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The Business Rates Incentivisation Scheme (BRIS) was introduced in in 2012-13 in recognition of the fact that the Scottish Government guarantees the combined General Revenue Grant (GRG) and distributable Non-Domestic Rates Income (NDRI) funding thereby reducing the incentive for local authorities to try and maximise their NDRI. The BRIS is focussed on incentivising local authorities to maximise their existing NDRI and also to grow their local business tax base. This is achieved by the Scottish Government setting annual locally based targets. All local authorities that exceed their annual target retain half the extra income achieved from growth in their tax base until the next NDR revaluation assuming they maintain the extra income in the subsequent years. The amounts to be retained are calculated from local authorities’ audited annual non domestic rates returns. The information requested is set out in the following table.

American foulbrood (AFB) is a notifiable disease of honey bees. Figures of the disease incidence in GB are publically available in BeeBase, the database used by Scottish Government and the National Bee Unit in England and Wales. Last season in 2020, AFB was found in 8 honey bee colonies in 5 different apiaries.

Since 2015 there has been 60 honey bee colonies diagnosed with AFB in Scotland.

For context the number of inspections in Scotland recorded in BeeBase varies between 3,000 and 8,000 per year and there are currently 2830 beekeepers with a total of 17,783 honey bee colonies in 3,754 apiaries registered.

The Scottish Government takes the matter of honey bee health extremely seriously. Our honey bee health team continues to work with the affected beekeepers on disease control measures and has established a surveillance area to detect possible spread of disease to other colonies.

Although AFB has been historically present in Scotland, the work of the Scottish honey bee health team has achieved a significant reduction in the incidence and spread of the disease in Scotland. Unfortunately, as the causative bacterium is spore forming it can remain dormant on infected equipment and outbreaks continue to occur.

Beekeepers have a significant role to play in preventing and controlling disease within their apiaries and they have a legal obligation to report suspicion of a notifiable disease to their bee inspector. Training and education in biosecurity, good hygiene best practice and the ability to recognise diseases are essential aspects of beekeeping which are supported by Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. It would be a matter for individual GP practices in England to decide whether or not to register patients outside their practice areas.

The COVID-19 sectoral guidance for close contact services is kept under constant review to reflect the latest public health advice and the latest information for all Strategic Framework levels. All close contact services are able to operate in Level 3 and below, in line with this guidance. The guidance was last updated on 26 May 2021 to reflect the outcome of the recent rapid review on face coverings in the sector.

The Scottish Government greatly values the work of those working on the national helpline. The national helpline is available 7 days a week between 8am and 8pm as an alternative channel for those patients who are not able to access content or services digitally. On average the helpline answers 23,000 calls on a weekday and around 14,000 calls are answered on each day over the weekend. There are between 200 to 400 people who staff the national helpline, dependent on demand patterns.

The average time taken to answer a call to the helpline, was less than a minute. There has been an increase in calls since 17 May 2021 which has meant people have been place in a queue on weekdays.

Having identified the increase in demand over the last two weeks, additional resources are being mobilised from the week, starting 31 May 2021 to reduce call wait times.

Transport Scotland publishes information on changes in transport emissions in the Carbon Account for Transport. The most recent version of the Carbon Account for Transport, which covers emissions up until 2018 is available at the following link: Carbon Account for Transport - No. 12: 2020 Edition

Over the past year the Scottish Government has worked closely with businesses and sectoral organisations such as the Scottish Tourism Alliance, UK Hospitality, Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Scottish Beer & Pub Association, Night Time Industries Association and Scottish Hospitality Group on the impact of restrictions and support for the tourism and hospitality sectors. Most recently, the First Minister has met with Scottish Tourism Alliance and UKHospitality on 21 May.

I most recently met with UKHospitality and Scottish Licensed Trade Association on 25 May and Scottish Tourism Alliance on 26 May.

The Scottish Government published all its data online. The most recent impact assessment was published at the end of April and can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2021/193/resources .

We also work closely with business organisations to gather feedback on the impact of restrictions which includes weekly meetings with the tourism and hospitality sector.

Dog and puppy training businesses have been permitted to be open for normal operation of training classes since the easing of restrictions on‎ 26 April 2021. Those participating in any dog or puppy training should practice physical distancing and preventative hygiene to protect themselves and the persons with whom they are working.

Following detailed analysis and consideration of all available options against the current UK rail legislation, the Scottish Ministers took the decision that it was not appropriate to award a franchise agreement to any party at the expiry of the current ScotRail franchise. In such circumstances, the Scottish Ministers have a statutory duty to provide, or secure the provision of, rail services. This will be done through a wholly owned company of the Scottish Government in a similar manner to the UK Government’s current direct control of the Northern and LNER train operating companies.

The analysis of options that was undertaken included consideration of a range of commercially sensitive matters. Therefore it is not Transport Scotland’s intention to publish the analysis.