The patient travel expenses reimbursement schemes provide financial assistance for patients and authorised escorts travelling to hospital appointments, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements.

The focus of the schemes is the provision of financial support to those on low incomes in receipt of certain benefits and residents of the Highlands and Islands, recognising the access challenges faced by these patient groups. However, Health Boards also have the discretion to reimburse patient travel expenses where it is viewed to be an extension of treatment costs and deemed to be clinically necessary. This allows flexibility within the schemes for Boards to provide support, where appropriate, to those who need it but would not otherwise qualify.

Where travel is necessary, Health Boards are expected to support patients and their families in identifying and accessing available support. NHS Boards provide advice on eligibility and assistance available with bookings and advance payments, where necessary.

Decisions on applications made under sections 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 are made by the Scottish Ministers. All information relating to applications to build, operate or modify onshore electricity generating stations with capacities exceeding 50 megawatts, as well as all applications to install overhead power lines, large oil and gas pipelines, and associated infrastructure, are published and searchable on our Energy Consents website, at https://www.energyconsents.scot/.

There has been approximately 175 flooding incidents recorded on the A90 between 1 Jan 2020 and 1 Jan 2025. Each flooding incident is assessed and appropriate action taken where required.

Transport Scotland’s Approach to Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience was published in August 2023 setting out a strategic framework to secure a well-adapted future for Scotland’s transport system. It includes an ambitious Vision for “A transport system which is well adapted and prepared for current and future impacts of climate change, is safe for all users, reliable for everyday journeys, and resilient to weather related disruption.

A key deliverable of this work is the development of a Trunk Road Adaptation Plan, based on a climate vulnerability and risk assessment using the latest UK climate projections. The Trunk Road Adaptation Plan will be published in early 2025. It includes key interventions and recommendations for further adapting the Trunk Road Network. There will be a focus on risks associated with increased surface water flooding, river flooding, river scour and landslides.

The Trunk Road Adaptation Plan will complement the work of our roads Vulnerable Locations Operational Group, which was established in 2021. This group has delivered a number of drainage improvement schemes across the Trunk Road Network and will continue to investigate, design and deliver improvements to support our wider Approach to Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience.

Our Operating Companies hold regular meetings with neighbouring Local Authorities to share knowledge and consult on matters that will affect the operation of each road network. For example, road works, winter maintenance, major events and instance of severe weather require a joined-up response or mutual aid. Our Operating Companies are required to consult a wide range of stakeholders to ensure the impacts of their planned works are properly managed and any negative impacts mitigated. Transport Scotland also maintains regular contact with Local Authority colleagues through a range of professional body engagements.

This is a matter for railway operators working in collaboration with the British Transport Police.

It is for the Chief Constable, working with the working with the Scottish Police Authority, to determine how to allocate resources to best respond to operational matters such as public safety threats, including incidents involving unexploded ordnance . The Scottish Government is providing record police funding of £1.55 billion this year – an increase of £92.7 million.

You may wish to write directly to Police Scotland on this matter.

It is for the Chief Constable, working with the working with the Scottish Police Authority, to determine how to allocate its budget to meet policing priorities.

You may wish to write directly to Police Scotland on this matter.. Alternatively, as this matter may better sit with the UK Government Ministry of Defence, you may wish to raise the issue directly with the Rt Hon John Healey MP, Secretary of State for Defence.

Spectrum allocation and management, as with all aspects of telecommunications policy, is a reserved matter and one in which the Scottish Government has no formal role.

The Scottish Government, however, maintains an active interest in the spectrum policy agenda, in particular, as it relates to digital connectivity and digital infrastructure rollout in rural areas.

Responsibility for spectrum allocation and management falls under the remit of Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator. The Scottish Government has regular engagement with Ofcom at official and Ministerial levels. We also respond to any major consultations on spectrum strategy.

Our response to Ofcom’s 2022 discussion papers on mobile and spectrum policy can be found on Ofcom’s website at the following link:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/consultations/category-3-4-weeks/232316-meeting-future-demand-for-mobile-data/responses/scottish-government/?v=200806.

This response outlines the Scottish Government’s priorities in relation to spectrum. We continue to encourage Ofcom to consider the specific needs and characteristics of Scotland, Scottish geographies and Scottish markets when making decisions on spectrum and how these decisions subsequently impact 4G and 5G coverage in rural and underserved areas; commercial investment in digital infrastructure in rural and underserved areas; and, the development of 5G and other advanced wireless technologies in Scotland.

Incidents relating to unexploded wartime military ordnance are Police operational matters. Unless unexploded ordnance causes a civil contingencies emergency in Scotland that requires co-ordination on a national level, such incidents are not handled through any Scottish or UK Government mechanisms. In the highly unlikely event of this threshold being met, the Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) would activate to co-ordinate the Scottish Government’s response to the incident, including by liaising closely with Police Scotland, the Ministry of Defence, and other agencies relevant to the response.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-33057 on 22 January 2025.

The Scottish Government has not conducted analysis of spectrum allocation on the development of digital infrastructure at any specific geographic level in Scotland.

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