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The Scottish Government is aware of the international consensus principles for ethical wildlife control and alongside the recent Parliamentary debate on the issue, I previously met with OneKind to discuss those principles in more detail, and last month Scottish Government officials attended a workshop organised by both John Muir Trust and OneKind on the principles and how they could be applied in deer management.

Animal welfare remains at the heart of our wildlife management policies and we have taken a number of steps in recent years in order to ensure the highest standards of animal and wildlife welfare in Scotland.

NatureScot has invited stakeholders such as the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission and animal welfare organisations such as the Wild Animal Welfare Committee to work with them on exploring where they think we can go further in regards to animal welfare and the international consensus principles for ethical wildlife control being applied within the Shared Approach.

The Scottish Government empowers Head Teachers to make local decisions that are best suited to the needs of their communities. This includes engagement with their own parents and children. As outlined in the refreshed 2022 PEF National Operational Guidance, a key principle of Pupil Equity Funding outlines that headteachers should ensure that parents, carers and children and young people should be meaningfully involved throughout the processes of planning, implementing and evaluating any approaches. Schools must have plans in place at the outset to evaluate the impact of the funding. These plans should outline clear outcomes to be achieved and how progress towards these, and the impact on closing the poverty-related attainment gap, will be measured.

The Capital Spending Review sets the broad parameters for Scottish Budgets to 2025-26 as best can be done at this time and outlines high-level spending plans to deliver Programme for Government and Bute House commitments. This is against a backdrop of real-term reductions in the capital grant provided by UK Government.

Whilst the CSR sets out high-level multi-year spending parameters, it does not provide the Scottish Government with the authority to spend public funds. Annual budgets will continue to be set through the annual parliamentary budget Bill process and the annual budget will be based on the latest fiscal information.

Asylum and immigration are matters reserved to the UK Parliament. This includes the operation of the UK asylum system and immigration detention.

An effective system to monitor the impact of the asylum system or immigration detention on people’s wellbeing would require access to personal data and information about people seeking asylum or in immigration detention. This data is held by the Home Office, and the Scottish Government does not have access to it.

Many third sector organisations have direct knowledge of the negative impact the asylum system can have on people’s welfare, through their work supporting people within communities. The complexity of the asylum system, the low level of support provided by the Home Office and the continuing uncertainty of waiting for a decision are often combined with previous trauma and vulnerabilities. Evidence from the third sector, and people with lived experience, indicates that the asylum process itself can be re-traumatising.

Community ownership is an important aim of the Scottish Government, where there are numerous examples of communities thriving after being given the opportunity to own and manage their own assets. This leads to better local outcomes, which focus on local needs.

The proposed community buyout of a portion of Langholm Moor, by The Langholm Initiative is an ambitious project. The group intend to use the land to regenerate the landscape and revitalise the local community through the creation of a nature reserve which will boost local tourism, providing new employment, training and housing opportunities for the local community.

The project is an example of what communities are capable of, given the right support, which is why the Scottish Government, through the Scottish Land Fund, has already awarded the community group a grant of £1m.

Scottish Government is aware that NHS Dumfries & Galloway has experienced challenges with the delivery of GP services in Dumfries & Galloway including Lockerbie and Moffat.

NHS Dumfries & Galloway is working with the new contractors in Lockerbie and Moffat to stabilise and improve GP services there.

The Scottish Government’s super sponsor scheme was introduced on 18 March 2022, to offer sanctuary in Scotland to displaced people from Ukraine. It works within the UK Government’s Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme to provide a fast and safe alternative to private sponsorship.

Statistics published by the UK Government show that, as at 11 August, 10,056 people sponsored by the Scottish Government had travelled to Scotland. We continue to provide safe and secure temporary accommodation to all Ukrainians who need it on arrival.

This includes the MS Victoria I passenger ship, which has been docked in Edinburgh, which is providing temporary accommodation for 1,000 people from Ukraine. There has been positive reception from those families accommodated on board and from stakeholders.

There are nearly 36,000 Super Sponsor applications that have been made, of which nearly 30,000 have been approved for a visa so far. Not everyone will choose to use their visa. However, excluding the 10,000 who have already arrived so far this means around a further 20,000 visa holders could potentially arrive.

Therefore the Scottish Government has chartered a second passenger ship which will be located in Glasgow. We expect the ship to be operational in September, and it will provide up to a further 1750 people with the same level of facilities and support currently available to those in Edinburgh.

This is a humanitarian crisis requiring a whole of Scotland response, and the Scottish Government will continue to work closely with local councils and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to ensure that those displaced people who are already here, and those who have applied and are granted permission to travel, will be safe, secure and supported for as long as they need, after the dangers they have faced at home.

We are getting very close to capacity for the temporary accommodation currently available, particularly across the Central Belt. We do not want people having to stay in temporary accommodation for any longer than is necessary. We are therefore putting every effort into helping people find longer-term accommodation in communities across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to tackling all forms of antisocial behaviour and recognises that this can blight people’s lives. Our national strategy is based on prevention, early intervention and diversionary activities. We recognise that no single approach will tackle all antisocial behaviour. That is why we support a suite of activities which includes Antisocial Behaviour Orders and Fixed Penalty Notices.

There is no Scottish legislation equivalent to Section 59 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 that conveys specific power to local authorities to make public spaces protection orders to help address any noisy behaviour in public spaces.

However, the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, supported by Scottish Government guidance, helps ensure that local authorities and Police Scotland have a robust range of powers and tools allowing them to proportionately address such issues as they arise in their areas and provides a wide range of measures for dealing with all forms of antisocial behaviour.

I have today launched an online employer mental health and wellbeing platform, which provides a single point of access to signpost employers to relevant, reputable and free sources of support. As well as links to guidance and training to help employers support mental wellbeing at work, there are a range of case studies that showcase existing promising practice in organisations across Scotland.

The platform has been developed in collaboration with a wide range of partners, including employer organisations, Trade Unions, Public Health Scotland and mental health charities, and will be hosted on Public Health Scotland’s Healthy Working Lives website. The URL for the platform will be: www.healthyworkinglives.scot/mentalhealth

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-09275 on 12 July 2022. 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 .