Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19366 on 21 July 2023 in relation to the desktop review and a full list of the 254 properties identified as having two or more characteristics consistent with the presence of RAAC was placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 64387). NHS Scotland Assure also published the information on their website on 15 September.

An update on progress with the national survey programme, including the list of NHS buildings where RAAC is identified, will also be published by NHS Scotland Assure.

All NHS Boards have a dedicated RAAC webpage noting their current position with RAAC in their Estate.

As of 2 October, 114 NHS properties had been physically surveyed as part of the national programme.

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

The Task Force has been meeting during 2023, most recently in August, to progress this work. Minutes of the Ministerial meetings are published on the Transport Scotland website.

Scottish Government and Orkney Islands Council (OIC) officials have also met regularly to support OIC’s consideration of options for the long term renewal of the Orkney internal ferry fleet. OIC is currently preparing an updated business case to inform future budget discussions.

It is envisaged that the Task Force will continue to meet beyond September 2023 to support of OIC’s work on this important matter.

The launch of our National Mission on Drugs in January 2021 has meant that some of the commitments set out in the Rights, Respect, Recovery Strategy and the action plan for it, refreshed in December 2020, are being delivered in a different way. Many of the milestones are being delivered through the National Mission and others are being picked up as part of more recent Government commitments.

The Scottish Government is working closely with key stakeholders, including Education Scotland, to review and revise resources available for substance use education to ensure they are in line with best practice. This is part of wider work to provide schools with the right resources and support, through implementation of the Personal and Social Education Review, to address the issues facing children and young people today.

Completion of this work will support delivery of the recommendation from, where relevant, the Rights, Respect and Recovery Action Plan 2019-2021 as well as the similar recommendation from Drugs Death Task Force.

Further to my response on 5 July 2023 I can confirm that a further two local authorities have now completed and submitted their road assessments.

Six local authorities are still assessing their networks and Transport Scotland officials remain in contact with each to ensure a completed assessment of their network is received.

At this stage it is not possible to estimate the cost of the removal or remedial action required for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete within the NHS.

Any decisions on device procurement are taken by individual local authorities, to ensure they can be used in line with local digital learning strategies.

To support local authorities, Scottish Procurement provide a range of national procurement frameworks which offer a direct route to market for the purchase of digital devices and other digital products.

The Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF) is a £180m package of funding up to 2025/26 that will provide capital support to accelerate low-carbon infrastructure projects and unlock private sector co-investment that will be essential to deliver net zero.

Through the EETF, we have committed up to £100 million to renewable hydrogen funding this Parliamentary term. I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21610 on 29 September 2023.

The remaining up to £80m has been made available for Carbon Capture Utilisation and Support (CCUS). Due to the unfortunate delays from the UK Government in confirming Acorn and the associated emitter projects, it has not yet been possible to deploy support from the EETF for CCUS. We are committed to supporting and accelerating the deployment of the Acorn project and the Scottish Cluster but until the UK Government award Acorn and the emitter projects, it is not possible to move forward with investment decisions.

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

Betting, gaming and lotteries are largely reserved matters and their regulation is primarily the responsibility of the UK Government. The Gambling Act 2005 (“the 2005 Act”) sets out how gambling in Great Britain should be regulated.

The Gambling Commission has responsibility for regulating commercial gambling in Great Britain and requires gambling operators to hold a licence to operate. The Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice require operators to comply with the Advertising Codes, administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

In advance of the publication of the UK Government White Paper on Gambling (published on 27 April 2023), Scottish Government officials met with the UK Government officials to discuss potential areas of gambling reform (including advertising and marketing).

The Scottish Government will continue to meet with the UK Government to discuss progress in taking forward the proposals within the White Paper. The Minister for Victims and Community Safety and I recently met with the Gambling Commission on 21st September to discuss the White Paper.

As stated in my response to S6W-18105 on 5 June 2023, the Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards in Scotland to consider the recommendations in the Scottish Health Technologies Group report, published on 23 March 2023, and take steps to ensure that women who require access to placental growth factor (PlGF) based tests as part of their maternity care can do so.

The Scottish Government wrote to all NHS Boards on 20 July to request an update on progress towards implementation of PlGF testing. Officials have now received returns from all 14 territorial NHS Boards and are currently analysing the responses.

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 met members of the Scottish Perinatal Network at the National Best Start Learning Event on 28 June, however have not had a formal meeting with the Scottish Perinatal Network since taking up office. My Officials regularly meet with the Network and sit on the Network Oversight Board, and Maternity and Neonatal Steering Groups.