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We have delivered all the powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, which enables each local transport authority to determine which of the options they want to use to improve bus provision in their area. While some may opt for a franchising approach, others may choose to progress with a partnership or run their own services. It is for each local transport authority to determine which of these powers they want to use.

In the case of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, I welcome their decision to explore all available bus powers, including franchising, as part of their Strathclyde Bus Strategy.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of Sign Language Week in promoting British Sign Language (BSL) given its positive impact on both culture and community in Scotland. During this week the First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills reiterated support of BSL and the Scottish Government’s commitments within the BSL National Plan 2023 – 2029.

In response to (a), the Scottish Government published the BSL National Plan 2023 – 2029 in November 2023. This plan sets out our approach to making Scotland the best place in the world for BSL users to live, visit, work, and learn; it sets out 45 commitments across ten priority areas including health, education, and justice. The BSL (Scotland) Act 2015 also requires listed authorities to publish their own Authority Plans; they are our key partners in promoting the use of BSL in public spaces.

In response to (b), the Additional Support for Learning Act places education authorities under duties to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, including those affected by deafness. The level of support required, and input from a specialist teacher of deaf children and young people, will vary depending on a child’s individual needs. To support deaf children and young people the Scottish Government provides funding of £150,000 to The Scottish Sensory Centre to support staff training enabling effective support to deaf pupils. In addition, Education Scotland has developed a professional learning resource which seeks to support practitioners to engage more effectively with British Sign Language users. This can be found on their website at the following link: https://education.gov.scot/resources/good-practice-in-working-with-deaf-learners-their-parents-and-families-bsl-plan/

Education Scotland has published a BSL toolkit setting out the key national legislation and General Teaching Council for Scotland standards which practitioners should be aware of when working with BSL users. Information to help practitioners understand BSL, Deaf culture and identity is provided throughout the Toolkit alongside some of the key definitions and terms used when working with parents and families. You can view the Toolkit here: British Sign Language (BSL) - Toolkit for Practitioners | Resources | Education Scotland . Education Scotland also published resources to help families support their children’s learning, which can be found at: BSL | Parentzone Scotland | Education Scotland

Figures on arrests or charges related to particular offences are not held centrally by the Scottish Government, the most recent figures shared by Police Scotland were provided in the answer to question S6W-21328 on 27 September 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

Up until the end of February 2024, 40 charges under the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 were reported to the Procurator Fiscal. Of those 40 charges, 20 charges have thus far been prosecuted. There have been 4 convictions, 2 charges did not result in a conviction, and the other 14 charges are part of ongoing prosecutions. A breakdown of prosecutions by offence are set out below:

• Section 21 (Prohibition on providing fireworks or pyrotechnic articles to children): T here have been a total of 5 prosecutions. These are all ongoing at present.
• Section 35 (Prohibition of pyrotechnic articles in public places): There have been a total of 7 prosecutions. There has been 1 conviction while the other 6 are ongoing at present.
• Section 36 (Prohibition of pyrotechnic articles at designated venues or events): T here have been a total of 8 prosecutions. There has been 3 convictions and 2 acquittals, while a further 3 are ongoing at present. One of the cases which is still ongoing under this section is also aggravated as per Section 44 of the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022.
• Section 44 (Aggravation of offences against emergency workers): 77 aggravations have been recorded. Thus far, there have been 8 prosecutions, and 1 conviction.

Ministers are aware of the circumstances under which the previous Chief Executive departed and the Water Industry Commission for Scotland is writing to the Public Audit Committee on this very point.

The Scottish Government takes the findings of the report very seriously. The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is an absolute priority for the Scottish Government.

We continue to support our local authority partners with £16 million in funding to ensure that every secondary school has access to counselling services. All school pupils aged 10 and above have access to school counselling services.

The Scottish Government has also provided guidance and professional learning for school staff to support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in schools.

Finally, we are also providing local authorities with £15 million per annum to provide community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services for children and young people, with many of these delivered through primary and secondary schools.

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council to maximise apprenticeship opportunities and ensure that employers wishing to take on an apprentice are supported and able to do so.

Scottish Apprenticeship Week (SAW) is an annual campaign coordinated by Skills Development Scotland, which took place 4-8 March 2024, providing the opportunity to highlight the benefits of apprenticeships to individuals, employers and learning providers. For employers who have not engaged with apprenticeships, SAW is a chance to discover how work-based learning can develop their workforce, improve performance and productivity and contribute to business growth.

The Developing the Young Workforce Employer-led Groups also facilitate engagement between employers and schools to highlight the importance of vocational pathways, including the range of apprenticeship opportunities available, and support young people to transition into work.

As set out in answer S6F-02918, I emphasise again that all long waits are unacceptable. We continue to work hard with health boards to reduce delays for patients.

A and E performance is impacted by pressures from right across the wider health and social care system, which is why our unscheduled care collaborative programme is taking a whole systems approach as we work with health boards in delivering sustained improvement. Through the programme, a range of actions is being taken to improve patient flows in order to reduce A and E delays. Those include actions to strengthen arrangements to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, such as same-day emergency care services; expanding our hospital-at-home services; and optimising flow navigation centres. Those actions support patients, to ensure that they receive the right care in the right place while also reducing pressure on our very busy acute sites.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring that all buildings in Scotland move to clean heating by 2045. We are currently analysing the responses to our consultation on proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill, which would prohibit the use of polluting heating systems in Scotland’s private homes and other buildings by 2045, and our consultation on proposals for a similar standard for social housing.

The Scottish Government is in close dialogue with Creative Scotland.

Creative Scotland are reviewing this allocation as they have been clear that what has been reported simply does not meet what the funding was applied for – it is considerably more explicit in its execution that was indicated in the original application.

I can see no way where what has been described should be in receipt of public funding and I welcome Creative Scotland’s decision to withdraw the funding for this project.

The EY Regional Economic Forecast for 2024 suggests that Scotland will have a similar annualised employment growth rate to several regions and nations of the UK between 2024-2027, including Wales, Northern Ireland, the North East of England and the West Midlands. EY also indicate that Scotland had lower economic inactivity than Northern Ireland, the North East of England, Wales, the North West of England and East Midlands in 2023.

Employment growth is influenced by many factors including job creation and labour supply, with the latter reflecting demographics, migration, and participation in the labour market. Of those factors, Scotland has near record levels of payrolled employees at 2.46 million in February 2024.

The EY report identifies the importance of reducing economic inactivity and supporting people into employment. The Scottish Government is undertaking a range of action to address Scotland’s labour market challenges. For example, the Scottish Government will invest up to £90 million in devolved employability services No One Left Behind in 2024/25, to support those facing structural barriers to entering employment, alongside investment in childcare and support for those experiencing ill-health to remain in the labour market. The Scottish Government will also launch Scotland’s Migration Service during the course of 2024 to support inward investors and Scottish employers to use the immigration system to meet their skills and labour needs.