- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether a Scottish Education Exchange Programme is on course to be delivered within the current parliamentary session.
Answer
In the Programme for Government 2021-22, the Scottish Government pledged to develop a Scottish Education Exchange Programme to support the international mobility of staff and learners.
The Scottish Government is working as quickly as possible to provide information to partners on the timetable for the delivery of a Scottish Education Exchange Programme.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 June 2023
-
Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the final report of the independent review of the skills delivery landscape.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 15 June 2023
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its innovation strategy.
Answer
The Scottish Government has been engaging with stakeholders across the country from industry, academia and the public sector to develop a National Innovation Strategy for Scotland, which will set out a roadmap to transform Scotland's economy over the next decade by placing innovation at the heart of our economic growth and societal prosperity and wellbeing. The Scottish Government intends to publish its National Innovation Strategy this month.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what finance options have been explored for the full dualling of the A77.
Answer
No finance options have been explored given that full dualling of the A77 was not recommended as an outcome of the South West Transport Scotland Study published in January 2020. Instead, options for targeted improvements and road safety measures were recommended and these were subsequently appraised and formed the basis of Recommendation #40 of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review published in December 2022.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its aviation strategy.
Answer
Work is ongoing across government to develop a Scottish Government aviation strategy.
An online public consultation on developing the strategy concluded last year and we published an independent analysis of the responses.
The consultation covered growing international connectivity and airfreight; the transition to low and zero-emission aviation; domestic connectivity; and governance arrangements in the Highlands and Islands.
The transition to low and zero-emission aviation is also relevant to preparation of the Government’s 2023 Climate Change Plan and Just Transition Plan, and it is essential that this work be fully joined up. The aviation strategy is also being developed at the same time as the Islands Connectivity Plan, and coherence here will also be vital.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) core beds there are and (b) additional
beds were brought in for COVID-19, across NHS Ayrshire and Arran, broken down
by NHS facility.
Answer
Public Health Scotland publish Acute hospital activity and NHS beds information which shows the number of available staffed beds and percentage occupancy (Table 4) by financial year (2012-13 to 2021-22) and by quarter (2020 Q2 to 2022 Q1), by NHS Board and hospital location. In addition, PHS produce a quarterly publication which provides similar beds information up to and including the quarter ending 30 September 2022. Data for the quarter ending 31 December 2022 was published on 30 May 2023. The PHS statistics do not provide specific information on COVID beds. NHS Boards reconfigured parts of hospitals during the pandemic, with, in particular, significant increases in critical care capacity, and this should be taken in to account when interpreting the annual bed statistics.
Public Health Scotland also publish statistics on the number of patients in hospital with COVID-19 which is available in the Weekly national respiratory infection and COVID-19 statistical report with Health Board level data available through the Open Data Platform: COVID-19 Statistical Data in Scotland - Daily Case Trends by Health Board - Scottish Health and Social Care Open Data (nhs.scot) . Until 7 May 2023, this also included the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICU.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will fund the full dualling of the A77.
Answer
The dualling of the A77 was not recommended as an outcome of the South West Transport Scotland Study published in January 2020. Instead, options for targeted improvements and road safety measures were recommended and these were subsequently appraised and formed the basis of Recommendation #40 of the second Strategic Transport Projects Review published in December 2022.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether further upgrading the A77 would provide local businesses with significant benefits.
Answer
The Scottish Government fully recognise that the A77 plays a vital role in supporting the local economy through facilitating the movement of goods, connecting people to employment and education opportunities, as well as providing businesses with access to the labour market. The second Strategic Transport Projects Review recommended that improvements are made on the A77, which would increase connectivity through reduced journey times and increased resilience associated with improved safety. All of which is anticipated to have a positive impact in terms of promoting inclusive growth.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Scottish Trunk Road Infrastructure Project Evaluation (STRIPE) in relation to the A77.
Answer
Transport Scotland is preparing to undertake an evaluation of the A77 Maybole Bypass Project which opened to traffic on 31 January 2022. The evaluation will be undertaken in line with Scottish Trunk Road Infrastructure Project Evaluation (STRIPE) Guidance, comparing conditions one year after (1YA) opening with forecasts of the impacts made during project design and development. The evaluation will consider scheme objectives; operation, including traffic flows and journey times, environment; safety; economy; integration; accessibility and social inclusion and cost to government. Transport Scotland is aiming to complete this work and publish the evaluation report on Transport Scotland’s website by March 2024.
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
-
Date lodged: Monday, 22 May 2023
-
Current Status:
Answered by Kevin Stewart on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether any internal financial analysis has been carried out of any economic cost of not fully dualling the A77.
Answer
Full dualling of the A77 was not recommended by the South West Scotland Transport Study (SWSTS), because of the significant cost and environmental impacts when compared with the other transport options for improving travel on this route. In addition, full dualling does not align well with the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy as defined in the second National Transport Strategy.
Only once an intervention is recommended at the Case for Change stage, as the SWSTS represents, would the costs and benefits or disbenefits of not building an option be considered as part of the later stages of the business case process.
