Chamber and committees

Progress continues to be made by officials carrying out this request. The information will be placed on the Parliament’s Reference Centre as soon as this is available.

I can confirm that the development and assessment of the route corridor options for the A82 Tarbet to Inverarnan scheme, including the option passing above the West Highland line, was undertaken by Transport Scotland in alignment with the principles of the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) and the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB).

The Scottish Government has not conducted research in this area.

The information in this response has been provided by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS).

The reports listed in the following table are currently being assessed to determine if further quality assurance/peer review is required to ensure data remains valid and useful. This assessment includes liaising with any relevant partner organisations

(a) Available Mental Health Professionals to help Ukrainian refugee;

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the Mental Health Professionals currently available to provide support to Ukrainian refugees.

We recognise the importance of providing a warm welcome to displaced Ukrainians coming to Scotland and recognise that they will have their own unique emotional needs. To support this, the Scottish Government has produced three psychological wellbeing information packs, one for those arriving from Ukraine, one for host families and one for services and staff providing care.

These resources explain the principles of Psychological first aid and provide links to further information sources which can be used to support psychological wellbeing and direct people to appropriate services and support including for example the Scottish Refugee Council. We are ensuring accessibility of this resource by creating an easy read version, along with Ukrainian and Russian translations of the pack.

We expect Ukrainians needing to engage mental health services to do so through the existing, established routes. Health Boards will ensure that people have access to a level of primary and secondary health care services designed to ensure that their health needs are identified and addressed appropriately and effectively. Health Boards have established protocols, working with Health & Social Partnerships and Local Authorities, to provide services to patients who are asylum seekers or refugees, as well as specific learning from both the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Programme and Afghan Relocation & Assistance Policy.

We are already increasing the funding and workforce delivering Psychological Therapies. Equipping those arriving, their hosts and Scottish services to care for the physical and mental wellbeing of those fleeing the war remains a priority.

( b) Recruitment in the next 12 months; The future recruitment plans for mental health professionals are an issue for Health Boards to address as employers. While the Scottish Government provides the policies, frameworks and resources for high quality healthcare, it is for each NHS Board to decide best how to utilise funding, facilities and staff while taking account of national and local priorities to meet local health needs. We expect NHS Boards to plan their facilities and workforce to deliver these services, ensuring the provision of safe, effective and high quality patient care, delivered by the right professional at the right time.

Since 2006-7, NHS mental health expenditure has seen an increase of 65% and these unprecedented levels of direct investment in mental health services are enabling a significant expansion of the mental health workforce, as we continue to create new posts.

Over recent years, in line with our Mental Health Strategy, our Transition and Recovery Plan and the Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy, we have worked with Health Boards and Integration Joint Boards to increase the workforce. Through Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy, we have been working to recruit 800 additional Mental Health Workers. We have also committed to creating a network of 1,000 additional dedicated staff in Primary Care Mental Health and Wellbeing Services by 2026. We are also providing funding for around 320 additional staff in CAMHS over the next 5 years; increasing student intake for Psychology Master’s and Doctorate training programmes; creating new roles, such as Psychology Wellbeing Practitioners in NHS24 and Enhanced Psychology Practitioners in primary care, community, early years, and schools; and increasing nursing student places.

In accordance with the Sewel Convention and in line with Rule 9B of Standing Orders, the UK Parliament should not legislate with regard to devolved matters – that is on matters within the legislative competence of the Parliament or which change the competence of the Parliament or the Scottish Ministers – without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.

Within the legislative programme announced by the UK Government, Bills which appear to give rise to the requirement for the legislative consent of the Scottish Parliament are:

Procurement

Trade (Australia and New Zealand)

Bill of Rights

Levelling Up and Regeneration

Energy Security Bill

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill

Brexit Freedoms Bill

Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill

Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill

Transport

Modern Slavery

Data Reform Bill

In addition, the following Bills may extend to Scotland but at this stage it is unclear whether they will generate the requirement for an LCM:

UK Infrastructure Bank

Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill

Electronic Trade Documents Bill

Financial Services and Markets Bill

Higher Education Bill

Social Housing Regulation Bill

Harbours (Seafarers’ Remuneration) Bill

The Scottish Government will consider the content of all Bills before making its recommendation to the Parliament on legislative consent. It will then be for the Scottish Parliament to determine whether to give or withhold consent.

It is possible that legislative consent may be required for other UK Bills and those will be drawn to the attention of the Parliament as they arise.

We have published the Report of the independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy.

The Report is available at: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781804353912/documents/

Dr Colin Church submitted his Report to Ministers on 13 April. Given the potential for the Report’s findings and recommendations to raise issues that could be of particular local interest, publication was deferred until after the local government elections.

We are considering Dr Church’s recommendations carefully and will respond to these in a statement to Parliament in June.

Given the important issues that the Review Report raises in relation to Scotland’s national capacity requirements for incineration, the temporary notification direction that was put in place during the review will remain in place until we determine our response to Dr Church’s recommendations. This notification direction requires local authorities to notify Scottish ministers when they receive, and when they intend to approve, a planning application for an incineration facility.

I am pleased to announce that Scotland’s first Adult Learning Strategy has been published today, and can be found online here: www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802018301

The strategy has bold and ambitious actions to remove barriers to learning, enabling more adults across Scotland to begin and continue their learning journeys. It outlines important steps required to create more accessible learning opportunities for our adult learners, particularly those experiencing disadvantage and furthest from learning.

The publication of the strategy deepens collaboration with adult learners to address and tackle the inequalities that many face. Our aim is to ensure that learners are at the centre of the strategy’s delivery as we work with them to realise their ambitions and aspirations.

We are currently considering our structure and staffing in the light of the findings of our Review into International Development to ensure we have the right resource in place to fully deliver on the outcomes of the review.

South of Scotland Enterprise advertised for four new Board members in Autumn 2021. Applicants were asked to demonstrate evidence of their skills, knowledge and experience in one of three areas: land based industries; governance/strategic management; or digital transformation.

The Scottish Government received 47 completed applications for the advertised vacancies. Of these, over a third (16 applicants) set out evidence under the ‘land-based industry’ criterion. However, it is possible that other applicants, who chose to set out evidence against one of the other criteria instead, may also have experience in land based industries.