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The Scottish Government do not hold the requested information.

As the request relates to operational data the member may wish to contact Police Scotland at ([email protected]) who might be able to provide at least some of the information being requested.

Visits to schools by the Health and Safety Executive or any other organisation, are a matter for individual schools within each education authority area. The member may wish to contact the Health and Safety Executive direct in order to request this information. Contact details are available at:

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Education Scotland Improving Gender Balance and Equalities team developed new methods for achieving strong engagement with practitioners, as well as adapting to the new and unprecedented needs of schools, settings and local authorities.

In addition to engaging directly with practitioners and education settings, the team developed a national professional learning offer that could be accessed remotely by practitioners.

The national professional learning offer includes a mixture of remote delivery, online courses, podcasts and YouTube videos. As part of this approach, six podcasts were created and released from August 2021 – November 2021. The podcasts have 6,069 views.

Education Scotland has four officers with responsibility for improving gender balance and equality. Building on the success of the IGBE team, a new equalities team has recently been established to continue the IGBE activity as part of a workstream to challenge equalities more broadly. The salary costs for these four staff members in financial year 2023/24, including an anticipated pay award of up to 3%, is £284,000.

(a) These four officers comprise:

• a Senior Education Officer for Equality;
• two Education Officers for Equality; and
• an Education Officer for Improving Gender Balance and Equality.

(b) These officers continue to lead a wide range of work to change perceptions, promote gender balance and challenge unconscious assumptions about gender roles and learner pathways, including in STEM subjects. They have developed an extensive range of resources which are hosted on Education Scotland’s National Improvement Hub. Up to March 2022, Education Scotland’s Improving Gender Balance and Equality Officers engaged with more than 1150 distinct establishments, and reached over 9400 practitioners.

Education Scotland and Scottish Government recognise that much work that remains to be done in this area which is why we’ve invested in a new team of permanent officers with relevant expertise. Through the work of the Gender Equality Taskforce in Education and Learning, which I have agreed to Chair, we will continue to consider how best to effect systemic change which will remove barriers and promote gender balance and equality.

The pilot period for the commitment ran from August 2021 to August 2022, and a final evaluation report has been published on the . Support was provided to delivery organisations to continue activities until 31 March 2023.

The total number of bikes issued during the pilot period was 2600, the total figure until March 2023 was 3800 and the final figure is due to be calculated next month.

Cycling Scotland, in collaboration with a number of community cycling organisations and national charities representing young people, have developed a programme for 2023/24 that has received £900,000 to continue offering cycles to young people facing financial barriers. As part of this years programme, they will work with Circular Communities Scotland to continue refining the model for delivery to ensure we can make the most out of reconditioned and recycled bikes and ensure as little waste as possible.

I had the pleasure of attending the launch event for this important report. The Scottish Government welcomes the Age Scotland report and recognises that living in the right home with the right support, including housing adaptations, can be the key to enabling older people to live safely and independently at home.

We know that there are issues with the way in which adaptations are being accessed and delivered locally, so we are considering how the process can be streamlined and made easier for people who need adaptations.

We are also working to increase the supply of accessible and adapted homes. Whenever possible, all new affordable homes are built to Housing for Varying Needs accessibility standards. Housing for Varying Needs offers good practice in the design of homes to help them achieve a good standard of accessibility and flexibility so that they meet people’s needs as they change over time.

We plan to launch a formal consultation on proposals to update the Housing for Varying Needs design guide, and on proposals for introducing the Scottish Accessible Homes Standard, over the coming weeks.

The EPC for Strathbeg House in Thurso was completed on 20 May 2023 and has now been lodged with the Scottish EPC register. The EPC rating is D

The current ScotRail mobile app went live on 1 July 2019 and the following data, as provided by ScotRail, is relevant from that date until the present day:-

- App downloads: 1.4 million (this figure includes re-installs which ScotRail is unable to differentiate)

- Average users per month: 619,000 (average across last three months)

- Average sessions per user per month: six (average across last three months)

- Average session length: one minute, five seconds (average across last three months)

Information on the facilities available at ScotRail stations can be found on its website at the following link:-

The information on cycle storage at stations can be found under each station under the heading “interchange”. This confirms if the station has cycle storage available and how many storage spaces are available at that station.

This is an operational matter for NatureScot. I have asked their Chief Executive to write with the relevant information.