The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 provides local authorities with a discretionary power to set up workplace parking licensing (WPL) schemes. It will be for local authorities to decide whether to implement a WPL scheme in their local area, and to make decisions on how their local scheme will operate.

If implemented by local authorities, the WPL charge will be levied on employers and it will be a matter for employers, including the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament to decide whether they pass the cost of schemes onto employees. However, no specific workplace parking licensing schemes have yet been proposed.

Despite the promised £290 million from the UK Government not turning out to be net additional funding, given the offsetting reductions they applied to their prior funding estimates, the Scottish Government during the Budget Bill Stage 3 debate on 10 February, detailed additional support worth around £290 million for our cost of living response. £150 is being provided to everyone in receipt of Council Tax Reduction, and to everyone in council tax bands A to D, as well as certain households exempt from council tax. This is worth around £280 million, plus £10 million to continue our Fuel Insecurity Fund.

While we do not currently have such plans under consideration, we always keep such matters under review. However, we do continue to engage with MOD as it seeks to further embed the Armed Forces Covenant into legislation through the Armed Forces Act, which received Royal Assent on 15 December. We worked closely with MOD in advance of its introduction to ensure it is fit for purpose in Scotland and continue to work with MOD as they develop the statutory guidance. However, we are satisfied that the Covenant provisions in the Armed Forces Act do not fall within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.

The management of asbestos in buildings is a reserved matter for the UK Government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has UK wide responsibility for enforcement of the legislation and regulations.

My officials asked the HSE for information on current activities to collect data on the number of premises containing asbestos either publicly or privately-owned. There is no requirement on any authority to collect data, and in recent evidence to the UK Parliament Work and Pensions Committee, HSE confirmed that the exact number of business premises in Great Britain containing asbestos is not known. There is however a duty on owners of any premises to know whether their building contains asbestos and to manage it in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

HSE is currently carrying out a statutory, five yearly, review of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Part of the cost benefit analysis for the report which is due to be published in the summer will include estimates about the number of premises containing asbestos. HSE has also given a commitment that future research will address the number of business premises containing asbestos.

Bikeability is Scotland’s national cycle training programme for School children – designed to give pupils the skills and confidence they need to cycle safely on the road and to encourage them to carry on cycling into adulthood. The Scottish Government hold data on the level of training provision from 2010, this is published each year by Cycling Scotland. Since 2010 more than 350,000 pupils have received cycle training in Scotland.

The following table shows the percentage of primary schools delivering Level 2 Bikeability training for each year broken down by local authority. The entries showing "no return" reflect that Argyll & Bute, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire delivered alternative training. Argyll and Bute and East Ayrshire started delivering Bikeability training in 2020-21.

Since the late 1990s, an agreed definition of domestic abuse has been used to collate information on domestic abuse incidents within Scotland. This definition was progressed by the then Scottish Office and agreed through consultation with key justice agencies and stakeholders. It is as follows:

‘Domestic abuse is any form of physical, non-physical, or sexual abuse which takes place within the context of a close relationship, committed either in the home or elsewhere. This relationship will be between partners (married, co-habiting or otherwise) or ex-partners.’

The Scottish Government has considered the statutory definition of domestic abuse contained at Part 1 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 which relates to England and Wales. The principal practical difference between the definition contained in that Act and the Scottish definition above is that domestic abuse does not extend in Scotland so as to include abuse between certain relatives who are not partners or ex-partners.

The Scottish Government recognises that abuse can be committed by people who are not a person's partner or ex-partner, including by other family members. However, in line with the views of the majority of stakeholders who responded to Scottish Government consultations that led to the development of recent legislation concerning domestic abuse, the Scottish Government considers that it is appropriate that this legislation applies specifically to partners and ex-partners. This is because abuse committed by a person's partner or ex-partner typically has a dynamic that differs from violence or abuse more generally, including where this abuse occurs within a family between, for example, siblings or parents and their adult children. There is a range of existing legislation that can be used to address familial abuse.

While the Scottish Government keeps the law under continual review to ensure that it is effective, there are no current plans to amend the definition of domestic abuse in Scotland to cover abuse perpetrated by family members who are not partners or ex-partners.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Ensuring that every child learns to swim is a priority for both the Scottish Government and Scottish Swimming. The National Learn to Swim Framework, which is supported by Scottish Water and delivered by aquatic partners every week, helps children to become safe, competent, and confident swimmers and these water safety themed lessons are an essential part of the Framework to help educate on water safety.

Our Programme for Government committed to double investment in sport and active living to £100 million a year by the end of the Parliament. We are working with Scottish Swimming, Education Scotland, sportscotland and Scottish Water to deliver further interventions and approaches on learn to swim with inclusion central to that approach.

Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls, acknowledges that men and boys can also be victims of intimate violence. Which is why many of the actions within the Equally Safe delivery plan are intended to help everyone; such as an increased focus on the education of consent and healthy relationships and a focus on tackling negative gender roles and stereotypes that are harmful to men and women alike.

In the 2021-22 Programme for Government, we committed to invest in services and progress work to tackle violence against men and boys. This will build on the funding we already provide for a range of services which support male victims, including the Rape Crisis Scotland Helpline, its National Advocacy Project and the Scottish Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline.

Additionally, we are providing £5.6 million to ASSIST between 2017-2023 who provide advocacy support to male survivors of domestic abuse in the West of Scotland and the Lothians; alongside nearly £190,000, between 2017-2023, to help fund the Respect Helpline which signposts male survivors of domestic abuse to support services, and approximately £100,000 to SACRO’s fearfree service which provides individual support for male and LGBT victims of domestic abuse.

The Scottish Government cannot currently confirm the outcomes of the review. However, the Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 are expected to be laid in the Scottish Parliament soon after Easter recess with a proposed coming into force date of 1 June 2022. Supporting guidance is expected to be published in April 2022.

The Scottish Government is closely following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry proceedings and considering any evidence that may impact on building standards, including the role of BS 8414. Working groups for each phase of the Grenfell Inquiry have been set up by the Ministerial Working Group on Building and Fire Safety to address emerging evidence and key recommendations.