Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-06498 on 18 March 2022. 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 we recover from the pandemic ScotRail Trains Limited will adapt its rail services to meet passenger demand and travel patterns, the latter of which is likely to be markedly different to that experienced previously.

Though there has not been a specific date nor target level set for the increased revenue Transport Scotland will continue to monitor the revenue situation as it is reported on a period by period basis so as to enable Ministers to make informed decisions at all times.

Encouragingly, patronage levels on our railway are improving. In the middle of last year (week ended Saturday 3July), reported demand stood at about 831,000 journeys. By the week ended Saturday 5 March 2022, reported demand had increased to 1,183,000 journeys.

This is a matter for individual Health Boards. We do not hold this specific information centrally.

Since 2018-19, as part of our annual staff governance monitoring exercise, Boards advise us of the number of formal bullying and harassment cases raised locally each year. This information was not requested in 2019-20 due to the pandemic.

The information we hold does not separate out the number of cases that relate to bullying, sexual harassment or other forms of harassment. We also do not hold information on the outcome of these cases or level of compensation if paid.

The Boards have reported the following information to us (please note where numbers of cases are less than 5, we cannot give specific figures for reasons of maintaining anonymity):

? NHS Ayrshire & Arran reported less than 5 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 19 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Borders reported 6 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 7 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Dumfries & Galloway reported 8 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 7 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Fife reported 17 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 9 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Forth Valley reported 12 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Grampian reported 14 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 8 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde reported 21 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 10 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Highland reported 14 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 38 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Lanarkshire reported 27 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 7 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Lothian reported 41 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 36 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Orkney reported less than 5 formal complaint of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Shetland reported less than 5 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Tayside reported 6 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 13 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Western Isles reported less than 5 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 6 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Education for Scotland reported no formal complaints in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Golden Jubilee Foundation reported less than 5 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Healthcare Improvement Scotland reported less than 5 formal complaint of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and no cases in 2020-2021.

? NHS Health Scotland - Public Health Scotland reported no formal complaints in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS National Services Scotland reported 16 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 6 in 2020-2021.

? NHS State Hospital reported less than 5 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS 24 reported 12 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and less than 5 in 2020-2021.

? NHS Scottish Ambulance Service reported 24 formal complaints of bullying and harassment in 2018-2019 and 7 in 2020-2021.

There are no costs or benefits associated with the wholesale sector in the economic model underpinning the final Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment.

After intensive engagement with the wholesale sector we concluded that industry has options to minimise any costs of DRS for the supply chain.

Transport Operators across all modes of public transport are fully committed to ensuring public transport is accessible to disabled people. They are also bound by legal duties under the Equalities Act 2010 which are strengthened through the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR) to deliver equal access to their services.

Scottish Ministers have made clear their expectations through the Accessible Travel framework and its annual delivery plans, that Scotland’s transport operators will continually improve their performance to help disabled people travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens.

As a result, a number of improvements have been made by operators to ensure that key issues facing disabled people are met such as Infrastructure, Ticketing, Staff Training, Passenger Information and Assistance.

In January 2021, the First Minister announced an additional investment of £250 million to tackle drug deaths, £100 million of which was allocated to develop residential rehabilitation services and associated aftercare over the next five years. Alongside this, the Scottish Government provided Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) with a £13.5 million uplift per year, over the next five years, £5 million of which has been allocated to support additional residential rehabilitation capacity across Scotland. However, this uplift did not start until the 2021-2022 financial year.

The distribution from the ADP uplift within the Highlands and Islands region in 2021-22, from the £5 million allocated for residential rehabilitation, is as follows:

Argyll and Bute: £95,095

Highland: £234,516

Shetland: £24,422

Orkney: £25,066

Western Isles: £33,425.

This brings the total amount of funding allocated so far to ADPs within the Highlands and Islands region to £412,524.

Police Recorded Crime statistics can only identify the likely presence of a knife for crimes of ‘possessing an article with a blade or point in a public setting’. Tables of the requested data have been placed within the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (BIB number 63223).

There are two measures of possessing an article with a blade or point in a public setting - one for where the weapon was not used in other criminal activity, and one for where it was used in other criminal activity. For the former, data has been presented by local authority for the requested time period of 1999-00 to 2020-21. Data for the latter is only available from 2017-18 onwards, following implementation of a procedural change to the recording of weapon possession crimes.

The amount of funding allocated to, and paid to successful applicants to the Forestry Grant Scheme in each year from 2016 to 2021 is shown in Table 1.

Claimed grant is normally lower than the total grant award as a result of contracts that were not delivered on time due to a range of circumstances including weather conditions during the planting season, succession of land ownership during the contract delivery period and requests for contract variation to subsequent years.

The health and wellbeing of everyone in Scotland, including those who are immunosuppressed or immuno-compromised, is paramount as we transition out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the success of the initial vaccination programme, the Scottish Government recently announced that a spring booster dose will be offered to everyone aged 12 and over who is immunosuppressed, in line with the JCVI recommendations.

Immunosuppressed individuals are also eligible for new treatments to minimise the impact of Covid-19, should they contract it, and have priority access to testing to ensure they receive these as quickly as possible. We will continue to respond to scientific and clinical advice regarding COVID treatments, making sure that those who we know will benefit most from them are able to access them.

We will continue to provide advice and information for people on the Highest Risk List in the meantime, including how to get help to re-connect with people and things they were doing before the pandemic, and we will continue to look at ways to identify people who may be at higher risk and ask them to follow the individualised advice from their GP or clinician who knows their circumstances and health condition best.

The presumption against short sentences was extended from 3 months or less to 12 months or less in July 2019. While relevant sentencing data is being monitored, the impact of COVID-19 on court business means it is not possible to confidently identify and attribute cause to any trends in court disposals in the period monitored to date. Caution is also required generally in attributing changes in sentencing patterns to any particular factor.

A bulletin ‘Extended presumption against short sentences: monitoring information - January - December 2020’ was published on 23 March 2021 and is available at www.gov.scot . In addition, the latest criminal proceedings bulletin presents data for the financial year 2019-2020, which includes 9 months of sentencing data after the extension.

While there is no estimate in the reduction of people receiving custodial sentences as a result of the presumption, the criminal proceedings statistics show that between 2018-19 and 2019-20, there was a 13 percent reduction in the number of custodial sentences of 12 months or less from 9,585 to 8,324. The number of custodial sentence of “up to 3 months” decreased by 19% from 3,139 in 2018-19 to 2,551 in 2019-20, and is less than half the number ten years ago.