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The Scottish Government recognises the great value of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, and the impact which this celebrated international recognition can offer to both individual sites, as well as to the wider national natural, culture and heritage sectors. Through our sponsorship of Historic Environment Scotland, advice and guidance is delivered to support many local organisations and groups across the country, to develop and deliver appropriate maintenance plans and sustainable business models for a wide variety of sites.

When the UK Government decided to review and invite new applications to the UK’s World Heritage tentative list, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Constitution and External Affairs wrote to Nigel Huddleston MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to ensure that there would be representation from all UK nations on the independent panel of heritage experts who will be reviewing the applications.

Expressions of interest were due to be submitted by 6 May, with a full application form due by 15 July so that the expert panel can fully assess each application for suitability for inclusion.

Scottish Ministers and officials from the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland have been engaging closely with stakeholders in the hospitality, cultural and events sectors on the impact of the reduced Scotrail timetable. This has included discussions through the Events Industry Advisory Group. Officials have continued this engagement on the impact of the industrial action.

I recognise the potential impact of industrial action by the RMT and ASLEF unions on the culture sector at a time when it has been seeking to recover from the Covid19 pandemic.

Officials are continuing to monitor the situation closely, including through engagement with organisations representing hospitality, cultural and events stakeholders.

There is positive progress being made on pay negotiations with ASLEF in Scotland, and I am hopeful that additional services will be added in the near future.

The Scottish Government do not hold this information.

The idea for this book was instigated by the UK Government. The Scottish Government is not involved with the opt-in process being carried out by the UK Government with Education Authorities.

Four authors, who are subject matter experts in peace processes and international law, are undertaking the necessary research to inform the thinking on Scotland’s Peace Institute. The research commission was put out to competitive tender at the start of the year and following assessment of the bids received we awarded the contract to the successful consortium of researchers. The total cost of the contract is £30,000.

Family and friends will always be involved in discussions about organ or tissue donation. If a person is in hospital and dies in circumstances where donation may be possible, a Specialist Nurse would check if the person has registered a decision on the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR). The Specialist Nurse would then discuss any registered decision, or lack of one, with family and friends in order to ascertain the potential donor’s most recent views, which may have changed since the recording of any decision.

These discussions help to ensure that people don’t become donors if that would be against their wishes. This is why, as well as recording any decision on the ODR, individuals are encouraged to let family and friends know about their decision and latest views.

The Scottish Government do not hold this information.

Immigration is fully reserved to the UK Government and decisions relating to visa applications are solely for the Home Office, and they do not routinely share information about individual applications with Scottish Government.

There is currently a shortage of drivers for bus and lorries due to the COVID pandemic, creating a backlog in processing applications and testing which is being compounded by the consequences of BREXIT, as it prevents people from the EU coming here to work freely. We have repeatedly sought a formal role in determining what occupations are in shortage in the devolved nations, but the UK Government has denied this. As such, bus drivers are not included in the Shortage Occupations List (SOL). I understand that the UK Government will be reviewing this later this year and we have asked for full involvement in that process.

The problem is clearly causing issues for local and national bus services across Scotland. To address the workplace issues, my officials are working with bus operators and our partners across the public sector to promote the bus sector as a place to work while recognising that many of the levers are reserved to the UK Government. We have provided up to £210 million in funding to support bus services during the pandemic and an additional £40 million to support recovery this year. My predecessor also wrote to the UK Government about the consequences of the delays affecting the recruitment and training of potential drivers, which continues to be a concern for the bus industry.

I know that the majority of bus services in Scotland are operated on a commercial basis by private bus companies. But I would strongly encourage operators and local authorities to work together to ensure that connectivity is protected and maintained.

Asylum and immigration are matters reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes decisions relating to refugee resettlement programmes, UK visa routes and the operation of the UK asylum system. The Scottish Government has no control over these processes.

There is no provision in UK Immigration Rules for someone abroad to be given permission to travel to the UK to seek asylum. There is therefore no resettlement route for people seeking asylum from Hong Kong. The UK Government has established refugee resettlement routes and visa routes, including the Hong Kong BN(O) visa route. Decisions about eligibility criteria for refugee resettlement and visa routes are made by the UK Government.

Scotland’s approach to supporting refugees and people seeking asylum is set out in the New Scots refugee integration strategy. Developed and led in partnership by the Scottish Government, COSLA and the Scottish Refugee Council, New Scots provides a clear framework for all those working to support integration and assists the work of partners across local authorities, public services, the private sector, third sector and community organisations. The key principle of New Scots is that refugees and asylum seekers should be supported to integrate into communities from day one of arrival.

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.