Chamber and committees

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.

At the current time, of the Twitter accounts managed centrally by Scottish Government Communications, 8 have a grey tick and 25 do not have a grey tick. Organisations are required to apply for verification from Twitter via an online form. Twitter have indicated that requests for grey checkmarks are reviewed regularly and wait times may vary. We do not hold data on the verification status of accounts run by public bodies as these are managed directly by those organisations and any application for grey tick checkmarks will be made directly to Twitter.

I am accountable to parliament for both strategies. A dedicated strategy to support young people with cancer, “Collaborative and Compassionate Cancer Care, The Cancer Strategy for Children and Young People in Scotland 2021-2026”, was published in 2021 and is the first NHS Scotland strategy for this age group.

The implementation and delivery of this strategy is supported by the Managed Service Network for children and young people with cancer (MSN CYPC), which was established to support the specialist delivery of cancer care and support required by children and young people with cancer.

The MSN has representation on various national groups which impact both adult and children cancer patients. In addition, Scottish Government officials sit on the MSN Executive groups to ensure direct alignment across both strategies.

The Scottish Government has consulted and sought views on Community Wealth Building (CWB) legislation, and as part of this, sought views on a duty and need for statutory or non-statutory guidance. Analysis of this consultation will take place over Summer 2023.

Further, a CWB Guide offering practical support for those seeking to pursue a CWB approach was published in January 2023. This guide was supported by the Scottish Government and produced by Economic Development Association Scotland (EDAS) and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES).

We remain determined to reduce alcohol-related harms and take a proportionate, whole population approach to address them. For example, we are reviewing our world-leading Minimum Unit Pricing as well as Alcohol Brief Intervention Programme.

We are also working collaboratively with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) across Scotland to understand and help resolve local issues and support them in identifying ways to improve services, such as monitoring waiting times. Last year, £106.8 million was made available to ADPs, and nationally there is ongoing work, including the upcoming UK Alcohol Treatment Guidelines and development of alcohol treatment targets for April 2024.

£250 million has been put in place over five-year National Mission to tackle drug-related harm and a substantial part of it offers help to those impacted by alcohol. This includes £100 million investment in residential rehabilitation, where the majority of patients are being treated for issues related either solely to alcohol or a combination of alcohol and drugs.

The Scottish Government continues to make progress to deliver on the Programme for Government commitment to develop a framework for Scotland which effectively tackles and challenges men’s demand for prostitution, and to support those with experience of it.

Principles to underpin the Framework were published in December 2022. The principles have been adopted across Scottish Government and we will look to have them incorporated within the planned refresh of Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy to take action on all forms of violence against women and girls. The principles will also inform relevant policy and practice across the wider public and third sector, in turn supporting Scotland’s collective approach to tackling Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

The key focus throughout 2023 will be to use the principles to define the component parts of a Framework that will improve access to support for any adult with experience of prostitution, and at the same time challenge men’s demand. We anticipate being able to outline the component parts of the framework before the end of the year.

As with the development of the principles, we will continue to work with stakeholders as this work progresses and keep them advised of progress.

The Scottish Government are investing £7.08m through the Scottish Safety Camera Programme in 2023-24 to reduce the number of casualties on Scotland’s roads by encouraging improved driver behaviour through the targeted deployment of safety cameras.

A range of safety camera resources are already deployed across the North Coast 500 and plans are in place to increase the level of resources during peak tourist season.

In addition, Transport Scotland are in regular discussions with local stakeholders to explore ways to further enhance road safety in the north of Scotland. This includes discussion through the Road Safety Framework Local Partnership Forum – North which next meets on 15 June 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17540 on 11 May 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 .

Circularity Scotland are working on the agreement currently and will update in due course. Producers can contact Circularity Scotland directly for updates.

Neither the Scottish Government nor Health Boards hold data on privately paid prescriptions provided by independent healthcare providers.