Chamber and committees

Phase one of the Highland Main Line Improvement Project was delivered in December 2012, increasing services from 9 to 11 trains per day in each direction, and reducing journey times by an average of 6 minutes at a cost of £1.2 million.

Highland Mainline Improvement Project Phase Two was completed in March 2019 at a cost of £57m. This phase delivered signalling upgrades at Aviemore and Pitlochry stations, along with an extension of the passing loop at Aviemore and the reconfiguration and extension of the platforms at Pitlochry. The infrastructure work delivered already and an integrated approach to passenger and freight timetable patterns have created capacity for additional rail freight on the Highland Main Line.

There are no active enhancement projects on the Highland Main Line. However, Transport Scotland continues to revise its programme of works against priorities in the context of available funding. This ensures Transport Scotland can deliver the right projects at the right time as it seeks to progress its rolling programme of decarbonisation, whilst also delivering rail passenger and freight services that meet user expectations.

The Scottish Government has commissioned work through NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and the National Autism Implementation Team to provide a range of professional learning about ADHD and neurodevelopmental conditions at informed, enhanced, specialist and expert levels (according to the NES framework). These can be found on the Turas page (NHS Education for Scotland’s unified training platform) and accessed by the workforce in the future.

All training opportunities have been very popular, and where places have been limited have been oversubscribed. NES have worked closely with colleagues in health boards to identify the most appropriate staff to attend training in these instances. These opportunities have included training in specific assessment tools, webinars on ADHD assessment and support and workshops for clinical teams to support putting new learning into practice. There has also been professional learning about steps towards becoming a neuro-affirming practitioner and sharing learning and examples of practice developments across disciplines and across the country through networks and events.

While we know many public services are facing increasing pressures, long waits for neurodevelopmental support are unacceptable. We expect that those with ADHD should receive appropriate treatment and support as soon as possible. However, we are aware there has been a significant increase in people seeking a diagnosis and requiring support for their neurodivergence and this is creating challenges for a range of services.

We are working closely with NHS Health Boards and Local Authorities to improve services and support for children and young people and their families, including by providing over £1 million to support five pilots to implement targeted aspects of the National Neurodevelopmental Specification and £55.5 million to Health Boards in 2023-24 to improve the quality and delivery of mental health and psychological services for all, including neurodevelopmental services.

For adult support, the Scottish Government commissioned a feasibility study into a National Clinical ADHD Pathway. The final report of this study was published in 2021 and found that a multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental approach, inclusive of ADHD, was needed. In response to this finding the Scottish Government provided funding for adult neurodevelopmental pathway trials.

Following the adult neurodevelopmental pilots, a final report was published in March 2023 outlining what is required to provide a multi-disciplinary neurodevelopmental approach across Scotland. The Scottish Government has accepted the recommendations and we are working with the National Autism Implementation Team on implementation.

The Scottish Government is working to ensure that all neurodivergent people, including those with ADHD, have access the support they need.

The Scottish Government and the National Autism Implementation Team launched a Neuro-affirming Community of Practice Community of Practice in October 2023. This Community of Practice is being developed to ensure that healthcare professionals are better equipped to understand the wants and needs of neurodivergent people, including people with ADHD. There has been positive engagement across health boards.

Education Scotland supports the implementation of inclusive practice for all children and young people, including those who may experience the characteristics of ADHD. A formal diagnosis of ADHD is not required for a child or young people to be provided with appropriate support through the staged level of intervention approach.

Additionally, last year resources on ADHD were published on Education Scotland’s website, covering the common features, positive traits and challenges of ADHD. This was accompanied by a webinar, attended by over 300 individuals.

Since June 2022 a further 9 loans have been issued under the Self Build Loan Fund, with a total value of £1,367,967, and this is shown in table 1. The number of loans issued since June 2022, split by local authority, is shown in table 2.

Table 1: Number and Value of Self Build Loan Fund loans since June 2022

A total of 49 loans have been made to applicants, with 44 loans either fully repaid within agreed timescales or in the process of doing so. A total of 6 loans became subject to the default interest rate during 2023-24, 2 of these were repaid in full during that financial year, and 4 of these loans remain subject to the default interest rate. During the current financial year, 1 loan has been subject to the default interest rate.

We are delighted to provide support to people to build their own homes with the completion of 39 homes through the Self Build Loan Fund since it was established in September 2018.

The Self Build Loan Fund is recyclable meaning that when loans are repaid, the money can be re-used, during the life of the fund, supporting more self-builders and providing more homes for future generations.

Interest from the SBLF is used to offset the cost of administering the Fund, including legal fees associated with each loan and administration costs paid to Communities Housing Trust who were appointed as the administering agent following a procurement process carried out in 2022.

Please find attached a breakdown of (a) percentage and (b) number of primary schools that are signed up to The Daily Mile Initiative, broken down by local authority area.

Scotland Primary School Sign Up Percentages

Aberdeen City - 88%

Aberdeenshire - 45%

Angus - 53%

Argyll and Bute - 48%

Clackmannanshire - 89%

Dumfries and Galloway - 63%

Dundee City - 97%

East Ayrshire - 43%

East Dunbartonshire - 47%

East Lothian - 42%

East Renfrewshire - 79%

City of Edinburgh - 63%

Na h-Eileanan Sar - 90%

Falkirk - 46%

Fife - 27%

Glasgow City - 52%

Highland - 55%

Inverclyde - 45%

Midlothian - 63%

Moray - 27%

North Ayrshire - 31%

North Lanarkshire - 61%

Orkney Islands - 29%

Perth and Kinross - 47%

Renfrewshire - 38%

Scottish Borders - 27%

Shetland Islands - 52%

South Ayrshire - 68%

South Lanarkshire - 29%

Stirling - 50%

West Dunbartonshire - 72%

West Lothian - 63%

Scottish Primary Schools Sign Up Numbers

Aberdeen City - 42

Aberdeenshire - 65

Angus - 27

Argyll and Bute - 37

Clackmannanshire - 16

Dumfries and Galloway - 61

Dundee City - 32

East Ayrshire - 17

East Dunbartonshire - 16

East Lothian - 15

East Renfrewshire - 19

City of Edinburgh - 57

Na h-Eileanan Sar - 19

Falkirk - 22

Fife - 36

Glasgow City - 74

Highland - 93

Inverclyde - 9

Mid Lothian - 19

Moray - 12

North Ayrshire - 15

North Lanarkshire - 72

Orkney Islands - 6

Perth and Kinross - 33

Renfrewshire - 19

Scottish Borders - 16

Shetland Islands - 14

South Ayrshire - 28

South Lanarkshire - 36

Stirling - 19

West Dunbartonshire - 23

West Lothian - 43

The information requested is available on the Historic Environment Scotland website at https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/search . A search can be conducted using the filters to specify a category of listed building as well as the local authority area. Guidance on how to use the Historic Environment Scotland portal is available at https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/guidance and https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/portal/docs/designations_search_user_guide.pdf .

Based on the latest forecasts, our block grant for capital is expected to reduce in real terms by 8.7 per cent by 2027-28 – a cumulative loss of over £1.3 billion. This is why the Scottish Government is currently undertaking a cross government review of all capital projects and anticipate the revised infrastructure investment pipeline will be published alongside the Medium-Term Financial Strategy in the Spring.