2022.

During the first year of operation, short term outcomes such as uptake of entitlement and travel behaviour will be evaluated. This will be followed by a more thorough evaluation following the first full year of operation which will assess medium and long term outcomes such as changing travel behaviour and improving access to education, training and employment.

Further evaluations are planned to take place periodically to ensure that the scheme is meeting its stated objectives and offers public value.

As we set out in our 2021 Programme for Government we will: ‘ deliver the recommendations of the Grouse Moor Management Review Group as a matter of urgency, including the licensing of grouse moors. Licensing or further regulation will cover the key areas identified in the review, including muirburn, wildlife control, the use of medicated grit and wildlife crime .’

The Grouse Moor Management Group chaired by Professor Werritty did not make any recommendations for a system to quantify and publish the number of gamebirds and other quarry species that are shot in Scotland each year and we have no plans to introduce such a system at present.

We are working with NatureScot to develop proposals for a licensing scheme for grouse moor businesses and it is conceivable that such a system might require records of quarry species shot on grouse moors. We will engage closely with relevant stakeholders as those proposals are developed.

Transport Scotland has produced extensive guidance on travelling safely for all forms of transport since the start of the pandemic and this is available via the following web links (for operators and passengers respectively).

https://www.transport.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/guidance-for-transport-operators/

https://www.transport.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/advice-on-how-to-travel-safely/

Transport Scotland has also worked closely with operators across all modes to help reinforce the messaging to transport users and staff.

Enforcement of the law remains the responsibility of Police Scotland and the British Transport Police. Officers can issue a fixed penalty notice to anyone 18 or over if they have reason to believe an offence has been committed. Throughout the pandemic, Police Scotland officers have continued to use the “4Es” approach (to engage, explain, encourage and only enforce as a last resort to protect public health).

I am pleased to inform Parliament that the Scottish Government has today laid its response to Scotland’s Climate Assembly.

The Assembly has been a truly historic process resulting in recommendations which are already guiding the future of our country. Our response has been a cross-Government effort and we have set out the actions that we are taking in response to each recommendation.

These actions include the roll-out of support for a new network of sharing libraries across Scotland, work with Scottish landowners to increase woodland creation and peatland restoration, and integrating emissions and emission reduction topics into education programmes across the country, ensuring people of all ages are supported to learn about and act on climate change.

We have been clear where action is already underway, and where we need to explore the feasibility of proposals or consult further. As we work towards net zero, we will ensure the Assembly's recommendations continue to guide decision-making. We will also take relevant recommendations to the UK Government to urge them to act in areas that would enable Scotland to reach its full emissions reduction potential.

As you will know, the Climate Assembly worked closely with the Children’s Parliament, ensuring that for the first time, children have directly been involved in such a process. The responses to their calls to action have been integrated into our main response. Additionally, we will respond directly to the Children’s Parliament.

I look forward to hearing the outcome of the eighth and final meeting of the Assembly and will make a statement to Parliament following this.

Scotland’s Climate Assembly, as representatives of our nation, told us what they want to see to meet net zero, and I am delighted to support this package of recommendations.

I recently provided the Convener of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee with an update on the arrangements to mobilise a wholly owned company to provide ScotRail services within the public sector under Scottish Government control.

I intend to keep Parliament updated as we progress these arrangements and we reach significant milestones.

We are not aware of snares being used to target domestic animals, including cats.

We are currently in the process of finalising the full remit and scope of the snaring review under section 11 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and will include this issue within the scope of the review.

Shooting with lead shot over wetlands has been banned in Scotland by the Environmental Protection (Restrictions on the use of lead shot) (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2004. This was achieved before current GB-wide chemical safety regulations were in place. Both NatureScot and Forestry and Land Scotland have committed to ending the use of lead ammunition to shoot deer on Scotland’s national forests and land over the next five years, and non-lead ammunition is used in approximately 95% of circumstances.

Work is ongoing under the restriction mechanism of the UK Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation, that operates across England, Scotland and Wales, to produce a restriction dossier for lead in ammunition. This is the first step towards potential future GB-wide legislation.

The restriction dossier, which will be published in April 2022, will propose options for consolidating and extending the current national bans. Once published interested parties can submit comments on the dossier to the UK Chemicals Agency. The UK Chemicals Agency will then form an opinion on the most suitable restriction option and its timing for introduction based on control of risks to the environment, socio-economic factors and comments received, before April 2023.

The Agency’s opinion is then communicated to UK Government and the Devolved Administrations for a decision, which can only be made with the consent of Welsh and Scottish Ministers. Legislation would follow through powers included in the UK REACH regulation.

Local Authorities are responsible and are indeed best placed to make decisions regarding waste services and each authority chooses a collection and management strategy suitable for them.

However, we recognise that Covid-19 has impacted the amount of waste created in Scotland, and disposable face coverings contribute to this as they cannot be recycled. Therefore, Scottish Government’s Coronavirus (COVID-19): public use of face coverings guidance includes information on the appropriate disposal of face coverings and information encouraging the use of reusable face coverings. Disposable face coverings should be disposed of in residual (black bag) waste or litter bins.

Additionally, Zero Waste Scotland launched their communication campaign on 2 December, Face It: Reuse Beats Single Use , to encourage the public to wear reusable face coverings. The campaign includes further information on disposal of face coverings and has a communications toolkit for stakeholders to download and use.

Preventing litter is essential to protecting wildlife. We have taken steps to address increased litter of PPE as the result of the pandemic. Scottish Government’s “coronavirus (COVID-19): public use of face coverings guidance” also includes information on wearing reusable face coverings and disposing of face coverings.

Zero Waste Scotland has developed the “Face It: Reuse Beats Single Use” campaign which encourages the public to dispose of face coverings responsibly and wear reusable face coverings. This includes a toolkit of social media assets that can be shared by stakeholders. This initially ran in Spring 2021 and an updated campaign was launched on 2 December 2021.