Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17749 on 31 July 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government has not held any discussions with health charities regarding the potential benefits of cannabis based products for medicinal purposes.

Bicycles are normally conveyed on the Caledonian Sleeper trains. In periods of exceptional demand, bicycles which exceed the storage capacity on the train are conveyed by road for free. The new Caledonian Sleeper trains will have significantly enhanced capacity for bicycles. The Scottish Government is currently considering with the operator of the Caledonian Sleeper whether, once the new trains are in service, it will still be appropriate for Caledonian Sleeper to convey by road bicycles that cannot be accommodated within the new trains. In making its decision, the Scottish Government will take into account the environmental costs of providing the current road-based service.

As the previous answer S5W-17267 refers, there have been a number of meetings with representatives of both Western Ferries and Pentland Ferries since 2011. These have been both formal and informal and covered a variety of different issues. For example, the nature of contact with Western Ferries includes frequent phone calls received from Mr Ross and also informal meetings at a variety of shipping industry related events. Therefore, it is not possible to ascertain with any accuracy the exact number of meetings held with each operator.

NHS Boards are required to adhere to equality and disability standards for general public facilities, which currently include:

• Scottish Building Regulations – Non Domestic Technical Standards 2017 - Section 4
• BS 8300-1_2018 Code of Practice: accessible and inclusive EXTERNAL design
• BS 8300-2_2018 Code of Practice: accessible and inclusive BUILDING design

In addition, there is specific NHSScotland guidance, which includes:

• Health Building Note (HBN 00-01): General design guidance for healthcare buildings
• HBN 00-02: Sanitary spaces
• HBN 08-02: Dementia-friendly Health and Social Care Environments

Scottish Building Regulations detail the statutory requirements for accessible toilet facilities and note that it is important that sanitary facilities address the needs of occupants and visitors, both in terms of availability and accessibility, and stipulate that facilities should be located where they can be reached easily. In addition, HBN 00-02 provides evidence-based best practice guidance on the design and layout of sanitary spaces for use in healthcare settings.

HBN 00-01 provides guidance on seating within healthcare premises, including evidence based research and associated design guidance on the provision of seating in a variety of spaces and including waiting areas, long corridors and consulting areas. In addition, HBN 08-02 provides more specific guidance for designing and specifying seating for building users with dementia.

While standards are not generally applied retrospectively, under the Equality Act 2010, Health Boards have a duty to make reasonable adjustments, where necessary to ensure accessibility, which could include adjustments to facilities/premises or to services. For new premises or major upgrades to premises, the NHSScotland Design Assessment Process assesses compliance with statutory (including equality) and other mandatory requirements.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) provides a range of guidance documents regarding the handling of plans or projects which might affect protected areas in Scotland. This material is provided on SNH’s website ( www.nature.scot ).

Details of all called in applications are available on the Scottish Government Website. The following table outlines those cases where economic benefit or natural environment were identified in the grounds for call in.

As the Council is minded to grant consent for the Coul Links application, and there is an objection from Scottish Natural Heritage, the case has been notified to Ministers. Notification gives Ministers the opportunity to decide whether there are national interests at stake which would merit Ministers calling in the application for their own determination. The Minister for Local Government and Housing will consider the details of this case and decide whether Ministers should call in the application for their determination, or clear it back to The Highland Council.

Scottish Planning Policy sets out that Planning Authorities should identify and afford the appropriate level of protection to international, national and locally designated areas in development plans, and those plans should set out the factors that will be taken into account in determining a planning application.

Further to this, it is Scottish Government policy to apply the same level of protection for Ramsar sites as is applied for Special Protection Areas classified under the EU Birds Directive. This policy commitment to Ramsar sites is set out on the Scottish Government’s web site at www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/protectedareas/ramsar .

For any planning application, it is for the decision maker to consider the development plan position and other material considerations. Any matters of national interest which may be raised will be assessed on a case by case basis.