Chamber and committees

There are currently two referral pathways which are being utilised by clinicians in Scotland to allow patients to access magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) treatment for essential tremor.

The Scottish MPA Monitoring Strategy sets out the Scottish Government approach to MPA related survey and monitoring to meet the requirements of assessing and reporting under a number of legislative and policy drivers including the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. To meet these reporting and assessment obligations there is a need to gather appropriate evidence to assess the condition of the sites and determine whether any implemented management measures are proving effective. This information has contributed to reports such as Scotland's Marine Assessment 2020 and the 2018 Report to Parliament.

Officials have been working across government portfolios to understand, in detail, the causes and drivers of economic inactivity in Scotland. Addressing the challenges around inactivity are complex and although there have been improvements in the rate in recent months we are focussed on rising to those challenges.

Work is ongoing to embed labour market participation as a key objective within existing policies across health, economy and education. For example we are looking at how our health system and employability services can better support people to stay healthy in work, and move in to good work from inactivity.

The Inactivity rate is measured through National Statistics sources including the Labour Force Survey, published monthly and the more robust Annual Population Survey, published quarterly is one metric which will be used to measure success.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15219 on‎ 6 March 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

Spend on our trunk road improvement projects is managed within the Capital Land and Works allocation of £121.9 million as part of the Motorway and Trunk Roads Spending Plans set out in the Scottish Budget: 2023-24. This covers preparation and delivery of a range of projects and programmes including A9 Dualling Perth to Inverness, the A83 Rest and Be Thankful medium and long options and improvements to the A96 corridor as well as a number of other projects and programmes. Spend on each individual project is managed with the Capital Land and Works allocation budget line which reflects the scope of work anticipated to be taken forward within the financial year.

The Blue Flag programme in Scotland was discontinued at the end of 2016 and replaced with the Scottish Beach Awards scheme. Keep Scotland Beautiful will announce the 2023 beach awards winners before the start of the bathing season. In order for a beach to achieve an award there is a criteria for local environmental quality, which includes consideration of the bathing water quality standards.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is responsible for monitoring, classifying protecting and improving water quality at designated bathing waters. 98% of bathing waters currently meet the bathing water standards with more beaches being classified as excellent than ever before.

The Scottish Government is currently in the process of developing three sectoral Just Transition Plans, on Transport, Buildings and Construction, and Land Use and Agriculture, following our commitment to deliver Just Transition Plans for high-emitting sectors. We will also be taking account of consultation responses to revise the Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan.

We have shared preliminary discussion material for each Plan with the Just Transition Commission, who continue to advise on current progress and next steps. As advised by the Commission, discussion papers for each Plan are due to be shared publicly in the coming weeks. These will support extensive public and stakeholder engagement over the summer, to inform the drafting of full Plans over the course of the next year.

The Scottish Government has committed to a process of a judge-led inquiry once all legal proceedings relating to the malicious prosecutions are at an end. The exact form of inquiry will be determined at the point once all legal proceedings are concluded. The Scottish Ministers will announce when an inquiry will be held and the Justice Directorate has been identified as the directorate to lead on providing advice to Ministers.

The former Lord Advocate, James Wolffe KC, advised Parliament on 9 February 2021 that the Crown is committed to supporting an inquiry.

Shelagh McCall KC has been instructed to independently consider reports of criminal conduct from a legal perspective in relation to the prosecutions connected to Rangers Football Club. This process is in place to ensure that any allegations of criminal conduct are considered fairly and objectively.

The civil litigation and the work of Shelagh McCall KC remains ongoing at this time, and it would be inappropriate to comment on specifics in respect of these cases. However, the Crown remain committed to supporting an inquiry once all legal proceedings have concluded.

Professor Anna Glasier OBE was appointed as the first Women’s Health Champion for Scotland on 26 January 2023.

Professor Glasier has been contracted to work four days a month, with her tenure coming to an end in June 2024.

Professor Glasier recently published her first Women’s Health Champion update blog which can be found here: Health and Social Care My first update as Women's Health Champion - Health and Social Care (blogs.gov.scot)

The UK Government’s own economic modelling shows that the agriculture and semi-processing sectors will lose out because of the UK-Australia trade deal. The approach taken in the negotiation of that deal also does not align with our Vision for Trade, which references the benefits of trade agreements but makes clear that these must include appropriate safeguards for our producers in sensitive sectors, like beef and lamb. The former Secretary of State for DEFRA, George Eustice MP, who was in post while these recent trade deals were negotiated, expressed a similar view when he said in the UK Parliament on 14 November 2022 that “Wedid not need to give Australia or New Zealand full liberalisation in beef and sheep – it was not in our economic interest to do so”. Also, and in sharp contrast, the recent EU trade deal with New Zealand seems to have secured significantly stronger protections for domestic EU producers.

Overall, the gains for Scottish food producers of the UK-Australia trade deal are marginal. While tariffs will be removed on a range of exports, these only benefit certain products such as Scotch Whisky. These gains are offset by the liberal market access the UK has agreed which will allow the import of agri-food products, often produced on a mass scale and to lower standards of production than in Scotland. This will have an adverse impact on our agri-food producers and economy.

Tariff liberalisation may benefit consumers by marginally increasing choice and reducing the price of imported products, for example red meat, wine, dairy and eggs. However, there is a greater risk to the Scottish economy if this displaces domestic products.

Ultimately, these Trade deals go nowhere near replacing the lost trade from the disastrous Brexit deal the UK Government negotiated with the EU.