Chamber and committees

Maintenance of junction road markings is typically the responsibility of the authority whose road connects with the trunk road. In most cases on the A9 this is the local authority. The exception is acceleration and decelerations lanes, which Transport Scotland maintains. Notwithstanding this, since January 2023, Transport Scotland has collaborated with local authorities to improve junction markings on the A9.

Recent road marking improvements have included:

• Ousdale
• Geiselittle
• Cambusavie Bends
• Berriedale
• Deephaven
• South of The Mound
• North of Glenmorangie
• North of Struie
• B9169 Junction
• North of Hilliclay
• Achalone
• Alness to Tomich
• Inverbrora
• South of Inverbrora

Bollards are included in an annual cyclic maintenance programme. Our records show maintenance was undertaken between May and September 2023. More recently maintenance commenced in April 2024 with more planned in the coming months.

The passage of the four nations Tobacco and Vapes Bill has no impact on the Scottish Government’s commitment to prohibit the sale and supply of single-use vapes. The prohibition of the sale and supply of single-use vapes is being progressed under existing environmental powers devolved to Scottish Ministers. The UK Government and Welsh Government are progressing similar legislation in England and Wales respectively.

Work on the Tobacco and Vaping Bill, in Scotland, is being led by the Minister for Public Health and Women's Health. This Bill will increase the age of sale for tobacco products and provide powers to legislate on vape flavours, displays, packaging, and other measures. As the Bill makes provisions within the competence of the Scottish Parliament, a Legislative Consent Memorandum was brought forward on 2nd April for consideration by this Parliament.

SFRS’s new wildfire strategy was created with partnership at its heart. The strategy considers the increased risk of wildfire and changing climate in Scotland; the latest developments in wildfire management, training, and operational procedures; and the advances in technology that have been made in PPE and equipment.

The assessment of wildfire risk lies, first and foremost, with landowners/land managers. However, through the Scottish Wildfire Forum, a wildfire danger assessment is carried out every 5-7 days by a third-party expert. When the risk of wildfire reaches very high or extreme then the assessment is circulated across a wide network of key contacts, including public sector and private interests to ensure as wide a coverage as possible.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service works closely with land managers, communities and other safety partners to prevent these incidents ever occurring. SFRS remains ready and able to respond to any instance of wildfire that occurs across Scotland.

Eligibility for the programme was recently expanded to allow some individuals to get protected at an earlier age. To deliver the programme effectively, NHS Boards will offer the programme on a phased basis over 10 years meaning by 2033 the vaccine will be routinely offered to everyone aged 60 and over.

Since 1 September 2023 the following groups have been eligible:

• People who were aged 65 or 70 years on 1 September 2023
• People aged 71–79 years who have not previously been vaccinated
• People aged 50 years or over, about to start immunosuppressive therapy
• People aged 50 years or over, with a severely weakened immune system
• People aged 18 years or over who have received a stem cell transplant
• People aged 18 years or over who have had CAR-T therapy

This phased approach is based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and to support NHS Boards to deliver the programme alongside other immunisation programmes.

There are no plans to expand eligibility any further at this stage. As with all vaccination programmes, the JCVI keeps its recommendations under review. If at any time the JCVI updates its recommendations around the shingles vaccination the Scottish Government will give this due consideration.

The 1 September cut-off date for the shingles programme has been in place since the introduction of the programme in 2013. At that point it aligned the offer of shingles vaccine with seasonal flu vaccinations.

The cut-off date ensures that only those eligible for vaccination within the current year’s programme as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are included, and assists NHS Boards with planning and delivery locally, drawing up cohort lists (determined by date of birth) and the management of vaccine supply. It also supports the catch up programme for those who are aged 71-79 years who have not previously been vaccinated but remain eligible.

STPR2 follows the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG). STAG is based on HM Treasury’s Green Book “5 Case Model” for business cases, developed for use in Scotland. A transport appraisal using STAG generally considers the strategic and socio-economic cases to assess whether potential options for programmes/projects are likely to meet intended objectives and deliver intended benefits, such as environmental, economic, social impacts relative to anticipated cost.

The evidence from STPR2 demonstrates the Strategic Business Case for the recommendations. Improving health and wellbeing, taking climate action and supporting sustainable economic development are three of the five STPR2 objectives against which all recommendations are appraised. The outcome of these can be found in the appraisal summary tables for each recommendation Final technical report - December 2022 - STPR2 | Transport Scotland .

STPR2 is a national level appraisal and the benefits were identified through a mix of qualitative assessment and quantitative results from transport modelling, suitable for the strategic case of investment decision making. The cost estimates are also in line with the strategic nature of the appraisal. More detailed appraisal and cost benefit analysis for each transport intervention will be undertaken as part of Outline and Final Business Case work.

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 Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands launched the Small Producer Pilot Fund in December 2023 with £180,000 of funding in financial year 2023-2024 for two small-scale abattoir projects, a new information resource webpage for small producers, to develop a framework to assess small producer data, and to procure a service to deliver training courses for small producers. We are currently assessing the outcomes of the abattoir work and the website will launch shortly. This Government remains fully committed to supporting economically active small producers with £1 million in 2024-25 through the Small Producer Pilot Fund.

As set out in the 2021-22 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government is committed to “Introduce a Natural Environment Bill, putting in place key legislative changes and statutory targets to restore and protect nature” before the end of the current parliamentary term.

Future legislative programmes will be announced in relevant Programmes for Government in the usual way. Meantime, we continue to take action to deliver nature restoration through, for example, our £65 million Nature Restoration Fund, which has already committed nearly £40 million since 2021.

We are in the process of analysing the approximately 1650 responses to our consultation which closed on 8 March 2024. This will allow us to take into account the feedback and perspectives from those who responded as we consider next steps. This follows the commitments made to develop proposals for legislative change, including in relation to Heat in Buildings as established in the Programme for Government where the legislative programme for 2023-24 is set out.