Currently breakfast club provision in Scotland is delivered through a mixed model of in-school, private and voluntary services which often combine food provision with early morning childcare. Many parents will pay directly for breakfast clubs with costs varying according to how and where the service is delivered. Many local authorities subsidise or provide breakfast clubs for free with funding coming from general revenue funds.

We are committed to funding the expansion of free school meals to all pupils in primary and special schools, as well as introducing free year-round breakfast and lunch provision to support eligible children and young people outside of the school term. In order to effectively deliver an expanded breakfast offer we need to better understand the extent of current breakfast provision across local authorities. Our priority this year is to is to map existing provision and plan what delivery of a future breakfast offer should look like to best meet the needs of children and families in Scotland. Appropriate funding to support breakfast provision across the whole of Scotland will then be allocated once we understand both the gaps in provision and funding.

This year we are providing £21.75M of targeted support for food provision during the school holidays for all eligible primary and secondary children and young people. We have also provided £10M of funding for our summer 2022 childcare, food and activities programme which will test models of providing holiday services for families recognising the need for childcare and food, particularly in the summer holiday period.

Within its maintenance contracts, Transport Scotland have defined contractual restrictions on the times maintenance works can be carried out, to minimum disruption and other impacts on road users, communities and business. For example, typically road works are normally not permitted during the following hours:

• Monday to Friday:- 06:00 to 09:30, and 15:30 to 20:00.

• Saturdays:- 07:00 to 20:00.

• And over the period from 1 December to 15 January:- 06:00 to 22:00

In some cases, particularly on our busy motorway networks, night time working is preferred as it reduces disruption but also helps maintain the safety of road users and construction workers. There may also be occasions, for example during an emergency response or where a maintenance activity is prolonged, when night time working cannot be avoided.

Where possible Transport Scotland’s Operating Companies will endeavour to avoid night time working near residential areas. Where this is not possible our Operating Companies are required to i) engage with affected residents and stakeholders through advanced consultation ii) act responsibly and reduce work noise as much as possible, through noise management plans and iii) treat any complaints fairly and expeditiously.

The Scottish Government continue to support the development of clinical trials on the use of Cannabis Based Products for Medicinal Use (CBPMs).

Through the work of the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, we continue to engage with the National Institute for Health Research on two randomised controlled trials into epilepsy.

We also continue to encourage manufacturers of CBPMs to support further research, and bring their products forward for trials.

On 1 February £4m of additional funding was announced to boost in-person Easter study support provision in schools and colleges. This funding should allow schools and colleges – or local authorities through authority-wide initiatives – to offer targeted sessions for learners over the Easter break, particularly for those from the most deprived backgrounds. Where an existing Easter study offer already exists, this funding could allow schools or colleges to broaden their existing offer for targeted learners or, through promotion, encourage those learners to attend existing sessions.

In addition, the National e-Learning offer continues to deliver a strong package of resources for learners, teachers and practitioners. This includes a supported study programme with real time webinars and nearly 3,000 on-demand recorded lessons for the senior phase during the academic year and an online Easter study support programme offering over 60 courses. Senior phase learners from all 32 local authorities are accessing these opportunities.

A proposed station at Thornhill was assessed as part of the preliminary appraisal stage of second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2). The outcome of this was that this station reopening did not form part of the strategic transport investment recommendations within STPR2. Instead, recommendations, set out in STPR2, for rail focus on the decarbonisation of the remainder of the network; measures to increase the amount of freight travelling by rail and improving connectivity between our 7 cities.

However, there remains a path for regional or local rail projects to come forward, and Transport Scotland will consider these subject to a strong business case being developed in accordance with Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) and suitable funding being available.

The consultation period on the 45 STPR2 recommendations is open until the 15 April 2022, further details are available via the online STPR2 consultation portal: https://consult.gov.scot/transport-scotland/strategic-transport-projects-review/ .

The period a transport appraisal or business case, undertaken in accordance with STAG, is valid and relevant is dependent on the evidence and information provided in the report. The purpose of this evidence is to reflect the current conditions in the study area and other aspects of appraisal as set out in current STAG guidance, such as the problems and opportunities. Therefore, the appraisers and decision makers must take a view on whether that evidence base is sufficient to make the investment decision, which includes the relevance of the data used in the analysis.

As set out in the STAG Managers Guide , STAG is a key part of a transport related business case needed to inform decision making on transport interventions. A transport appraisal in accordance with STAG aligns with the Strategic Business Case (SBC) stage, the initial stage of business case development in line with Transport Scotland’s Guidance on the development of Business Cases .

If there is an intervening period between evidence gathering and decision making, appraisers would be expected to update an existing STAG report, where appropriate, to take into account any changes in the intervening period affecting the evidence and information in the report. Examples may include: changes in transport demand or provision in a study area; changes in demographics and needs of an area; newly published and relevant national policies, strategies and plans; and updates to STAG.

The Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 places the statutory responsibility for local roads with the local road authorities, including parking on local roads. They also have a duty under the Disabled Persons' Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009, in particular circumstances, to exercise their power to make it an offence to park in a disabled parking place without displaying a blue badge.

Enforcement of these spaces is therefore the responsibility of traffic wardens, local authority parking attendants, civil enforcement officers and Police officers.

However, as part of the implementation of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 parking provisions, we will be undertaking a publicity campaign to highlight inconsiderate parking including the misuse of disabled parking bays.

Local authorities have the lead role in tackling nuisance caused by urban gulls. Where property is council-owned, local authorities are expected to respond to statutory nuisance complaints, such as where the deposit of bird droppings may have an effect on public health. The responsibility for dealing with nuisance gulls on private property lies with the owner. Local authorities can provide advice and assistance to property owners, and have powers under environmental protection legislation to tackle nuisances.

NatureScot provides advice regarding gull management and licenses gull management actions such as nest removal or lethal control, where necessary, and in accordance with the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

A UK seabird census is currently being carried out, organised by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. The aims of the census include producing estimates of the populations of the different gull species that breed in urban environments. The findings of this research will help inform future actions in dealing with urban gull populations

The Scottish Government is aware of the impact the necessary public health restrictions have had on businesses and our £375 million package of support for businesses was targeted at those who were the most immediately affected by measures introduced to control the spread of Omicron.

We announced an £80 million Covid Economic Recovery Fund for local authorities to support local economies and cities recover from the pandemic. This fund empowers councils to consider the needs of local businesses, communities and households and to target support to maximise economic recovery in their areas The flexibility of this fund ensures councils can provide support where they know the need is greatest and this has been welcomed by COSLA. Officials are working with local authorities on delivery arrangements, and funding will be transferred to local authorities in their General Revenue Grant in the last two weeks of March.