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The existing Scottish Household Recycling Charter has been designed to cover and encourage reuse. As set out in the Programme for Government, we are committed to evaluate the Household Recycling Charter with COSLA, and review its Code of Practice to ensure it reflects current best practice and makes it easier for households to recycle and reuse

Work to develop a waste route map to 2025 and beyond is also considering how to further support reuse given its importance within the waste hierarchy.

The Scottish Government published its response to the Just Transition Commission in September. This set out a National Just Transition Planning Framework, which defined National Just Transition Outcomes and outlined how we will work with others to manage the economic and social impacts of the net zero transition.

Our Just Transition Plan for the Energy Sector will be the first of these plans and will be published in 2022. The Plan will establish a shared vision for Scotland’s energy system and identify concrete steps to manage the economic and social impacts of the transition. It will be co-designed with representatives of workers, businesses and communities across the country. In drafting the Plan we will endeavour to amplify the voices of those most liable to be impacted by the transition.

Engagement and work on the Plan has already begun including, during COP26 convening young people from across the energy sector to discuss the opportunities and challenges for workers and businesses in the decade ahead.

We have been working with Local Government, trade unions and business organisations to establish how best to involve others in shaping the Energy Just Transition Plan. We aim to launch our engagement and co-design programme with stakeholders in the early part of this year.

he A92 A96 Haudagain Improvement project, which was anticipated to be complete in winter 2021, has faced a number of challenges including the impact of the pandemic continuing to disrupt progress. The contractor has indicated a revised date for completing the works, with the Improvement now due to open to traffic by the end of March 2022 as detailed in the recent press release available on the Transport Scotland website at https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/a92a96-haudagain-improvement-update-to-expected-completion-date/ . I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05362 on 21 December 2021 available on the Parliament's website at the following link: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers/question?ref=S6W-05362

I can confirm that the project remains on budget. There is no change to the estimated total project cost of £49.5m at Q4 2018 prices, of which the construction contract value is £18m, as reported in the Infrastructure Investment Plan updates.

The commitment to reduce car kms by 20% by 2030 (against a 2019 baseline) as set out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan update (CCPu) published in December 2020 remains unchanged, either in terms of measurement or time scale.

An incorrect graphic was posted on social media on the 10 th of December. As soon as the error was noticed, the post was removed at the earliest opportunity to avoid further confusion, and we remain fully committed to reducing car km driven in Scotland by 20% by the year 2030.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy confirms our intention to introduce – subject to consultation – regulations requiring Scotland’s homes and other buildings to meet EPC Band C equivalent, where that is technically feasible and cost effective. We also plan to regulate to ensure that buildings use zero emissions heating and cooling systems by 2045.

While the Strategy is clear that these regulations will apply to traditional and heritage buildings, we recognise that regulating and improving these buildings will present specific challenges and may require a bespoke approach. We will work with stakeholders including Historic Environment Scotland to consider what specific support and measures may be needed with respect to such buildings.

We plan to consult during 2022 on our proposals for regulating energy efficiency and zero emissions heating.

The Scottish Government provides support for energy efficiency measures and zero emissions heating in Scotland’s homes and businesses, including for traditional and heritage buildings. Home Energy Scotland (HES) is funded by the Scottish Government to offer free, impartial, bespoke information and advice on the installation of energy efficiency and renewables measures, and to act as a gateway to all our domestic energy efficiency funding schemes. For businesses, the Scottish Government offer free, impartial advice and support to Scottish SMEs through the Energy Efficiency Business Support Service, delivered by Zero Waste Scotland. Through this service, businesses can access the SME loan scheme which provides funding support for energy efficiency measures and zero emissions heating installations.

In order to meet our net zero ambitions, we will continue to invest in our advice services to increase their reach and support. We recognise that improving the energy efficiency of traditional and heritage buildings in Scotland may require a bespoke approach and we will work with stakeholders, such as Historic Environment Scotland, to understand the future support necessary to upgrade these buildings.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of mobile and broadband connectivity for almost all aspects of everyday life which is why we work closely with Local Resilience Partnerships, telecoms providers and the UK Government - both in preparing for, and responding to severe weather events which may impact telecommunications in Scotland.

It is important to note that resilience of the Communications Sector, which includes telecommunications and internet, is reserved and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government.

Major outages are extremely rare, but most telecoms equipment is dependent on a power supply in order to function which can be disrupted by extreme weather.

During the Storm Arwen response effort, welfare centres offered Wi-Fi and mobile phone charging facilities where possible. Additionally, in the in the run-up to Storm Arwen, the Scottish Government’s Ready Scotland campaign was activated using local radio and digital channels and was geographically targeted on the areas affected by the Amber and Red Met Office warnings.

The ‘Ready Scotland’ website, at ready.scot , provides advice to the public on how to prepare for and respond to emergencies; including utilities loss and severe weather.

We will continue to press the UK Government and the regulator (Ofcom) for assurance that increasing resilience of the telecoms network in Scotland is a priority.

A table containing the average daily traffic flows on the A96 in each year since 2017 has been lodged with SPICe, BIB number 63000.

The detailed information requested is currently being collated in consultation with the regional transport partnerships. I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and a copy will be placed in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib number 63013).

ScotRail is required through the Franchise Agreement to provide a delay-repay scheme to passengers, which offers compensation when their journey is delayed by more than 30 minutes.

The Delay Repay scheme operates on a railway period reporting basis from April to March.

The following tables summarise the actual compensation ScotRail awarded to passengers in each four-week period since the 2018-2019 reporting period.