Chamber and committees

The M8 Woodside Viaducts are essential links in the M8 central Scotland urban motorway, vital for the economy and connectivity of Scotland. Therefore, the repair of the viaducts and removal of restrictions is high priority as Scotland emerges from the Covid-19 restrictions. The viaducts carry 150,000 vehicles per day in normal times, which would be difficult to accommodate by other routes or modes. As a result, there are no engineering or urban planning options currently being considered as an alternative to the structural repair of the viaducts. Two lanes of traffic will be maintained in both directions and we will work with operational partners to maximise traffic flows through the site, managing impacts on the M8 and adjacent local roads.

The Kinlochleven hydro-electric power station was built specifically to power the Kinlochleven Aluminium Smelter. Since the smelter closed in 2000 all the electrical power produced at Kinlochleven has been exported to the national grid and no power is dispatched to the Fort William smelter directly. The Kinlochleven power station has no connection to the Scottish Government’s Lochaber guarantee and the Kinlochleven power generation assets are not included within the Government’s Lochaber security package.

To support delivery of the National Infrastructure Mission, in early 2019 Scottish Ministers established an independent, short-life, Infrastructure Commission to examine and advise on the right vision, ambition and priorities for infrastructure in Scotland to meet our 30-year economic growth and societal needs. The Commission published two reports during 2020, which are available online at:

https://infrastructurecommission.scot/storage/281/Phase1_FullReport.pdf

https://infrastructurecommission.scot/storage/276/Phase2_Delivery_Findings_Report.pdf

The Infrastructure Investment Plan 2021-22 to 2025-26 was published on 4 th February 2021. It recognised the value of the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland’s expertise and insight to the discussion on how we develop our long-term infrastructure strategy. The Plan also committed to giving further consideration to the most appropriate approach to Scottish Minister’s receiving independent advice to set longer term priorities. We will set out further details of the steps we will take to explore this later this year.

Despite the Scottish Government being ready to launch, the UK Government has yet to agree to a joint bidding process for implementation of the green port model in Scotland. However, in the draft applicant prospectus published on the Scottish Government website on 18 March 2021 we made it clear that we would welcome bids from applicants or multi-applicant partnerships. This would include joint bids from trust ports.

As the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland has said, it is normal to look at historical school data as part of the quality assurance process in awarding national qualifications. This is designed to help support the best outcomes for our young people.

I am clear that if a learner has demonstrated they deserve a particular grade, and this grade is robust against the national standard, that is the grade they will receive.

To provide additional assurances on this, Education Scotland has liaised with all 32 local authorities who have all confirmed that historical data has not been used to unilaterally change any assessment judgements by teachers or schools.

Once the provisional grades have been submitted to the Scottish Qualifications Authority they will not be changed because of any school’s past performance.

Work on a planned public energy company was halted during the pandemic. As set out in the SNP manifesto, Ministers will now focus government efforts on a new dedicated national public energy agency. This will coordinate and accelerate delivery of heat and energy efficiency work, inform and educate the public on the changes required, provide expert advice to national and local government, and work with public, private and third sector partners to deliver this transformative national project. Further details will be set out to Parliament in due course.

Baseline ICU capacity in Scotland is 173 adult beds providing level 3 care. NHS Boards retain the ability to double their baseline ICU capacity to 360 within one week, treble to 585 in two weeks and, if required, extend this to over 700, subject to staff and supplies. The double capacity figures by board (excluding NHS Golden Jubilee) are given in the following table and are published in Coronavirus (COVID-19): modelling the epidemic (issue no. 32).
Coronavirus (COVID-19): modelling the epidemic (issue no. 32) - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Information on the number of NHS patients waiting for treatment is published quarterly by Public Health Scotland and can be found at NHS waiting times - stage of treatment 25 May 2021 - Data & intelligence from PHS (isdscotland.org)

This data shows the number of patients on waiting lists and how many have been waiting over 12 weeks. This is shown by NHS Board and can be filtered to show numbers by specialities.

We have worked to ensure that nobody is placed at detriment as a result of their participation in the programme as a vaccinator.

Our desire to protect as much of Scotland’s population as quickly as possible has necessitated the deployment of all available resources, and the rate of progress we have seen would not have been possible without the mobilisation at pace of a large, capable and diverse workforce. We are grateful for the contribution nurses have made alongside other Healthcare Professionals.

It is our expectation that reliance on the temporary measures currently in place will reduce as Health Boards continue with efforts to recruit a sustainable vaccinator workforce.

No patient should be discharged from hospital until they are clinically fit. It is the responsibility of the clinician in charge of treatment to decide when an individual patient is fit for discharge, as part of that process a multi-disciplinary team will assess the individuals on-going needs and ensure appropriate care and support is available.