Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has provided £120,000 to each of the six local authorities that were selected to deliver Green Growth Accelerator pathfinder projects (Aberdeen City Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highland Council, North Lanarkshire Council and West Dunbartonshire Council). This funding was provided for development phase of the pathfinder projects, including feasibility work and business case development.

Further to this, the Scottish Government has worked with COSLA to agree funding from the Green Growth Accelerator 2022-23 budget to support local authorities with the development of low carbon infrastructure projects this year. Each local authority has been allocated funding of £26,000 to assist them in the development of a pipeline of low carbon infrastructure projects which could be supported through the Green Growth Accelerator.

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.

In June 2021, the Scottish Government and COSLA announced an open call for proposals from local authorities for pathfinder projects to be supported through the Green Growth Accelerator (GGA) programme.

The assessment of proposals was overseen jointly by Scottish Government and COSLA and proposals were scored against a set of criteria that were shared in advance with all local authorities. The assessment criteria included: carbon emissions reduction impacts, socio-economic impacts, maturity and deliverability of the project; additionality; and strategic fit with national and local net zero ambitions. Following the robust assessment process, the first tranche of GGA pathfinder projects was announced by Scottish Government in October 2021.

The Scottish Government does not hold Cytosponge diagnostic service data broken down by individual Health Board, however the following press release provides detail on the national total delivered by NHS Scotland as at 15 November 2022: https://www.gov.scot/news/innovative-health-technology-helping-patients/ .

First introduced during the pandemic, Cytosponge is an excellent example of innovation in diagnostic services, supporting patients to access cancer checks closer to home and helping to reduce demand on health services.

Cytosponge has now been implemented in all mainland Health Boards, and collaborative discussions are ongoing between the NHS Scotland Centre for Sustainable Delivery and Island Health Boards to support implementation of a tailored model for Barrett’s Surveillance cohorts.

We have undertaken an external audit of the climate justice fund and an impact assessment to ensure policy coherence for sustainable development for the overall approach in order to better understand the needs for loss and damage support. As agreed following the evaluation, all Climate Justice Fund money for the £5m pledge will be allocated on the basis of an independent needs assessment with stakeholders and those communities impacted. Once conducted, we will respond accordingly and deliver a participatory, co-designed programme that fully meets the needs of the communities that it seeks to serve. In line with funds already delivered to loss and damage, all sums granted will be monitored and evaluated.

The timetable process is embedded and set out in both (a) Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) and (b) Northern Isles Ferry Service (NIFS) contracts and is monitored through the management of these contracts by my officials in Transport Scotland.

Both operators should engage directly with community groups on timetable issues.

Plans for the Coronation of The Monarch are traditionally led by the Royal Household. Any consideration of planning in Scotland cannot be made public until the Royal Household share their intentions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12380 on‎ 2 December 2022. 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

With regard to the safe collection and disposal of dead wild birds suspected of having been infected with this strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), current government disease control guidance is for carcases to be left in situ.

At present there is no scientific evidence that the removal of carcases significantly reduces the risk of onward spread of the current strain of HPAI H5N1 amongst wild birds and a recent veterinary risk assessment carried out by the Centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks (EPIC), commissioned by the Scottish Government has supported this position.

Without such evidence, there is no animal disease control reason for the collection and disposal of wild bird carcases and, as such, no additional funds have been, or are planned to be, allocated.

It is recognised by Scottish Government that local authorities may choose, at their own discretion, to collect and dispose of dead wild birds from areas with a high public footfall, and for this reason Scottish Government has provided all local authorities in Scotland with guidance for the safe collection and disposal of dead birds. NatureScot’s guidance reflects this position.

Scottish Government, in partnership with NatureScot and the HPAI task force are currently developing a Scottish Wild Birds Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Contingency Plan for wild birds, which will set out how the Scottish Government and partners will respond to future outbreaks. This plan will include a guidance on the removal of carcases, drawing on the findings of the EPIC risk assessment .