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All reports of food crime received by Food Standards Scotland are investigated and appropriate action is taken. For matters out with Food Standards Scotland's remit they will be disseminated to partner agencies for their consideration.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of SafeDeposits Scotland customers who were impacted by the implementation of the new system.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact on housing delivery of the ongoing challenges with price inflation, materials and labour in the construction sector and is working closely with the construction industry and housing partners to mitigate this where possible.

We are pleased that housebuilding completions in the latest year to end September 2022 are at their highest annual rate since 2008, up 10% on the previous year, to 22,905 homes. We are also pleased that the number of affordable homes delivered in Scotland in the latest year to end December 2022 is above the pre-pandemic year 2019, and that Scotland continues to lead the way in the delivery of affordable housing across the UK with 118,124 affordable homes delivered from April 2007 to December 2022, and 83,291 of these for social rent.

The cost of identified maintenance and repair work at Inverclyde Royal Hospital and University Hospital Crosshouse is approximately £102 million and £31 million respectively.

HIV Scotland, along with all our third sector organisations, have made a significant contribution to Scotland’s goal of eliminating HIV Transmissions by 2030.

We were saddened to hear of the decision to close the organisation, and thank HIV Scotland for their support for people living with HIV in Scotland, and their valuable input across the sector.

Whilst their contribution will be missed, Scotland has a number of other excellent third sector organisations who share our ambition to eliminate HIV transmission within Scotland by 2030, and to improve the lives of those living with HIV. By working in partnership, I remain confident that we will meet those goals.

As one example, HIV Scotland were previously funded to lead the HIV self-test pilot which expands testing services so people can order a test in the privacy of their own home. Terrance Higgins Trust will now be funded to provide the service and mitigate any risk to the at-home testing service.

The Scottish Government recognises the important role that reintroductions of native wildlife can play in meeting our nature restoration ambitions, but has no current plans to reintroduce lynx or any other large carnivorous species into Scotland. We have not recently engaged with stakeholders, including the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, on this issue.

Anyone seeking to reintroduce lynx or another species into Scotland would require a licence from NatureScot. Thus far, no licence applications for the reintroduction of lynx have been submitted.

Should a licence application be made in the future, the Scottish Code for Conservation Translocations sets out the process that NatureScot would be required to follow in considering whether any translocation or reintroduction project may be appropriate. This includes the need to give consideration to benefits and risks, whether of a biological or socio-economic nature.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16883 on 25 April 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at
‎ /chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers

Through NatureScot, the Scottish Government supports the National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP). The NBMP is a world-leading citizen science programme which produces population trends for British bat species.

Population trend information for bats in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK can be found in the NBMP

The 2021 Annual Report outlines that populations of the bat species monitored are stable or recovering and that “current legislation and conservation action to protect and conserve bats is being successful, and it is vitally important that this continues.”.

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on the 20 April 2023.

The overarching policy objective of the Bill, which builds on the existing regulatory framework, will, if passed, provide a modern, forward-looking regulatory framework for Scotland that will best promote competition, innovation, and the public and consumer interest in an efficient, effective, and efficient legal sector.

The Scottish Government has been investigating the potential impacts of AI on our economy and labour market for over five years.

In 2018 , Technological Change and the Scottish Labour Market , a joint Scottish Government and Scottish Trades Union Congress report, already considered AI.

Between 2019 and 2021, evidence on this topic was generated as part of the development of Scotland’s AI Strategy , which included impact assessments, an online public consultation, a citizen engagement programme and expert working groups, including one on the skills of the workforce.

The 2021 Digital Economy Business Survey highlighted key challenges faced by businesses and the importance of supporting a strong technical infrastructure for Scotland.

The 2022 Digital Economy Skills Action Plan details how we intend to ensure all sectors work together to support the people of Scotland in our move to a digital and AI-enabled economy.

Recent press coverage has made Generative Artificial Intelligence a focus of debate on economic and labour market impact. The Scottish Government also follows other strands of AI research which might be expected to have similar levels of impact – like Computer Vision and Causal AI. The impacts of any of these innovations may have many common considerations.

Experts from the Scottish AI Alliance’s Leadership Group will continue to inform and challenge our actions in this area in the coming years, in the face of accelerating technological innovation including generative AI specifically.