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An Equality Impact Assessment to support the decision to replace the National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher examination diet in 2020-2021 with an Alternative Certification Model will be published on the Scottish Government website shortly.

SQA has undertaken an Equality Impact Assessment of the 2021 Alternative Certification Model that was co-created by the National Qualifications 2021 Group. It is available on the SQA’s website at: Equality Impact Assessment - National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher Alternative Certification Model 2021 (sqa.org.uk) .

The Scottish Government extended the designation of Scotland’s current network of Enterprise Areas until March 2022. Informed by findings from a survey we commissioned in November 2020 regarding place-based economic initiatives, and the report of a Scottish Enterprise evaluation of Enterprise Areas, the future format for Enterprise Areas will be confirmed later this year.

To support delivery of the National Infrastructure Mission, in early 2019 Scottish Ministers established an independent, short-life, Infrastructure Commission to examine and advise on the right vision, ambition and priorities for infrastructure in Scotland to meet our 30-year economic growth and societal needs. The Commission published two reports during 2020, which are available online at:

https://infrastructurecommission.scot/storage/281/Phase1_FullReport.pdf

https://infrastructurecommission.scot/storage/276/Phase2_Delivery_Findings_Report.pdf

The Infrastructure Investment Plan 2021-22 to 2025-26 was published on 4 th February 2021. It recognised the value of the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland’s expertise and insight to the discussion on how we develop our long-term infrastructure strategy. The Plan also committed to giving further consideration to the most appropriate approach to Scottish Minister’s receiving independent advice to set longer term priorities. We will set out further details of the steps we will take to explore this later this year.

Probation can be completed through either the one year full time Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) or a flexible route. Probationers entering via a flexible route are not included in this analysis as they are not identified separately in the teacher census. These probationers account for a very small proportion of all probationers.

The following tables show the number of Teacher Induction Scheme teachers who, at the time of the September teacher census following their probationary year were (1) in permanent teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland, (2) in temporary teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland, or (3) not teaching in a publicly funded school in Scotland.

These figures are broken down by the local authority in which the individual carried out their probationer year.

Table 1: Post-induction scheme teachers in permanent posts in the following year’s teacher census (headcount)

Consideration of potential improvements to all strategic transport infrastructure across the whole of Scotland continues to be undertaken through the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2). This work is building upon the findings of the South West Scotland Transport Study which set out the Case for Change for transport in the south west and included 23 recommendations, four of which were specifically focussed on the A77 and A75.

STPR2 will create the evidence basis for future transport investment decisions by the Scottish Government for the next 20 years. It will set out how the recommended investments will contribute Net Zero, Inclusive Growth and our vision is for a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system helping deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors.

At the core of STPR2 is the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy. We will aim first to reduce the need to travel unsustainably, make better use of and enhance existing infrastructure, before investing in new capacity. This hierarchy is also central to Infrastructure Investment Plan.

STPR2 will conclude later this year, with publication of recommendations for investment and an appropriate statutory consultation period.

Every effort is being made to investigate possible solutions and trial the most promising of these in the run up to this coming winter. Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, BEAR Scotland, will be undertaking laboratory tests ahead of winter 2021 and on-site trials during winter 2021 of potential solutions. Options currently under consideration to prevent or reduce ice formation include coatings and de-icing compounds applied to the stay cables and towers and cleaning of the stay cables to remove deposited air borne particulates from the external surface of the stay cables. Should a viable solution be found, it will be subject to Peer review and Value for Money assessment before full-scale deployment.

Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, BEAR Scotland, and its specialist suppliers are finalising the design for a system of optical and infra-red cameras to be installed on the tower tops. This equipment will assist in providing a better understanding of the mechanism for ice accreting and falling off the cable stays and towers. Installation is scheduled for August. Options currently under consideration to prevent or reduce ice formation include coatings and de-icing compounds applied to the stay cables and towers and cleaning of the stay cables to remove deposited air borne particulates from the external surface of the stay cables. These options are being considered for laboratory testing and possible site trials.

The Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) are required, by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, to produce a transport strategy for their area. The Act sets out what the strategy should cover, including the future needs of the region and what can be achieved taking account of funding and practicability. The Act also requires regional transport strategies to have regard to the National Transport Strategy produced by the Scottish Ministers.

Scotland’s second National Transport Strategy was published in February 2020 and sets out an ambitious vision for or Scotland’s transport system for the next 20 years. The Strategy sets out the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy to inform future investment decisions and ensure transport options that focus on reducing inequalities and the need to travel unsustainably are prioritised. The Strategy also embeds the Sustainable Travel Hierarchy into decision making, by promoting walking, wheeling, cycling, public transport and shared options in preference to single occupancy private car use. We are aware that the RTPs are at varying stages of development in producing new strategies for their region. The regional transport strategies are approved by the Scottish Ministers before they can come into effect.

Regional Transport Partnerships work with Local Authorities and others stakeholders across their areas to input into infrastructure investment plans, for example through Growth Deals. They are also engaged in the Scottish Government’s second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) through Regional Transport Working Groups. They have provided valuable input and evidence to the Review which will to help inform strategic transport investment in Scotland for the next 20 years.

The Scottish Government has worked with the UK Government on implementation of free ports in Scotland over the past year. This dialogue culminated in development of a new green port model designed specifically to complement the Scottish policy context.

We have been ready to launch an applicant prospectus for green ports since March of this year. However, the UK Government has delayed in committing to a jointly run bidding process. The Scottish Government has pressed regularly for a decision from the UK Government on this matter. Delay in launching a bidding process for Scotland is having a detrimental impact on Scottish stakeholders.

We continue to analyse a number of options around signalisation and prohibition of movements in order to understand the wider impacts of this on the surrounding local and trunk road network. This is a complex task, which aims to balance the need to reduce conflict at this location along with minimising any reduction in operational performance of the A702 corridor.

We have commissioned specialist traffic modelling consultants to carry out a detailed modelling exercise to assess the effectiveness of different junction option scenarios including road closures/banned turning movements in conjunction with new traffic signal arrangements. This detailed modelling exercise is currently ongoing and is expected that this work will be concluded in summer 2021.