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In September 2021 Defra announced plans to facilitate gene editing (GE) in plants for research trials, and after that to review the regulatory definitions in England of a genetically modified organism (GMO) to exclude organisms produced by gene editing and other genetic technologies if they could have been developed by traditional breeding. This was despite the majority of respondents to a public consultation on genetic technologies in England rejecting this proposal. In March 2022, the Statutory Instrument to facilitate gene editing for research trials passed and Defra is now preparing primary powers to change the GMO definition.

While we are keeping abreast of both scientific and judicial reasoning on the decoupling of products of novel genomic techniques, such as gene editing, from GMOs, the definition of a GMO has not changed in Scotland. Gene edited organisms are legally considered GMOs.

Should the EU move to change its regulatory framework, as in other matters, we will consider the implications for Scotland as details become available. The Scottish Government is committed to maintaining alignment with EU laws and standards, supported in part by powers in the Continuity Act that ensure Scottish Ministers can make secondary legislation to achieve this. This means that we will continue to align with the EU where appropriate and in Scotland’s interest, including the protection and advancement of the high environmental standards that both Scotland and the EU enjoy.

Scotland’s climate targets are, rightly, highly ambitious and agriculture has a key role to play in meeting Scotland’s net-zero target for carbon emissions by 2045. The Climate Change Plan Update (CCPu) sets out a detailed, clear and credible pathway to meeting emissions targets over the period to 2032.

The benefit cap is a UK Government policy that sets a limit on the total annual payment a household can receive from means-tested benefits. The Scottish Government cannot amend this policy but we can provide support to benefit-capped families through the discretionary housing payment system. Our aim is to mitigate the cap as fully as possible within the parameters set by UK legislation on discretionary housing payments.

We are working with local authorities to identify good practice in benefit cap mitigation and agree how to best support those affected. This additional funding will be rolled out as early as possible this year. Estimates show around 4,000 households are capped and we will work with local authorities to identify those.

The Scottish Government is working closely with local authorities on this work. Guidance for all local authorities supporting displaced people from Ukraine through the Scottish Super Sponsor Scheme and who match through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme has been published: Super Sponsor Scheme and Homes for Ukraine guidance for local authorities .

It is a requirement for all hosts to agree to a home visit by a local authority before a guest is placed with that host, or as soon as a local authority is made aware a person has matched individually.

The current full time postgraduate student support package offers a loan of up to £10,000 (comprising £5,500 for fees and £4,500 for living costs). Students whose tuition fees are above the maximum available to them from SAAS have to make their own arrangements for the balance. This applies to all eligible postgraduate courses.

The current student support package has been designed to support students with the costs incurred during their time studying at university, and the support now available in Scotland is at its highest level.

A review of postgraduate funding was part of this Government’s manifesto commitments. This is underway and will include consideration of the overall level of funding available to students.

We have published guidance for local authorities which outlines the role of councils in supporting Ukrainian guests who arrive under both the super sponsor scheme and who match privately into Scotland through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. This Super Sponsor Scheme and Homes for Ukraine guidance for local authorities can be found on the Scottish Government website.

Through the National Missing Persons Framework for Scotland, which was launched in 2017, the Scottish Government has developed and strengthened local multi-agency partnerships. A survey in 2020 by the Working Group for Missing People in Scotland showed that there are now multi-agency groups in 27 local authority areas and we aim to work with all areas to implement them by 2025.

The Scottish Government has funded the Missing People charity to deliver a Framework Implementation Project; and funds a National Coordinator to deliver a programme of consultancy, training and best practice sharing in local areas in Scotland.

Since 2019 the Implementation project has worked with local partners in Edinburgh, Fife, Dundee, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Moray, Dumfries and Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire to develop their multi-agency partnerships, protocols and strategies. A further seven local authority areas will be engaged with the project in 2022-23.

Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of children who go missing in Scotland return home safely – but, any child who goes missing is one too many. Through these actions, Police Scotland, the lead agency for tracking missing people, is working more closely with families, friends and statutory bodies to track and safely return those children who go missing.

The Scottish Government is working closely with local authorities and COSLA to ensure that all appropriate checks are carried out on properties. These checks include an enhanced disclosure process, a local authority systems check and a property check to ensure there are no known safeguarding or visible accommodation issues.

The visits will ensure the accommodation provided is of an approved standard, meets the minimum requirements to live in, and there are no concerns of overcrowding. More information about home visits, including what is being checked, can be found on the Super Sponsor Scheme and Homes for Ukraine guidance for local authorities website.

On April the 1st, ScotRail passenger services were successfully brought into public ownership. This move now offers us the opportunity to take the right actions to make rail travel more sustainable, affordable and accessible for the people of Scotland.

Affordable rail travel, including a consideration of peak rail fares, will be considered by the Fair Fares review. This review will seek to consider the affordability of public transport across the network, whilst also considering how journeys can be better connected through integrated ticketing, for example. In the context of the cost of living crisis it is absolutely essential that all Governments consider how to support an affordable public transport network.

In October 2021 I launched the Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults, providing an initial £15 million to support small scale, community mental health and wellbeing activities. In light of the very positive response to the Fund, and the number of high quality bids received, in February I provided an additional £6 million for this work in financial year 2021-22.

Since the launch of the Fund, the Scottish Government has worked with the 32 Third Sector Interface organisations across Scotland to support hundreds of grass roots, community groups to deliver programmes for adults which tackle priority issues such as suicide prevention, social isolation and loneliness.

Projects are being funded across the whole of Scotland, supporting activities involving sport, nature, the arts and community cafes. There is a clear focus on people who are more vulnerable and in need, including those facing social isolation, refugees, the LGBTQ+ community, and carers.

Officials are currently collating learning from year one of the Fund, which will be used to inform a further £15 million investment in the coming year.

The Energy Strategy and Just Transition plan will refresh the 2017 Energy Strategy, and deliver Scotland’s first Just Transition Plan. It will take a whole-system view of how the sector must evolve to drive our transition to net zero, with a specific focus on actions needed to meet our 2030 interim target. The revised timeline will allow robust evidence and analysis to be produced and take account of ongoing projects, which are progressing at pace in response to the rapidly evolving global energy environment. It will also allow time for us to engage meaningfully with stakeholders in line with our wider approach to just transition.