Chamber and committees

Transport Scotland continues to engage with Glasgow City Council regarding their aspirations for this area, noting it is they who are responsible for bringing forward land use changes and the associated planning duties. Transport Scotland’s interests lie in the safe and effective operation of the M8.

Transport Scotland has communicated to Glasgow City Council, that in order to take forward potential proposals, a robust assessment of the potential impacts on the mainline, access roads and adjacent facilities should be carried out. Officials from Transport Scotland are currently scoping an assessment of the future of the M8.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26829 and S6W-26830 on 29 April 2024.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government has welcome accommodation across Scotland. These are managed in partnership with relevant local authorities, who advise on where guests are best placed.

We work collaboratively with local authorities such as Fife to ensure that services are person-centred and delivered in a trauma informed way, and which support effective resettlement.

In the Fife Council area there are three welcome accommodation hotels for displaced people on a temporary basis upon arrival in the country.

On arrival, Fife council will make a needs assessment and will consider the availability of council services to support displaced people in determining which hotel is most suited for presenting individuals or families,

There is no mandatory rotation of guests in Fife, or any other part of the welcome accommodation estate housing displaced people.

However, from time to time as a result of contracting, consolidation, changes in local services provision or when an accommodation provider choses to reduce or discontinue the rooms they offer, local authorities may require guests to move to new accommodation and will look to minimise disruption to guests as much as possible.

The Scottish Government remains committed, alongside our Local Authority partners, to supporting Ukrainians access longer-term, sustainable accommodation while they make Scotland their home.

The Hospital Based Complex Clinical Care guidance was introduced in Scotland on 1 June 2015 following a review of NHS continuing care. A key aim was to ensure that anyone who needs to be in hospital for a longer period of time is to get them well enough to return to whatever setting is most suitable for them in the community while ensuring that all health and social care needs are supported.

Ministers and Officials meet regularly with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs), NHS Boards, Local Authorities and CoSLA to discuss a wide range of activity, including performance and hospital discharges. The whole health and social care system is working hard to support people out of acute settings and back into the community when it is clinically safe to do so. This includes ensuring that everyone is discharged from hospital without delay, and we are working to improve discharge planning through our Discharge Without Delay Programme (DwD) which aims to improve the patient journey, from the initial point of a hospital stay, preventing any delays through early and effective planning.

While the challenge is highly complex, ever shifting and dynamic, the foundations of DwD are based on simple patient centred principles which aim to enhance discharge and prevent delay, through early and effective planning, limiting hospital stays to what is clinically and functionally essential, and getting patients home at the earliest, safest opportunity.

The Scottish Government has also developed statutory guidance for Health Boards, Local Authorities and Health and Social Care Partnerships on effective discharge planning and carer engagement, Summary - Carers (Scotland) Act 2016: statutory guidance - updated July 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . We have also funded Health Improvement Scotland to improve practice on carer involvement across health, with a focus on carer involvement in hospital discharge.

Transport Scotland Officials, along with relevant transport stakeholders, routinely take part in the multi-agency Events Planning and Operations Group (EPOG) dealing with Events. EPOG is run by the City of Edinburgh Council as the lead planning authority in respect of events within Edinburgh, such as Taylor Swift.

Through the EPOG discussions, enhanced transport arrangements have been put into place across Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams and ScotRail services, to meet the increased demands expected at the Taylor Swift concerts.

The archival analysis element of the research is underway and the report is currently being drafted. We anticipate receiving the report from this work towards the end of summer 2024. The contract for the qualitative research was tendered twice but no compliant bids were received.

We intend to publish the report from the archival analysis in due course, and will work to ensure those who wish to provide feedback and share their experiences will be able to do so. We will then consider next steps thereafter.

Various Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medicines continue to experience limited and intermittent supply issues. We are aware that market data has indicated that some of these issues will continue beyond May 2024 into the Summer.

As the pricing and supply of medicines is a reserved matter for the UK Government, we continue to engage with them to find a lasting solution on minimising the impact of these medicine shortages on patients and their families.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO) sits on the UK Government’s Medicine Shortages Response Group (MSRG). The CPO continues to raise the issue of ADHD medicine shortages and has urged the UK Government to consider alternative solutions, if possible, for medicines with continuous and intermittent supply issues. There was general agreement that the situation wasn’t improving, and that the UK medicine supply team would consider what further could be done, including organising a meeting with the manufacturers to seek further solutions. We hope to be in a position to update on this further in due course.

For anyone who experiences difficulties in obtaining their prescribed ADHD medication, I encourage them to discuss this with their specialist, who should be able to review their circumstances and prescribe an alternative treatment if appropriate until stock supplies are stabilised.

The management of the interim Vulnerable Persons Database (iVPD) is a matter for Police Scotland. As with any other organisation, Police Scotland has a duty to gather and process personal data lawfully. The Scottish Government has had no communication with the Information Commissioner's Office regarding the iVPD during this period.

For further information on the iVPD please refer to answer S6W-27225 on 17 May 2024.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government is committed to a process of a judge-led inquiry once all legal proceedings are at an end. The exact form of inquiry and necessary engagement in relation to the inquiry will be determined at the point once all legal proceedings are concluded.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27262 on 17 May 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government notes the decision from NatWest Group to close 18 Royal Bank of Scotland branches this year which continues a trend seen across the banking sector. Scottish Ministers are fully aware of the negative impact this will have on affected communities – particularly for small businesses and vulnerable or digitally excluded consumers given the challenges they can face in accessing alternative banking services.

The regulation of financial services is reserved to the UK Government and they recently legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to grant the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) greater powers to protect access to cash across the UK. The FCA launched a consultation on a proposed new regulatory framework for access to cash which the Scottish Government formally responded to earlier this year. I will be meeting with Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the FCA, on 26 June to continue the dialogue begun by my colleague, Neil Gray, to further consider their proposed access to cash plans and ensure the cash access and banking requirements of Scotland’s communities are articulated, understood and addressed.

The Scottish Government have also sought to engage directly with the banking sector in Scotland on the future of the in-person cash and banking services they provide. Through this engagement we have agreement in-principle from several of the major banks in Scotland to attend a Scottish Government hosted cross-party roundtable on access to cash and banking services. This will take place on 4 June and we have now issued invites to all political parties and stakeholders across the Scottish financial services sector. I am confident that this will provide a constructive forum between the Scottish Government, elected representatives and the financial services sector to fully understand the impacts of a declining branch network on Scottish communities, and find collaborative ways to ensure there are long-term sustainable solutions to protect access to cash and physical banking services.