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The Scottish Government carried out a public consultation in late 2019 to gather views on the future use of Scottish Ministers' powers under section 5 of FOISA to extend coverage of the Act. We published our analysis of consultation responses in March 2020 and undertook to further develop and set out the Scottish Government's proposed approach to the future use of these powers. That work was suspended following the coronavirus outbreak but is now resuming, and we hope to set out proposals on the use of the section 5 powers later this year. Our work on extension of FOISA will consider the areas highlighted in the consultation analysis, which include health and social care services provided under contract to Scottish public authorities.

As stated in the answer to question S5W-34151 on 13 January 2021, work on establishing the taskforce was paused because of the need to focus on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other priorities, including EU exit. However, we expect the taskforce to be established later this year and will provide further details in due course.

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/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government has already paid £32.7 million to more than 21,800 taxi drivers through the Taxi and Private Hire Driver Support Fund. We committed to paying those taxi drivers who previously received a grant, a further grant of £1,500, taking support to a total of £3,000 and the Finance Secretary announced on Wednesday we have allocated a further £62 million for taxi drivers and operators, bringing the total support for the taxi sector during the pandemic to more than £90 million. Local authorities will begin to process the second driver payment during week beginning 7 June.

For taxi operators, local authorities will contact all eligible vehicle licence holders this month to brief them on their potential entitlement and will aim to make payments promptly within a maximum four week period. Amounts payable will be based on the number of vehicle licences each owner/operator holds with operators receiving grants between £4,000 and £15,000.

Due to the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken a two phased approach to the second Strategic Transport Projects Review. Phase 1 recommendations, which were published on 3 February 2021, identify short-term investment priorities in line with the five year spending review; to help ‘lock in’ some of the sustainable travel choices observed over the past year and provide a step change in investment which supports the priorities and outcomes of the second National Transport Strategy.

Phase 2, which looks beyond the spending review period, is aligned with National Planning Framework 4 highlighting the critical nature of transport and land use interaction. As such Transport Scotland will complete the review in Autumn this year, thereafter it will be published for formal public consultation.

Since the start of the pandemic, businesses have directly benefitted from £3.6 billion in support. The Scottish Government publishes statistics and management information relating to its Covid-19 business grants on its website at . The next update is scheduled to be published on 11 June 2021.

The mental health and wellbeing of children and young people is a priority for the Scottish Government and schools play a key role in supporting positive mental health and recognising when children and young people may need additional support.

Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we established a mental health in schools working group made up of expertise within the sector. The working group has developed a new mental health professional learning resource for all school staff to support the wellbeing of children and young people within their schools. The resource covers topics such as body image, self-esteem, and talking to children and young people about mental health and wellbeing. This free online professional learning resource will be available in June 2021 and will be open to anyone who wishes to enhance their knowledge and skills. It is primarily aimed at school staff, but anyone who wishes to upskill their knowledge and understanding will be able to access the learning resource.

In addition to this, the National Review of Eating Disorder Services published their recommendations in March 2021, which included recommendations on ensuring that key stakeholders, such as school staff, could identify the signs and symptoms of all eating disorders. We are currently developing our approach to implementing these recommendations.

The total number of suicides recorded by National Records of Scotland from 2016 to 2019 are presented as follows:

As Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise I am seeking an urgent meeting with Lord Grimstone, UKG Minister of State for Investment with responsibility for the Office for Investment, to clarify the status of UKG engagement with Tesla. Scottish Enterprise officials are also engaging with the Office for Investment in addition to the planned Ministerial engagement. I visited Tesla in California previously to discuss inward investment opportunities and SDI engages with them.

Public health measures have been implemented at borders to minimise the risk of importation of the virus from foreign travel. Recently, this has included alignment on the traffic light system for international travel which came into effect on 17 May 2021. This applies to all arrivals with a few limited sectoral exemptions where necessary to ensure essential or emergency work can be resumed in Scotland. People returning from overseas charity work are currently not exempt from the restrictions and should refer to the guidance provided. All decisions regarding exemptions are kept under review by the Scottish Government and assessed in the light of the latest scientific evidence.

The Active Nation Commissioner, Lee Craigie, was appointed to her role in December 2018 for a 3 year term. There are currently no plans to put the role on a statutory footing.