Chamber and committees

Engaging with people with lived experience, including autistic people, and other neurodivergent groups, is essential to the work of the Scottish Government and we have put person-centred approaches at the heart of our work.

We have commissioned the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to support local areas to involve a range of neurodivergent voices in planning, decision making and delivery of neurodevelopmental pathways. NAIT will also set up a neurodevelopmental community of practice for professionals and will continue to work with neurodivergent people. This will support local practitioners in developing local practice in co-production.

In addition, the Scottish Government has involved people with lived experience in the development of a new leadership and engagement framework and in policy design around mental health support for autistic people and people with learning disabilities. This new way of working is based on the belief that the most effective and sustainable change is made by the people who need and use supports and services, in equal partnership with decision makers at all levels.

The Scottish Government welcomes the continued and significant benefit that horseracing brings to the Scottish economy, providing investment, tourism, and jobs in communities across Scotland. The annual review recently produced by Scottish Racing, clearly demonstrates this and the forecasted growth in the industry is hugely encouraging.

The Scottish Government was pleased to be able to support Scotland’s racecourses who were impacted so severely by Covid-19 and we look forward to working with Scottish Racing going forward to maximise the benefits the industry brings.

Transport Scotland is aware of concerns expressed by the local community in relation to signage on the A7 towards Langholm. Transport Scotland has reviewed the signing and is content that current signage is in accordance with national guidance document ‘Local Transport Note 1/94 Design and Use of Directional Traffic Signs’. In relation to the A7 trunk road, Langholm currently features on all route confirmatory signs northbound and southbound within Scotland, and on advance direction signage southbound in Hawick. Transport Scotland has engaged with officials at Department for Transport, National Highways and Cumbria County Council to discuss continuity of signing to Langholm on both sides of the border.

We will publish both the stakeholder roundtable notes and the consultation findings later this year.

We received around 3000 responses to the consultation on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion.

The Scottish Government meet weekly with the team at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to discuss their capital investment plans, including redevelopment of the Institute of Neurological Sciences in Glasgow. The Scottish Government would be happy to discuss with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde any plans they have to establish a Centre of Excellence for Brain Tumour Research in Scotland.

ScotRail submits complaints data to the rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). This data is published quarterly on the ORR website and can be obtained via the following link:-

Passenger rail service complaints | ORR Data Portal

Delivery partners are responsible for awareness raising and promotion of Scottish employability services, and use a variety of channels for this including social media. The Scottish Government’s Employability social media promotional activity to date has not used the TikTok platform.

Highland Council-run services between the Ardnamurchan peninsula and Corran have been cancelled for at least seven weeks as two vessels are repaired. The implementation of any temporary replacement service is a matter for the local authority.

The Scottish Government understands that in addition to the alternative foot passenger routes in place, significant work has taken place to improve road safety measures for vehicles using the detour along the A861. We understand that 24-hour works have been ongoing on the A861 and since the start of these arrangements a number of additional passing places have been introduced and extended, as well as improvements to drainage, patching works and use of roadside recovery where required. Further information on mitigations taken by the local authority can be found here .

The Scottish Government continues to engage with the Council on this important issue and the Minister for Transport met with the Council on 26 April. We understand that the expected return to service of the MV Corran remains early June.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government recognises the challenge for local authorities, including The Highland Council, that have responsibility for ferries, and have provided more than £136m over the last 5 years to support the running of these services.

Highland Council is currently working with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to explore options for military support. Once those discussions are complete, it will be for Highland Council to decide whether to proceed with a request for Military Aid to the Civil Authority (MACA)), at which point it would request support in processing from the Scottish Government.

Scottish Government Directorates and Departments do not submit requests directly to the MoD. Applications are submitted through the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Scottish Government is able to assist with this process, and the First Minister would consider whether to support any requests received.

The Scottish Government understands that the MoD was on site on 20 and 21 April to undertake an assessment of its capability to assist. The Scottish Government further understands that the Council has received a report from the MoD and this is being reviewed by the Council to determine what action, if any, can be taken as a consequence of the MOD’s findings.