Chamber and committees

Professor Anna Glasier OBE was appointed as the first Women’s Health Champion for Scotland on 26 January 2023.

Professor Glasier has been contracted to work four days a month, with her tenure coming to an end in June 2024.

Professor Glasier recently published her first Women’s Health Champion update blog which can be found here: Health and Social Care My first update as Women's Health Champion - Health and Social Care (blogs.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government has committed to a process of a judge-led inquiry once all legal proceedings relating to the malicious prosecutions are at an end. The exact form of inquiry will be determined at the point once all legal proceedings are concluded. The Scottish Ministers will announce when an inquiry will be held and the Justice Directorate has been identified as the directorate to lead on providing advice to Ministers.

The former Lord Advocate, James Wolffe KC, advised Parliament on 9 February 2021 that the Crown is committed to supporting an inquiry.

Shelagh McCall KC has been instructed to independently consider reports of criminal conduct from a legal perspective in relation to the prosecutions connected to Rangers Football Club. This process is in place to ensure that any allegations of criminal conduct are considered fairly and objectively.

The civil litigation and the work of Shelagh McCall KC remains ongoing at this time, and it would be inappropriate to comment on specifics in respect of these cases. However, the Crown remain committed to supporting an inquiry once all legal proceedings have concluded.

The forthcoming 10-year cancer strategy will be accompanied by a 3-year action plan aligning with the ambitions set out in our strategy. There will not be additional action plans for specific cancer types, however in both the strategy and plan we will continue to focus on those cancer types that are the largest burden and have poorer survival, in particular the less survivable cancers.

The Cladding Stakeholder Group is an official level meeting. Issues raised by stakeholders are fed back to Ministers and considered as part of the Cladding Remediation Programme. The group has met on the following occasions:

Across Scotland safety cameras are deployed through the Scottish Safety Camera Programme primarily where they have the greatest potential to reduce injury collisions and where there is evidence of both collisions and speeding. This is in accordance with criteria contained in the Scottish Safety Camera Programme Handbook.

There are a range of sites along the A75 where mobile safety camera resources are deployed.

An annual site prioritisation exercise is underway to assess the performance of all existing safety camera sites across Scotland and to identify locations which meet minimum criteria requirements. If new locations are identified on the A75 which meet minimum criteria requirements then consideration will be given to deploying additional camera resources on the route.

In the Statement to Parliament by the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, on the 26 January 2023, a Delivery Plan for STPR2 to provide further insight on the prioritisation of the recommendations will follow later this year, and this will set out the investment priorities over 20 years.

Whilst it is important to note that progress is already being made on 38 of the 45 recommendations, it has not been possible to fund all of our current commitments from the existing capital spending review. Thus, it is important that the Delivery Plan is developed in the context of the on-going cost of living crisis and the Scottish Government’s fiscal outlook. These financial challenges have a bearing on the investment pipeline of projects and programmes, both pre-existing and STPR2 recommendations, plus statutory and legal commitments.

The Scottish Ministers, in exercise of their powers under Section 88 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, offer to give to the Scottish Police Authority an annual grant in connection with delivery of the operational policing aspects of the Scottish Safety Camera Programme. These operational aspects are undertaken by three regional safety camera units covering the north, east and west of Scotland.

The value of the grant for the 3 year period 2020-2023 is set out below.

The Scottish Government’s ambitious 10-year cancer strategy is nearing completion, with publication planned this Spring. The strategy will be under-pinned by action plans which will evolve with the changing cancer landscape. The strategy will take a comprehensive approach to improving patient pathways from prevention and diagnosis through to treatment and post-treatment care.

It will encompass a new earlier cancer diagnosis vision for Scotland and will continue to focus on those cancer types that are the largest burden and have poorer survival, in particular the less survivable cancers, including liver cancer.

Transport Scotland officials attend a quarterly liaison meeting with the Highland Council regarding trunk road matters within their area. In addition to the quarterly meeting, the Highland Council road officers get in touch with Transport Scotland officials as and when required.

The local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and they will allocate resources on the basis of local priorities.

While the operation of transport links across the Corran Narrows is the responsibility of The Highland Council and any decisions on maintenance, upgrades, or options to replace ferries the I recently met with them to hear more about the Council’s plans for the route.