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To date, 9 school infrastructure projects have opened through the £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP). Furthermore, 16 projects are currently in construction.

The LEIP aims to deliver 47 projects by the end of 2027-28.

The Scottish Government school estate statistics are collected and published annually at: School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The number of schools refurbished since April 2021 is (a) 88 in primary and (b) 13 in secondary. Only projects with a cost of at least £500,000 for primary and £1m for secondary have been included.

As Scotland moves towards a circular economy, we must treat residual waste responsibly. This is why the Scottish Government commissioned the independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy (the Review), published in 2022.

The Review underlined that that the best form of residual waste treatment is preventing waste from occurring in the first place, but in the short-term incineration has a role to play as we make the transition to a circular economy and end the practice of sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill by 2025.

The Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) regulations 2012 (“the PPC regulations”) require that SEPA make impartial assessments of all PPC Permit applications and make decisions relating to environmental permits in accordance with these regulations. Whilst Scottish Ministers do have the ability to intervene in the PPC process by way of a direction, they would not normally do so in the absence of exceptional circumstances.

The Review recommended that no further planning permission for incineration facilities, beyond what was already in place, should be granted. This was reflected in National Planning Framework 4, which came into force on 13 February 2023 and is clear that development proposals for energy from waste facilities will not be supported except under very limited circumstances.

An updated incineration capacity analysis by Zero Waste Scotland (which is being finalised for publication later this year) indicates that facilities currently in development are required to help meet Scotland’s impending waste management needs, including for when the ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste comes into force on 31 December 2025.

The key policy levers on this matter exist within the planning system. We will continue to work with SEPA, planners and the wider sector to ensure appropriate management of incineration capacity issues.

The Scottish Government is proud to have played a leading role in the Under2 Coalition for the past four years. The Coalition is made up of 260 governments representing over 1.75 billion people and 50% of the global economy and has been named one of the international partnerships with the highest potential for emissions reduction - 3.3-3.9GtCO2e/year in 2030 – more than the current annual emissions of the EU.

Over the last four years as co-chair, we have increased member governments’ ambition via a new MoU committing them to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.

We have increased the influence of non-party governments in the global climate debate, including in UNFCCC processes and in COPs. Finally, we have increased the sharing of best practice between sub-nationals via our co-chairing of the Net Zero Futures Policy Forum and establishing and funding the Just Transition Taskforce.

Going forward, the Scottish Government will continue to play a key role in the strategic direction of the coalition. We will look to increase devolved, state and regional government’s role and influence within international climate policy and processes and to develop the capacity building and knowledge exchange offer for the coalition, via the Net Zero Futures Policy Forum.

The Scottish Government continues to value the important contribution music offers to Scotland’s arts and culture as well as to the wider economy and recognises the role venues play in providing opportunity and support to all levels of talent.

No specific assessment has been carried out by the Scottish Government in relation to bus and public transport access to grassroots music venues.

The Scottish Government have not met with NHS Lanarkshire to discuss the prevention of Mpox. However, Public Health Scotland, who are leading on planning and preparedness in Scotland, are working closely with public health colleagues across the UK, as well as NHS Boards in Scotland, to monitor the situation and prepare for any cases that we might see.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with UK Government and UK Health Security Agency in response to Mpox.

The Scottish Government will continue to engage with the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty and other international climate change initiatives as part of a wider ongoing programme of analysis and engagement with a range of organisations and stakeholders.

The approach to the transport sector is consistent with other sectors in the Climate Change Plan (update) (CCPu) Securing a green recovery on a path to net zero: climate change plan 2018–2032 - update - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) which outlines a sectoral approach to meeting emission targets, it also recognises clear synergies and interdependencies across sectors. Part 2 of the CCP(u) outlines this coordinated approach, with specific reference to transport demand.

A key element of the Climate Change Plan update was the presentation of emissions envelopes for each sector annually over the period 2020 to 2032 and this includes the emissions envelope for the transport sector.

Our Net Zero Assessment aims to assist Ministers to make better informed decisions on budgets and policies by providing information on impacts on carbon emissions. Following completion of the current pilot within Scottish Government, it intends to roll the pilot out across all significant new Scottish Government expenditure decisions from the beginning of 2025.

Consistent with other sectors, transport sector policies and proposals will be included within the next Climate Change Plan covering the period of 2026-2040. The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill, which was laid in Parliament on 5 September, seeks to amend the current deadline to bring forward a draft of the next Climate Change Plan for Scotland, so the Plan can align with the timescale for carbon budgets.

As you will be aware, the majority of bus services in Scotland are operated on a purely commercial basis by operators who use their own commercial judgement on service routes and frequencies. Local authorities can identify where there is a social need for particular bus services and can subsidise these at their discretion however this is entirely a matter for the local authority to consider and action as appropriate.

In relation to rail travel, the Scottish Government brought ScotRail into public ownership to ensure that ScotRail focuses its delivery on the needs of Scottish passengers. ScotRail keeps its services under continued review to ensure its services meet passengers requirements as much as possible.