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The significant work already underway in relation to this issue in Scotland, as outlined in S6W-00743, is a broader approach than suggested by the Ofsted review. The ongoing work across schools as well as the further and higher education sectors is designed to help tackle sexual harassment and gender based violence. This is part of our wider Equally Safe work to eradicate violence against women and girls.

The Everyone’s Invited suggested approach of ensuring all schools are enabled to prevent and respond effectively to sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviours is the correct approach, and one which the Scottish Government has been pursuing for some time.

The Building Standards Futures Board was established in 2019 to provide guidance and direction on the development and implementation of recommendations made by the Compliance and Enforcement and Fire Safety Review Panels.

The Futures Board covers a number of work streams, one of which (Compliance Plan Approach) aims to reduce the risk of non-compliance with the building regulations for all building types including new-build residential developments.

Scottish Government has recently strengthened guidance on the roles and responsibilities of any person undertaking new building work. The Building Standards Procedural Handbook, published on 1 October 2019, emphasises the importance of regular and effective communication and partnership working to improve compliance with building regulations. It also recommends the use of more formal customer agreements and pre-warrant discussions between the applicant and verifier to discuss all the key aspects of design, and the importance of carrying out safety checks on critical design elements during construction.

We intend to consult on further proposals to strengthen the building standards system and reduce the risk of non-compliance in late summer/autumn 2021.

The was published on 28 July and outlines the progress made against each of the initial recommendations within published on 2 September 2020. The progress report also provides an outline of the next steps against the commitments made in the supporting Activity Plan and is accompanied by the Key Performance Indicators, which are part of the broader Measurement and Evaluation Framework underpinning the Young Person’s Guarantee. The Framework will support our understanding of the impact of the Young Person’s Guarantee across a range of economic, education and equalities outcomes, enabling the targeting of future resource and to ensure that no young person is left behind.

As Minister for Higher Education, Further Education, Youth Employment and Training, I will be leading this work, alongside Sandy Begbie, partners and stakeholders to continue to build on progress to tackle youth unemployment and to improve the life chances of young people. This includes the delivery of relevant manifesto commitments contained within First Steps , which are to:

• Appoint a Minister specifically tasked with supporting youth employment;
• Invest £45 million through local partnerships to provide training and employer recruitment incentives;
• Fund colleges to deliver around 5,000 more short, industry-focussed courses to help young people train for jobs in key industries;
• Roll-out new school coordinators across the country to support young people access education, work, or training; and,
• Establish a new graduate internship scheme and increase places on volunteering and third sector programmes.

We have no plans to monitor this Order. The comments received from statutory consultees at the time of making the Order confirmed that they were content with the proposal, providing the requirement for prior notification of the change remained in place, ensuring that any visual or environmental impacts resulting from the use of larger cages could be effectively managed under the planning process.

SEPA has not yet published information on its Compliance Assessment Scheme results for 2019 and expect to publish the results later this year. As such, no discussions have been held with SEPA or Ineos in relation to the assessment.

The draft result for Ineos Kinneil Terminal was included in the information stolen from SEPA in the cyber attack and was subsequently published in the press. The information stolen was an draft of this assessment - and had therefore not been subjected to all the necessary verification processes to finalise the assessment.

These funding allocations are subject to agreement by COSLA Leaders and will be confirmed shortly. This information will be published on the Scottish Government when it is available at the following link:

The agreement announced recently between the Scottish Government and COSLA will see the Scottish Government provide funding in the 2021-22 academic year to allow current levels of provision in local authorities to be sustained at no cost to families.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with local authorities to establish a sustainable approach to the service and to funding for future years.

In Scotland, the height and weight of children entering Primary 1 is collated annually and children are assigned to healthy and unhealthy weight categories based on their body mass index (BMI), in line with an outcome of the 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan. These measurements were paused in school year 2020/21 due to disruption caused by the pandemic. In April this year we wrote to NHS Boards asking them to resume planning for this measurement to begin again in the new school term for academic year 2021-22.

Social isolation and loneliness can affect all ages, stages and groups in our society and we know significant events such as addiction can lead to a situation where isolation compounds the challenges of recovery. That is why the Scottish Government carried out wide stakeholder engagement, community events and consultation to hear people’s views when developing our 'A Connected Scotland' Strategy.

To support people with problematic alcohol and drug use into treatment and recovery, recognising the impact that loneliness and isolation can have, the Scottish Government funds third sector partners, including the Scottish Recovery Consortium, the Scottish Drugs Forum and Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs to address loneliness and isolation through family support, peer support and recovery communities.

In the last few months the publication of new Medication-Assisted Treatment Standards, and significant additional investment or £250 million over 5 years in alcohol and drug support will further increase this work. And in the coming months we will publish a framework for Alcohol and Drug Partnerships, Children’s Services and other local partners, setting out a whole-family approach and family-inclusive practice, which recognises and supports family members to build their own resilience and recover themselves. This will reduce their social isolation and loneliness.

This specific work complements our broader work on social isolation and loneliness across society. We will shortly make an announcement on our planned next steps in relation to our commitment to £10 million funding for social isolation and loneliness work over the span of this Parliament.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days