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The Bella Centre in Dundee opened on 1 August and the Lilias Centre in Glasgow is due to open in October 2022.

HMP Stirling, Scotland’s new Women’s National Facility, is due to open by Summer 2023.

Section 7 of the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill, introduces a new temporary release licence for certain eligible long-term prisoners. Release on this licence would be subject to risk assessment and consultation with the Parole Board.

This licence would be available to Scottish Ministers (in practice, the Scottish Prison Service) in advance of the Parole Board’s consideration of whether to recommend release at Parole Qualifying Date (PQD), or in advance of a subsequent review by the Parole Board if the individual was not released at PQD.

Time spent on this licence will be subject to conditions including curfew (which can be monitored by electronic monitoring) and supervision by Justice Social Work. The licence would also state the period of time the individual was permitted to spend in the community, up to 180 days.

This approach is intended to better support the reintegration of certain long-term prisoners. It is also intended to provide further evidence to the Parole Board to inform decisions on whether to recommend the release.

East Linton station is currently scheduled to open by the end of the current Railway Control Period, which ends on 31 March 2024. The station will be served by all ScotRail services on the route. Timetable planning discussions remain ongoing with other train operators, including UK Government train operating companies, and the wider industry to secure an appropriate service for all stations on the East Coast Mainline. Once these discussion have concluded Transport Scotland will be in a position to advise of the proposed timetable at East Linton station.

Universal Credit is available as support for those unemployed and there are other benefits such as Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Job Seekers Allowance (JSA), however these are all reserved to the UK Government. Furthermore Employment Law is also reserved to the UK Government and the Scottish Government has no powers over associated policies.

We have provided £240 million of additional investment over two financial years, and a further £145.5 million of permanent funding from April this year, to support the employment of additional teachers and support staff.

We will also fund 3,500 additional teachers and 500 support staff over this Parliamentary term – over and above the 1,400 teachers recruited during the pandemic.

We will continue to work closely with COSLA regarding the employment of teachers, to maximise the number of jobs available, including permanent posts.

In 2016 there were 39 air quality management areas designated in Scotland, since then five air quality management areas have been revoked due to improvements in air quality (1 in 2016, 1 in 2020, 2 in 2021 and 1 in 2022).

Revocation procedures for a further two air quality management areas have commenced, and a further 12 are eligible for revocation due to improvements in air quality.

Amey OW Ltd has been awarded the Network Maintenance Contract for the North East Unit. This contract will begin on 16 August and run for 8 years, with a potential to extend for a further 4 years. The procurement process was carried out in compliance with the Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2015 (the Regulations) in a fair, equal and transparent manner, Amey OW Ltd being identified as the successful tender in accordance with the competition rules as advertised within the Contract Notice and all competition documentation.

The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill is concerned with the use of dogs to hunt wild mammals and, as such, does not affect shoots where dogs are only being used to beat or retrieve game birds.

As I stated in the Rural Affairs, Islands, and Natural Environment committee evidence session on the 29 June:

“If someone sets out with the purpose of pursuing a combination of game shooting and control of wild mammals, the bill will apply. The two-dog limit will apply and the person will have to comply with the terms of the bill. If they go out only for game shooting—therefore, not in pursuit of a wild mammal and with no intention of pursuing a wild mammal—the bill will not apply. In those circumstances, I expect that, if the dogs that the person was using went after a wild mammal, and that was not the person’s intention, they would not be caught by the bill.”

The Scottish Government undertook two public consultations on the proposals in the Bill as well as carrying out a series of stakeholder engagement meetings.

In early 2020, the Scottish Government asked the Electoral Commission to re-test the referendum question used in 2014. Work on this was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have announced our intention to hold an independence referendum on 19 October 2023, and the Lord Advocate has made a reference to the Supreme Court.

We will undertake the necessary preparations for a referendum, including on question testing, at the appropriate time.

Social workers make a highly skilled, unique and valuable contribution to supporting individuals and families across Scotland.

Under current arrangements, the Scottish Government sets the overall strategic framework for social work delivery. The majority of social workers are employed by local authorities and the deployment of social work services is decided locally.

Social work professionals need to have the time to build relationships and trust, undertake person-centred assessments, plan for the future and arrange or provide appropriate support. The Scottish Government has invested £25m, as part of the 2022-23 Budget, to relieve pressure on the adult social care sector. £22m of this funding was distributed based on grant aided expenditure, as agreed by COSLA Leaders, and will be used to employ additional social workers or associated social work assistants or support staff – with the clear purpose of adding to the capacity of the social work workforce. Over the last five years the Scottish Government has provided over £25m to support the training of social workers, including for post-graduate bursaries and support for practice-based learning to increase the number of entrants into the profession.

The recently introduced National Care Service (Scotland) Bill reflects the Scottish Government's ambition for a National Care Service that ensures people of all ages can access the support they need to live a full life by improving consistency and quality of provision. We will transform people's experience of social care support and related services, strengthen prevention and community-based support and reform access.

The Bill will establish a new National Social Work Agency which will invest in the social work profession by providing national leadership, and overseeing and supporting social work in a range of areas, including workforce planning. These objectives will enable social workers to work more effectively with people to transform their lives and implement rights-based practice.

To inform the setting of sustainable rates for August 2022, COSLA and local authorities commissioned Ipsos Mori to carry out an independent cost collection exercise. This exercise will ensure that all local authorities have access to robust data on the costs of delivering funded ELC in private, third and childminding services.

Local authorities are currently reviewing their outputs from the exercise alongside the updated guidance on setting sustainable rates published on 26 May 2022. The guidance is clear that the findings of the cost collection exercise are only a part of the rate setting process, and local authorities will also consider local ELC market conditions and ongoing consultation with providers.

The COSLA Children and Young People Board has committed to local authorities being as transparent as possible on outputs from the survey, provided the data has the appropriate level of statistical confidence and confidentiality. The Scottish Government will also collect and publish data on rates for 2022-23 in the Autumn.