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As the first mission orientated investment bank in the UK, the Scottish National Investment Bank was established to respond to the need for long term ‘patient’ capital investment in Scotland. This means support for innovation and the creation of new markets where private investors are not yet ready to act.

The Missions, which were agreed across Parliament, are designed to steer the activity of the Bank into areas facing considerable challenge. The missions for the Bank are:

• Achieving a Just Transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2045
• Extending equality of opportunity through improving places by 2040
• Harnessing innovation to enable our people to flourish by 2040

As the Bank operates independently, how they set out their investment strategy in order to achieve these missions is a matter for the Bank to decide.

To highlight an individual investment as an example, in January 2022 the Bank invested £35 million into the expansion of Aberdeen Harbour. This expansion allowed greater land and water access for offshore wind developers. The increased capacity will also play a vital role delivering the supply chain benefits of the ScotWind leasing round, supporting the Bank’s mission to achieve a just transition to net zero.

(a) The current outbreak season started on 1 October 2022. As of 17 February 2023, 12 wild birds in Moray were tested for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) under the GB dead wild bird surveillance scheme. Of these, 10 were positive and consisted of one Pink footed goose, four Herring gulls and five gulls for which the species could not be specified. The two birds that tested negative were a Kestrel and a Cormorant.

(b) HPAI was confirmed at a premises in Forres, Moray, on 14 December 2022. Within the Protection Zone around the infected premises near Forres two veterinary surveillance visits were made. Both were to the same premises and sampling was carried out. On each occasion, 14 ducks were sampled, giving a total of 28 samples which all tested negative for HPAI.

Scottish Government have published the data requested from NearForm's Management Information on SPICe reference 63965.

Work on the precise methodology, design and evaluation for the peak rail fares pilot is currently underway. Transport Scotland officials are working closely with Scottish Rail Holdings and ScotRail Trains Ltd to derive maximum benefit for this scheme.

Further details on the peak rail fares pilot including timescales during the next financial year will be confirmed as soon as practically possible.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09365 on 7 July 2022. Information on the number of complaints regarding the use of restraint in schools and care settings is not collected at a national level by the Scottish Government. Under existing guidance, any use of physical intervention in schools, including restraint, must be recorded and monitored by local authorities. This is in addition to the inspection roles of carried out by Education Scotland.

The Scottish Government encourages all concerns or disagreements in relation to service provision to be resolved at as local a level as possible, where that is appropriate. Complaints can also be submitted in line with the service’s complaints handling procedure, with referrals made to the local authority and public services ombudsman, where appropriate. Where there are concerns about the professional conduct of a teacher registered with the GTCS, these can be referred to the GTCS for further examination. All children and young people, and their families, should be informed of all the routes available to them to make a complaint.

In all settings, police or social work should be informed without delay if there are concerns that a child or young person has suffered harm as a result of restraint. A child protection referral can run in parallel to local complaints handling and disciplinary procedures. Child protection procedures will be initiated when police, social work or health determine that a child may have been significantly harmed or may be at risk of significant harm.

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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14634 on 28 February 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

The consultation on the eligibility criteria for the mobility component of Adult Disability Payment opened on 31 January 2023 and will close on 25 April 2023.

The consultation can be accessed via https://consult.gov.scot/social-security/adult-disability-payment-review .

People can also engage with the consultation through a series of consultation events during February and March 2023.

Registration for consultation events can be accessed via https://www.tickettailor.com/events/adpreviewevents .

The DRS Regulations require that from 2025 at least 90% of scheme articles are to be collected through the scheme, therefore the amount of bottles and cans collected by local authorities is likely to be very low.

Local authorities will have flexibility to decide how to redeem deposits from containers entering the kerbside collection and should contact the scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland, for advice and guidance.

Spend for traditional marketing of the Near Me video consulting service was predominantly undertaken through local Health Boards responsible for ensuring the service is appropriately advertised. Wider communication and promotion of the service has been taken forward through programme costs as part of a collaborative approach to implementation.

However, the Scottish Government have invested in communications for Near Me including online resources, online content and website development, though again this was all managed by core programme staff costs and cross-sector collaboration. The programme utilised existing mechanisms such as tv interviews, press releases and First Minister daily briefings.

The Near Me website ( https://www.nearme.scot/ ) was developed in-house and is hosted by NHS National Services Scotland. £10,000 was spent to develop and update Near Me’s animated videos. These help promote the service and are used as a training resource for both staff and callers. Further spend of £700 was used for the translation of key support and guidance for the public into different languages. Cost was minimised as the work was undertaken in collaboration with the NHS in Wales. The development of an equalities impact assessment (eqia) and public engagement exercise which reached in excess of 5,000 people and 500 organisations were undertaken through core staff costs.

The programme has been working alongside key staff such as receptionists to support increased promotion of Near Me as a choice in how people can access an appointment.

The information requested is not held centrally.