Chamber and committees

We want all local transport authorities to be able to improve all of the bus services within their areas. That is why, through the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, we have given local authorities powers on partnership working, franchising and the ability to run their own bus services. This provides the opportunity for services that are reliable, frequent and tailored to local demand.

The Scottish Government provided £1.7 million of funding to extend platforms on the West Highland Line. This now allows ScotRail to run longer trains which will reduce overcrowding and lead to increased capacity for residents, tourists and cyclists with their bikes.

ScotRail has a programme of works which are being delivered specifically to improve the reliability of the diesel train fleet which operate on the Highland routes and these improvements are expected to be completed later this year.

ScotRail is considering options to recast the Inverness to Central Belt and Inverness to Aberdeen timetable. ScotRail will consult with passengers prior to any changes being determined.

The Scottish Government have committed to investing around £700m in ports and vessels. This includes 6 new major vessels for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) fleet before the end of this Parliament session, and the delivery of a further seven electric vessels as part of the Small Vessels Replacement Programme by 2029, while work to deliver two new Freight Flex vessels for the Northern Isles Ferry Service is progressing.

The Scottish Government has committed in our Cross Government Plan for tackling substance use harms to developing standards for alcohol and drug treatment and recovery.

In the development of those standards, ARBD is a particular condition that will be a focus of attention given the significant number of people it has affected. The standards will bring together a range of guidance, principles and other relevant standards to help ensure services are working together, which is particularly important for conditions such as ARBD which requires a range of support to be offered in one package.

We continue to fund the Managed Alcohol Programme pilot in Glasgow being run by Simon Community Scotland. We await the evaluation of the pilot being undertaken by the University of Stirling before reaching a position on future expansion.

The MAP pilot itself does not contribute directly to work being done to address alcohol-related brain damage, as those impacted by ARBD are referred elsewhere. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde does offer ARBD supported accommodation through Penumbra.

The Scottish Government’s Agriculture and Rural Economy (ARE) Directorate relies on several IT systems, integrations and infrastructure to conduct its business with appropriate cyber security and supporting applications to protect and operate these systems and infrastructure effectively.

In addition to rural payment systems, we maintain and rely on a number of other IT systems such as the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), Estate Management Database (EMA), Drawing Office, Plant Health, Livestock Inspection System (LIS). These systems collectively assure eligibility for payments, support of inspections, responding to legislative requirements and supporting corporate systems.

ARE IT/Digital services and the data within them support a range of other government departments, functions and agencies including NatureScot, Forestry, Estates Management, Plant Health and Livestock Inspections meaning our IT/Digital services support a wider range of stakeholders.

The IT costs are those costs (not including the Scottish Government’s employees) required to operate and maintain the reliability and resilience of rural payments and are made up of many aspects such as recurring maintenance charges for software and hardware, licence charges, major upgrades in infrastructure that are needed from time to time, and charges under the Maintenance and Modernisation service contracts which includes the cost of service providers. It is also essential that we continue to make proportionate investment in our cyber capabilities to protect these systems and customers’ data. There is an on-going programme of modernising or decommissioning of older IT systems to reduce costs and obtain the efficiencies possible from more modern technology. The costs do not include those associated with the design and development of completely new services.

Many of these IT systems also rely on the Scottish Government’s Shared IT infrastructure and services that are maintained as a common service to deliver economies of scale. These costs are not included in the following table.

Due to sharing of common services and the integration of IT systems, it is not possible to separately identify the cost elements that relate specifically to rural payments systems from the overall cost for all systems.

The IT staff in the Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate (including those in Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA)) are involved in a range of digital activities from maintaining and supporting current services to developing the future services.

In addition to rural payments systems, we maintain and rely on other IT systems such as the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), Estate Management Database (EMA), Drawing Office, Plant Health, Livestock Inspection System (LIS). These systems collectively assure eligibility for payments, support of inspections, responding to legislative requirements and supporting corporate systems.

ARE IT/Digital services and the data within them support a range of other government departments, functions and agencies including NatureScot, Forestry, Estates Management, Plant Health and Livestock Inspections meaning our IT / Digital services support a wider range of stakeholders.

IT staff in the Scottish Government’s Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate (ARE) are members of the Government Digital and Data Profession covering an array of professional IT roles.

Many of these IT systems also rely on aspects of the shared Scottish Government IT infrastructure supported by other SG IT staff. The staff supporting these corporate systems are not included in the following table.

Due to the flexible deployment of IT staff based on skills and knowledge to where they provide the greatest benefit at a point in time aligned with priorities it is not possible to separately identify the staff costs solely associated with rural payments IT systems.

The salary cost (including overtime) of all directly employed IT staff in ARE for the four years 2021-2025 is as follows:

NatureScot has published Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA for Tayside, Knapdale, the Forth catchment, Loch Lomond catchment, the River Spey and the Beauly catchments, as well as publishing a screening report for the Rivers Ness and Lochy catchments.

Given the body of work to date and the likelihood of assessing similar environmental effects in different catchments, NatureScot has proposed that it will adopt an SEA screening approach to new catchments to determine if there are novel interests and interactions that may require a more detailed assessment. This will streamline the approach to future SEA assessments. Prioritising assessments will depend on where there is interest from land managers and organisations in hosting beavers.

Yes. The approach NatureScot take, as the licensing authority for the issuing of lethal control licences for beaver management, is consistent with the approach that it uses for licensing lethal control for other European Protected Species, in that the licensing tests are the same. The interpretation of these will have some nuance depending on the interests being affected, the availability of satisfactory alternatives for different conflict situations and the conservation status of the species.

The Scottish Government continues to identify release sites on publicly owned and managed land. NatureScot are also inviting land managers with an interest in hosting beavers to come forward so that they can discuss the licence application process with them and, where possible, bring together land managers with the same aspirations.

a) The Scottish Government publishes details of Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot containing information about Ministerial engagements, overseas travel, car journeys, domestic travel and gifts received.

b) The Scottish Government publishes details of Special advisers: gifts and hospitality - gov.scot, which includes information on travel expenses claimed.

ci & cii) The following table gives the relevant data for the last available 5 years:

1.Senior Civil Service;

2.Staff Below Senior Civil Service; and

3.Seafaring Staff.

The Scottish Government will encourage local delivery partners such as Health and Social Care Partnerships to identify training needs and ensure staff are able to receive all relevant training.

The need for more specific training on ARBD is now something local delivery partners should be addressing and the Scottish Government will be keen to promote this wherever possible.

We have committed to publishing a National Specification for alcohol and drug treatment and support services. The Specification will set out what services are required to implement the Charter of Rights for people affected by substance use, which includes those impacted by ARBD.