Chamber and committees

The current e-Rostering Implementation plan is scheduled to complete in December 2024, which will deliver the capability for the majority of NHS Boards to prioritise and progress the necessary local roll-out of eRostering across all of their rosters over time. The system that has been procured will be able to record time for staff in line with local implementation plans.

There is currently no end date where all Boards will be required to have all rosters live on the e-Rostering system. However, a prospective plan to facilitate and accelerate adoption across all roster locations in each board is under consideration and Boards will be expected to demonstrate progress through their Annual Delivery Plans.

It is for Health Boards to assess and prepare for risks to their sites and services from disruptive weather events as part of their climate change adaptation plans.

There is at present no national monitoring system for potentially disruptive weather events in so far as they affect healthcare services per se, but Health Boards should monitor meteorological advice about potentially hazardous weather events, as well as flood warning advice issued by SEPA.

The Scottish Government does not currently provide formal guidance to local authorities to support climate change risk assessments and adaptation plans for local roads.

The Adaptation Scotland programme is funded by the Scottish Government to support capacity building and action on adaptation by the public sector, businesses and communities in Scotland, including local authorities. This includes developing Scotland's pioneering place-based approach to climate change adaptation.

This approach has seen the emergence of place-based adaptation partnerships including Climate Ready Clyde, Edinburgh Adapts, Aberdeen Adapts and Highland Adapts. Further, in March 2023 Adaptation Scotland launched the Community Climate Adaptation Routemap, a practical guide for communities to adapt to climate change.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23236 on 7 December 2023. 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

As outlined in the Scottish Government’s Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, oil extracted from the North Sea is predominantly exported to international markets. The Scottish Government anticipates that this arrangement will continue and North Sea oil will continue to be refined in a number of international locations.

On 3 March 2023, the Scottish Government published the outputs of an independence analysis of Scotland’s Energy System, which provides a detailed overview of the oil and gas sector in Scotland. A link to this publication can be found here .

Given the importance of this strategic asset to Grangemouth and Scotland, the Scottish Government has been working closely with the business as it explores future options to transition the site, such as bio-refining.

Petroineos notified the Scottish Government on 21 November 2023 that senior management were to make a formal internal announcement of the business’ plans to commence preparatory work for new import terminal infrastructure at Finnart Terminal and Grangemouth.

The consultation paper Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation sought views on several proposals for inclusion in a new Land Reform Bill. It included proposals for a Public Interest Test on certain land transfers, and set out the criteria for the type of landholdings that would be in scope for such a test. The consultation opened on 4 July 2022 and closed on 30 October 2022, asking a total of 51 questions. It also invited respondents to give us views on other ideas and proposals. Our proposals for the Public Interest Test were set out in Parts 4 and 7.

The consultation sought to gather views from a range of stakeholders and from members of the public across Scotland. As part of this we also undertook five in-person engagement events across Scotland with a further event taking place online.

Further information about the analysis of responses to the consultation, and the responses themselves, may be found here: Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space

The proposals for the Public Interest Test were developed in the light of a series of reports on the scale and concentration of land ownership in Scotland published by the Scottish Land Commission, which led to their discussion paper, Legislative proposals to address the impact of Scotland’s concentration of land ownership (February 2021).

Since the consultation we have commissioned analysis of the responses to it: these included a range of views and suggestions for the parameters of the Test. We have considered these responses carefully as we develop our proposals. We have also engaged, and will continue to engage, with a range of internal and external stakeholders over the Test, along with the other measures proposed for the Bill.

The Scottish Consultants Contract is designed to ensure that Consultants who work within NHS Scotland have time for supporting professional activities. How much time received is based on working patterns and forms part of the job planning process they undertake with their employers.

The time that is dedicated to supporting professional activities can be used for research, teaching, training and supervising Junior Doctors.

Paragraphs 77 and 78 of the NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022-2026 outline adaptation requirements for NHS Scotland Health Boards. In particular paragraph 77 requires that Health Boards will prepare and implement climate change adaptations plan to ensure resilience of service under changing climate conditions.

No payments have been made to Lombard, Hampdens or Palladium from Forestry and Land Scotland or Scottish Water over the last two years. Both Cairngorms National Park Authority and the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority have made payments to Palladium during this period.

Your question regarding what contracts are in place, their value, duration and procurement processes is on operational matters so I have asked the Chief Executives of the National Park Authorities to write to you addressing these points .