Recommended actions from the 2016 sludge review already completed include publication last year, of the James Hutton Institute's report on the impacts on human health and the environment arising from the spreading of sewage sludge to land, and implementation of the remedial actions that were recommended be taken by Scottish Water.

The legislative changes recommended by the review are being implemented via the Integrated Authorisation Framework regulations. Development of these regulations was delayed due to Covid-19 and other priority work, however work has now recommenced.

A consultation on the proposed regulations is due to be published in 2023 and stakeholders will have the opportunity to comment on the proposals relating to sewage sludge.

The draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan is due to be discussed at Cabinet shortly, after which we’ll be able to confirm a date for an imminent publication for consultation.

The suite of final reports presenting the recommendations of the Second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) will be published on the Transport Scotland website on 8 December 2022. This represents a key milestone for strategic transport planning in Scotland. Setting out a 20 year framework for capital investment to drive the change we need to achieve the Scottish Government’s strategic vision and move towards Net Zero – the majority of the 45 recommendations contribute directly towards achieving emissions reduction.

This marks the culmination of over three years’ intensive work.

The evidence gathering and robust objective-led appraisal work feeding in to this review has been informed by stakeholder engagement from the very outset. The public have been provided with several opportunities for involvement, not least the three month statutory consultation on draft versions of the reports during January to April 2022. All responses to this have been carefully considered and used to inform refinement of the final recommendations.

The intention was to publish a Delivery Plan for these recommendations, alongside the final report. However, due to the current huge lack of certainty around available capital budget and fiscal policy over recent months, this has not been possible as yet. As such the Delivery Plan will follow in 2023, which will include more detail on prioritisation and delivery timescales, however, I am pleased to note that work is already underway on 38 of the 45 recommendations.

Despite telecoms legislation being wholly reserved to Westminster, the Scottish Government continues to prioritise significant funding for digital connectivity. We are investing over £600 million in the R100 contracts that are currently delivering gigabit capable broadband connections across rural Scotland at pace. Through the Scottish 4G Infill programme, we are investing £28.75m to deliver 4G infrastructure and mobile services in up to 55 notspots across Scotland with 30 masts currently live in rural and island areas.

As stated in answer to PQ S6W-10006, the next Climate Change Plan, a draft of which will be published next year, will include costs of delivering emissions reductions to meet the statutory targets between 2024 and 2040. The Scottish Government has published the updated Climate Change Plan for the period up to 2032 but has not yet set out a pathway for the other years to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and hence does not yet have a basis for a cost assessment of achieving that goal. That will be covered as part of subsequent Climate Change Plans.

A number of active groups have a role in enterprise issues that fall within of the responsibilities of the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise.

These include sectoral groups coordinating work to transform different segments of Scotland’s economy:

• Financial Services Growth and Development Board
• Industry Leadership Chairs Group
• Life Sciences Scotland Industry Leadership Group
• Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council
• Strategic Leadership Group for Advanced Manufacturing
• Tourism and Hospitality Industry Leadership Group
• Aerospace and Defence Industry Leadership Group
• Construction Leadership Forum

There are also groups which help support the delivery of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation:

• New Market Opportunities Partnership Delivery Group
• Productive Business and Regions Delivery Board
• Business Support Partnership

To support regional economic development, the following groups exist:

• Scottish City Region and Growth Deal Delivery Board
• Regional Economic Policy Advisory Group

There are additionally groups where the Scottish Government draws on external experience to inform policy decisions:

• Scottish Government and Business Organisations Meeting

• Ministerial Trade Board

• Scottish Taskforce for Green and Sustainable Financial Services

• Innovation Strategy Steering Group

Recommendation 75 of the Deer Working Group report was that “the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee of the Scottish Parliament should consider holding a short inquiry into the use of section 7 Control Agreements under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 in the Caenlochan area.” Given the nature of that recommendation, and as we outlined in our response to the report, this is a matter for the Scottish Parliament.

Ben Macpherson MSP, then Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment wrote to the convener of the Environment Climate Change and Land Reform (ECCLR) committee on 24 March 2021 to bring this recommendation to their attention and offer the support of Ministers and officials in taking it forward.

The information requested is available as a snapshot at September each year as detailed in the following table.

Scottish Government is not aware of any plans to roll out the use of infrared-sensitive cameras placed in patients’ rooms to measure pulse and breathing rates remotely across NHSScotland.

It is ultimately for the 14 Territorial Health Boards across Scotland to decide whether to procure and apply this technology as part of their treatment for patients.

The Scottish Government is committed to achieving a consistent approach to NHS Board consideration of health technologies, via a system based upon the clinical and cost effectiveness of technologies to the NHS and to people in Scotland.

Health Technologies play a critical role in the delivery of clinical and cost effective healthcare which meets the needs of patients to deliver excellent healthcare and patient outcomes.

The evaluation of the Scottish Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme for GPs or GP Speciality Training bursary (GPST bursary) was led by Scottish Government Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellows in collaboration with NHS Education for Scotland (NES). The evaluation is expected to be completed by Spring 2023. The evaluation was instructed to inform policy consideration and was not conducted on the basis that it would in future become a publication. Nevertheless, once the evaluation is completed, consideration will be given to the publication of the final evaluation report.