Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government have no plans to review the criteria for trunk roads. The extents of trunk road network was last considered in 2008 by the first Strategic Transport Projects Review with no changes noted.

The second Strategic Transport Projects Review, published in 2022, considered local roads to be “out of scope” unless they provided direct access to a major port or airport; linked to a nationally significant National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) development site; or where a local road intersected a trunk road where bus priority or active travel measures where proposed. None of these criteria applied to the A890.

For disability benefit applications, Social Security Scotland requires one piece of supporting evidence on an individual’s condition or disability to understand the impact their condition has on their daily life.

Applicants can request Social Security Scotland collects supporting evidence on their behalf. While gathering this information can take time, it allows for robust decision-making.

Social Security Scotland works with Local Authorities, Health Boards and GP practices across the country to make it faster and easier for them to send supporting information. Social Security Scotland also encourages people to provide supporting information which they may not realise they have, such as prescription lists, medical reports, and social care assessments.

The Adult and Child Disability Payment application forms also invite clients to tell Social Security Scotland about any supporting information to allow their application to be processed more efficiently. Supporting Information can be uploaded digitally or sent to Social Security Scotland in the post.

Social Security Scotland has a dedicated application route for terminally ill children and young people, and anyone in Scotland diagnosed with a terminal illness by their healthcare professional can apply for disability benefits under Special Rules for Terminal Illness.

Social Security Scotland has reduced processing times for disability benefits, with latest statistics showing decisions on new applications have been made faster than the previous financial year. Latest statistics can be found at: Social Security Scotland - Statistics.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving connectivity in rural areas and are considering alternative models of public transport delivery.

The second Strategic Transport Projects Review recommends that pilot schemes, involving demand responsive transport and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) draw on innovative solutions, international best practice, and smart technologies. Following the successful completion and evaluation of our £2 million MaaS Investment Fund - of which the evaluation report can be found on the Transport Scotland website. Transport Scotland continues to work with MaaS Scotland and the Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) to build on this work to develop innovative, digital data driven solutions to provide better access to flexible transport options.

The 2025-26 Scottish Budget includes £188.7 million for a range of active and sustainable travel measures to make it easier for people to walk, wheel or cycle on everyday journeys and access resilient and efficient bus services. Funding of £167,000 is being provided in 2024-25 to enable CTA Scotland to provide support for community transport groups that already exist, renew those that have lapsed and support the formation of others where there are currently none.

There are Scottish Government funds available which Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) and Local Authorities can use to tailor their approach to sustainable travel provision in rural areas. These include the People and Place Programme and the Bus Infrastructure Fund. Through the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019, we have given local authorities powers on partnership working, franchising and to run their own bus services. We want all local transport authorities to be able to improve all of the bus services within their areas.

The number of applications that the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) has received from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) over the last ten years, including those which have been referred to the Planning & Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) for a public inquiry, and instances in which Scottish Ministers have agreed with the DPEA’s recommendations, are as follows:

The Scottish Government will invest over a billion pounds (£1,148 million) in 2025-26 in the Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands (RALRI) budget to support Scottish farmers, crofters, land managers, islands and rural communities.

We continue to directly support Scottish farmers, crofters and land managers by providing over £660 million, including by maintaining our direct payments to the sector and in ensuring support for those farming and crofting in our upland and most challenging areas of Scotland through the £65.5 million Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS). The 2025-26 budget includes returning £20 million to support transformation and reform in Scotland’s farming and food production industry, as pledged to the sector.

Our Vision for Scottish Agriculture states that farming, crofting and land management will continue to play an important role in maintaining thriving rural and island communities and this is further reaffirmed in the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 objective of enabling rural communities to thrive.

We fully recognise that this is a challenging time for families. Importantly, no-one needs a formal diagnosis to apply for Child or Adult Disability Payment; decisions about eligibility are based on the individual’s level of needs, rather than a diagnosis.

Once a decision is made the award will commence from the date of application where the conditions of entitlement were met at this point.

We urge anyone applying on behalf of a terminally ill child to use our fast-tracked route so that they and their family can access the maximum level of financial support they are entitled to – quickly and with dignity.

There are no plans to revaccinate individuals who have had a previous Zostavax vaccination. The need for booster doses following previous vaccination has not yet been determined by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

A statement on the shingles vaccination programme was published on 13 November 2024, advising that the offer of Shingrix vaccination should be expanded to include older adult cohorts aged 80 years and over.

JCVI recognise that some of these individuals will have already received a Zostavax vaccination. However there is a clear cost-effective benefit from offering a single dose of Shingrix to this age group as this would help prevent severe illness and other serious complications from shingles, which can cause illness or hospitalisation.

The Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland and NHS Boards will work together to consider these recommendations.

A. There have been no discussions between the Scottish Government and the Camphill organisation regarding long-term funding for their work.

Local authorities in Scotland have the powers to issue Penalty Charge Notices if the vehicle has been left beyond the period of parking which has been paid for, as per the Road Traffic Act 1991. Legislation to allow an additional 10 minutes grace period has not been considered in Scotland as there has not been sufficient interest from members of the public or local authorities to do so, however all local authorities can use their own discretion whether to apply a grace period or not.

Social Security Scotland continues to review and improve how people access its service, including how the organisation communicates with applicants and clients.

The application forms for Adult and Child Disability Payment were designed and developed in consultation with stakeholders to ensure the values of dignity, fairness and respect were embedded throughout.

The application forms allow clients, and their representatives, to tell the organisation how they would prefer to be contacted. It also asks specific questions to help Social Security Scotland understand and respond to any additional accessibility needs.

Through client feedback surveys and panels, clients have told Social Security Scotland they would like choice in how they are contacted. With the client, or their representative’s permission, Social Security Scotland will automatically acknowledge receipt of an application form and provide updates via text and/or email as the application proceeds through the key stages.

The latest Client Survey shows the majority of Adult and Child Disability Payment respondents said their experience of applying for disability benefits was “very good” or “good”. The full survey results can be found at: Social Security Scotland - Client Survey 2023-2024