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The UK Government's response to the Ukraine crisis is predicated upon complex, bureaucratic, short-term visas, not humanitarian need. Inordinate time and effort has been required to patch this broken system. Scotland's super-sponsor scheme seeks to do just this. But there remain serious gaps in the UK's schemes even in the short term – in particular routes for vulnerable unaccompanied children and others left out of the existing schemes.

In my regular correspondence, I have pressed the UK government to put people before process. I have been clear that, while many displaced people will want to return to Ukraine when it is safe to do so, the UK should offer sanctuary for as long as is required, and permanently if necessary.

There have been two Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) specialised committee meetings so far this year:

• The Specialised Committee on Energy, on 30 March 2022
• The Specialised Committee on Fisheries, on 27 April 2022

Scottish Government officials accepted invitations as observers to these meetings from the UK delegation.

In 2021 Scottish Government officials accepted invitations, from the UK delegation, as observers to 18 TCA specialised committee meetings:

• Social Security Coordination, on 6t July
• Fisheries, on 20 July
• Energy, on 14 July
• Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, on 22-23 September
• Customs Cooperation and Rules of Origin, on 7 October
• Trade in Goods, on 8 October
• Services, Investment and Digital Trade, on 11 October
• Level Playing Field for Open and Fair Competition and Sustainable Development, on 12 October
• Regulatory Cooperation, on 13 October
• Air Transport, on 14 October
• Technical Barriers to Trade, on 15 October
• Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation, on 19 October
• Fisheries, on 27 October
• Trade Partnership Committee, on 15 November
• Aviation Safety, on 23 November
• Road Transport, on 24 November
• VAT and Recovery of Taxes and Duties, on 15 December
• Participation in Union Programmes, on 21 December

There were a further two TCA specialised committee meetings during 2021 that Scottish Government officials did not observe:

• Public Procurement, on 12 October
•  Intellectual Property, on 13 October

The Partnership Council has met once to date, on 9 June 2021. Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth MSP attended the meeting as an observer to the UK delegation.

Reasons for train cancellations week beginning 16 May 2022 included driver shortages, trespass onto the tracks, fleet issues, signalling issues, points failures and other track faults. The following table provides the data for cancellations, week beginning 16 May 2022, for Glasgow Queen Street station:-

We are seeking further clarification from the Home Office to fully understand the operational impact of the Nationality and Borders Act.

We have no current plans to make regulations under section 9(8) and (9) of the 2015 Act.

We are aware of the global issues affecting construction which are impacting the pace of affordable housing delivery and we are working closely with the construction industry and housing partners to mitigate this where possible. Given these are global issues, largely outwith our control, it is impossible to quantify the extent of any current delays and when we may return to a more normal pace of delivery.

Despite these challenges and those caused by the global pandemic including necessary lockdowns, we are continuing to deliver affordable homes across Scotland, including accessible homes for social rent. Official statistics recently published show that we have now reached the previous 50,000 affordable homes target and have started on our ambitious plans to deliver a further 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, having already delivered 1,119 affordable homes towards this.

Scottish Government officials have spoken with people seeking asylum as part of ongoing engagement and our work to deliver the New Scots refugee integration strategy. However, this is not done on the basis of people’s nationality but their experience living in Scotland while seeking asylum, wherever they are from. We also regularly engage with partners who provide direct support to people seeking asylum. Officials have ongoing engagement with people relocating to Scotland from Hong Kong, as part of wider stakeholder engagement.

Mountain hares are now a protected species following the passage of the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) Act in June 2020. The protection came into force on 1 March 2021, meaning that the species can no longer be taken for sporting or recreational purposes.

NatureScot is currently reviewing the guidance on the licensing process for mountain hare control and has been consulting stakeholders including Scottish Environment LINK and Rural Environment Land Management (RELM) in order to inform this review. NatureScot intend to publish revised guidance later this summer.

The Local Rail Development Fund projects are currently undergoing various stages of the appraisal process and will be considered on a case-by-case basis as per STAG guidelines. Projects will be considered subject to the Scottish Government’s investment priorities for the strategic transport network, a robust business case, affordability and other competing proposals.

There is nothing in Scottish Government guidance, which prevents the use of schools by community groups. Since March of this year the published guidance for schools has explicitly stated under the section on local implementation that “If undertaking a particular activity is not explicitly precluded through this guidance – i.e. if it is not listed as a routine measure – then schools and local authorities should treat it as permissible provided they take account of relevant risks.”

This was in line with advice from the Advisory Subgroup on Education and Children’s Issues, to ensure that only those measures that were necessary and proportionate were retained. This was also to ensure that there was alignment with equivalent measures across wider society where possible. The most recent version of the guidance for schools was updated on 31 May and can be accessed here: Supporting documents - Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance on reducing the risks in schools - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)