Chamber and committees

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland, including information relating to the resolution of complaints made to Historic Environment Scotland are best answered directly by Historic Environment Scotland.

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a full reply to his question in writing.

The Hill, Upland and Crofting Group last met in March 2021 and the work of the group is completed. I am grateful for the work they undertook in very short order which has informed our work on Agricultural Reform, the National Test Programme and issues being considered by the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board.

The adjustable car ramp (mezzanine deck) on the MV Hebrides has not been removed and is fully operational on specified sailings.

The evaluation of the Scottish Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme for GPs or GP Speciality Training bursary (GPST bursary) was led by Scottish Government Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellows in collaboration with NHS Education for Scotland (NES). The evaluation is expected to be completed by Spring 2023. The evaluation was instructed to inform policy consideration and was not conducted on the basis that it would in future become a publication. Nevertheless, once the evaluation is completed, consideration will be given to the publication of the final evaluation report.

We have been working with NHS Highland on an improvement plan for long-term, sustainable improvement to Psychological Therapies and we appreciate the hard work that the Director of Psychology and supporting staff in NHS Highland are doing to clear backlogs.

We recognise that performance in NHS Highland is not satisfactory. Long waits are unacceptable and we are continuing to offer tailored support to Boards, including NHS Highland, in the form of support from the Scottish Government Principal Psychology Advisor, Quality Improvement Advisor, Data Analyst and policy support. We are monitoring progress on this closely.

To help ensure that services deliver and measure Psychological Therapies in a more standardised way across Scotland, a new National Specification for the delivery of Psychological Therapies and Interventions is currently under development, with a consultation publication date of Winter 2022.

The Scottish Government does not hold data broken down by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, however, the data is set out below highlighting what percentage of primary schools are signed up to the Daily Mile initiative.

The Scottish Government approved funding of £10.16m for the project to repair the funicular and to undertake associated capital works on Cairngorm Mountain when it approved the business case submitted by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in 2020.

Following cost increases to the project, HIE re-considered the business case and concluded that reinstatement of the funicular was still the recommended option. Following review of the available options, the Scottish Government confirmed its continued support for the project and agreed to provide additional funding of £7m.

As part of the original business case, the Scottish Government agreed to provide funding towards the operating costs for Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL). The funding required from the Scottish Government depends on the CMSL’s income in a given year and is expected to reduce once the funicular is operational.

CalMac and NorthLink are required to regularly engage with stakeholders and communities as per their commitments in the ferry service contracts. There are established forums set up to ensure this engagement is inclusive of relevant stakeholders. Full details of this engagement can be found on the Transport Scotland website by following this link: Ferry Services Managed by Transport Scotland .

Transport Scotland officials monitor this engagement on behalf of Ministers at regular contract meetings.

Transport Scotland has not carried out such an analysis.

During the summer of 2022, a timetable with deployment of the mezzanine deck on specified sailings was implemented on the Uig-Tarbert/Lochmaddy route, maximising capacity within crew operating hours.

CalMac kept the route under review and has concluded that the demand in 2022 did not exceeded demand in 2019. There was a slight increase in average utilisation but there was unused capacity on the route.