Chamber and committees

The £25m of Scottish Government investment represents an estimate of the contract value to Atkins WSP Joint Venture to undertake the design, promotion, procurement and construction supervision of both the medium and long-term solutions. Whilst there is no allocation of spend of this estimate to either the medium term or long term solutions, it is anticipated that the vast majority of spend will be on the long-term solution as all of the options require complex civil engineering.

The following table details annual spend on signage on the trunk road network during the period 2013 to 2022 within the Scottish Parliament Highland and Islands electoral region. These figures include spend on sign plates, sign poles and sign bases.

Signage on Local Authority roads is a matter for the relevant Local Authority.

We do not hold the spend data for these specific items prior to 2013.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10619 on‎ 26 September 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10619 on‎ 26 September 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10619 on‎ 26 September 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

We are aware that employers across many sectors across the country, including, the meat processing sector, are experiencing challenges in attracting and retaining workers. These significant workforce challenges have been exacerbated by the pandemic and the impact of Brexit. We are working with business organisations and industry representatives to better understand the challenges we face and to develop mitigating activity, with a focus on employability, skills and fair work, investing an additional £500m over the course of this Parliament to support new jobs and reskill people for the good, fair and green jobs of the future.

However, we do not have control of all the levers we require to support the food and drink sector, including migration. While the UK Government introduced temporary visa routes for pig and poultry workers in the run up to Christmas last year, only a tiny proportion of butchery visas and less than half of poultry worker visas had been issued by mid-December. We continue to call on the UK Government to revise its restrictive migration policy, and to establish a specific Labour Market Shortages Taskforce with the Devolved Governments to enable constructive discussion on the measures required to tackle labour shortages

We have supported many of our abattoirs with grants through the Food Processing, Marketing & Cooperation Scheme. The scheme provides grant funding to businesses (or groups of businesses) within the Scottish food and drink sector which includes the meat processing sector.

Throughput for abattoirs is vital to ensure that plants are fit for purpose and have a viable future, however it is a commercial decision as to what abattoir producers wish to use for processing their animals. As any commercial arrangement is between producers and processors, the Scottish Government does not decide or influence the number of animals processed in a particular plant, which may be to the detriment of others. In addition, the size of the abattoir and its layout and structure will be decisive factor in establishing the abattoir’s throughput.

Changing ownership of an abattoir is an entirely commercial decision, therefore the government has no influence on it. There could be no interested parties in the uptake of the abattoir, as was highlighted in the closure of the abattoir in Orkney, where the local council were also involved, and provided a £50k challenge fund which did not entice anyone to come forward.

In 2019 we commissioned a feasibility study which provides details of what would be required to operate mobile abattoirs in Scotland, including the regulatory framework, and offers a cost-benefit analysis of possible operational models. However, the report also highlights the difficulty in achieving a sustained economic return from a mobile abattoir in Scotland. The full report can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/assessing-viability-sustainability-mobile-abattoirs-scotland/

The Scottish Government welcomes UK Government plans to ban the sale of horticultural peat for use in the amateur gardening sector in England. This is a positive step for environmental protection which aligns with our own commitment to take forward work to consult on a ban on the sale of peat related gardening products as part of our wider commitment to phase out the use of peat in horticulture (21-22 Programme for Government). The UK Internal Market Act, which was imposed by the UK Parliament without the consent of the Scottish Parliament, could undermine the policy effect of a ban in one part of the UK. Given this, we are considering how best to implement our devolved policy effectively.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10619 on‎ 26 September 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

At the time of publication of the Sturrock Report, all Health Boards were to consider the recommendations, review their internal assurance mechanisms and develop action plans.

The Scottish Government are now developing the Improving Wellbeing and Workforce Cultures Strategy alongside the new national leadership development programme called Leading to Change for health, social care and social work sectors to carry this work on. This will help foster an open and welcoming culture, where all staff are valued and treated with dignity and respect.

Leading to Change aims to recognise and support leadership at all levels. Ultimately, we want to equip current and future leaders with the skills and capabilities they will need to enable compassionate and collaborative working and deliver whole-system transformational change against any challenges they may face.

An update to Parliament, in the form of a Ministerial Statement, on the progress made in this space is planned for later this year.

The Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG), are part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and provide advice to NHS Scotland on the use of new and existing health technologies (excluding medicines). The SHTG made a recommendation in 2021 on the use of HeartFlow: 20210714-heartflow-adaptation-v20.pdf (shtg.scot) . Health boards are required to consider SHTG’s advice.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD), hosted by NHS Golden Jubilee, includes the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP). Work to promote HeartFlow technology across Health Boards is a key activity for the MPPP cardiology specialty group.

More information on the Centre for Sustainable Delivery can be found here: CfSD :: NHS Golden Jubilee , with information on the cardiology specialty network available here: Cardiology | Turas | Learn (nhs.scot).