With reference to S6W-12408 on 7 December 2022, no COVID-19 reserves have been recouped to date. Work is on-going, with IJBs, to understand their financial forecasts.

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 continues to work closely with COSLA to find a way forward on the introduction of a Scottish Recommended Allowance for foster and kinship carers.

This will improve consistency and transparency for looked-after children, their families and their carers across Scotland.

The Programme for Government published in September 2021 covered this Parliamentary session running up to March 2026. Within it, there is a commitment as follows:

'The Scottish Government’s law officers, amongst other roles, act as the head of the independent prosecution service and as members of the Scottish Government. We will consult on whether the prosecution and government functions of the law officers should be separated.'

Work is continuing to progress towards a Scottish Government consultation. Development of the consultation will be informed by an initial phase of expert research, which is currently underway. This research will ensure a detailed baseline understanding of the many distinct roles and functions of the Law Officers and will provide information on how the functions of Law Officers operate in other countries.

Road safety is of paramount importance to the Scottish Government and the average speed camera system deployed on the A9 between Dunblane and Inverness plays an important role in encouraging good driver behaviour and compliance with the speed limit.

There are no plans to remove the safety cameras between Keir and Broxden roundabouts.

SIGN guidelines are produced by Health Improvement Scotland’s (HIS) evidence directory and we understand there are no plans by HIS to publish a SIGN guideline on Huntington’s Disease at present.

SIGN guidelines are produced in collaboration with clinicians, other health and social care professionals, patient organisations and individuals. The prioritisation and development of SIGN guidelines is evidence based.

The member may find it helpful to view the documents contained on the evidence page of HIS’s website: Evidence: Advice, guidance and intelligence (healthcareimprovementscotland.org) , which provides information and guidance on how requests for the development of guidelines are assessed, and how and evidence-based decisions are made.

Any group or individual in Scotland can propose a guideline topic to SIGN and SIGN welcome requests to provide evidence or analysis on clinical issues regarding Huntington’s Disease care.

The increase in recorded sexual offences is not unique to Scotland but is part of a global trend. Multiple factors appear to have contributed to this rise including increased reporting of historical offences. Some of this increase is also attributable to greater recognition of online sexual offending driven in part by action we have taken to outlaw new forms of harmful sexual behaviour such as non-consensual disclosure of an intimate image or film.

We will continue to prioritise support for victims of sexual crime, as well as work to identify ways to prevent such offending through the implementation of our Equally Safe strategy. We recognise that sexual offences are particularly traumatising for victims and have invested significantly to improve support for survivors. That is why our Delivering Equally Safe fund is providing approximately £9.5m in funding to support survivors of rape and sexual assault and we are also investing an extra £6m over the next three years in Rape Crisis Scotland’s National Advocacy Project to fund a key support worker in every centre in Scotland.

We know that there is more we can do to ensure that Scotland’s justice system is one in which the victims of serious sexual offences can have confidence. We are considering the recommendations made by the Lady Dorrian Review into improving the Management of Sexual Offence Cases and, through our recent Consultation and cross-sector engagement, are exploring in detail if and how these recommendations can be implemented.

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days .

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who will reply in writing within 20 days .

The Minutes of the Ardrossan Task Force meeting of 28 June 2022 have now been published on the Transport Scotland website and can be found alongside minutes of previous meetings at:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/transport-network/ports-and-harbours/ardrossan-harbour-task-force/

The NDSP pilot is in the initial business case stage, with Police Scotland currently looking at the internal processing, handling and storage of digital images and how that best fits with current and projected processes.

I have requested a meeting with Police Scotland to discuss progress on the pilot and would be happy to write to the member subsequently.