Chamber and committees

Over the course of this parliament the Scottish Government has committed £100 million to support further investment in residential rehabilitation and associated aftercare. We aim to increase the number of publicly funded placements by more than 300 per cent over the five years of the programme so that, by 2026, at least 1,000 people every year are publicly funded for their rehab placement.

In order to facilitate this increase we are working to increase capacity by 50% which is an increase from 425 beds to 650 beds. As well as increasing funding to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships allocated for residential rehab and developing more standardised commissioning processes we have made national investment in expanding capacity through the Recovery Fund.

The Scottish Government has provided the funding needed to increase capacity for residential rehab, however we cannot allocate beds to any specific individual or age group. This is the responsibility of Alcohol and Drug Partnerships and residential rehabilitation providers, who have the necessary expertise for deciding referrals, assessments of suitability and admissions to their facilities on a case by case basis.

We have set up a multi-agency working group focused specifically on improving services for young people. This group will engage with a range of young people to better understand their alcohol/drug use and their preferences for support, and their work will shape how we improve the provision and access to age appropriate treatment and support services in Scotland.

The Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce funded a project through Stirling University to research and develop the key components required to implement Drug Checking facilities. Research began in January 2021 and will conclude with an evaluation report in January 2023.

Home office licenses must be granted before project teams can implement Drug Checking facilities.

The project team from Glasgow plan to submit their license to the Home Office by the end of April 2022.

The project team from NHS Grampian plan to submit their license for a drug checking facility in Aberdeen to the Home Office by the end of June 2022.

Brain and Central Nervous System cancer waiting times were part of the extending tumour site audit and were introduced into Cancer Waiting Times reporting for 2013 only. Since then, boards have not been required to submit these data. NHS boards may hold this data locally, PHS does not hold the data centrally.

The Scottish Government announced investment of £580m in ports and vessels to support and improve Scotland’s ferry services, as part of our wider five year Infrastructure Investment Plan, in February 2021. This investment is in addition to the delivery of MV Glen Sannox and Hull 801 which are currently under construction at Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow. Infrastructure Investment Plan for Scotland 2021-2022 to 2025-2026

On new vessel procurement, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) has progressed two projects. The most advanced of these is the Islay vessel procurement. CMAL is currently assessing bids submitted by the four shipyards who met the initial assessment criteria. The contract award is expected to be made by the end of March 2022, subject to agreeing suitable terms, with anticipated vessel delivery dates around late 2024 for vessel 1 and early to mid 2025 for vessel 2. The second vessels project, which is currently at its early stages, is phase one of the Small Vessel Replacement Programme (SVRP), considering up to seven new vessels for Clyde and Hebrides services. Design development is underway with potential vessel delivery from late 2025.

A number of infrastructure upgrade projects are currently in the design and construction stages to support the arrival of new tonnage to the fleet and the associated cascade redeployment impact of these new vessels. For example, infrastructure upgrade works at Uig (Skye) will replace life expired infrastructure and improve the capacity, reliability and resilience for the longer term benefit of the Skye Triangle routes; and works are well underway at Troon to facilitate the use of the port during the construction period at Ardrossan and to allow its use as an alternative mainland port during any periods of disruption on the network.

I include a list of “Live projects” below with expected completion dates currently ranging between 2023 to 2028. All completion dates for these and any future projects remain subject to funding; procurement and contractor award. Some projects also may feel the impact on any changes to the Vessel procurement programmes and any subsequent associated vessel cascades.

Lochboisdale/Gasay Infrastructure project

Islay Vessel Enabling :

Kennacraig

Port Ellen Terminal Development Project

Port Askaig in Islay

Colonsay

Gourock/Dunoon/Kilcreggan Vessels- power supplies and associated works

Skye Triangle :

Tarbert Terminal Building

Lochmaddy infrastructure works

Uig infrastructure works

Craignure-Oban (Mull) New Vessel project

The Scottish Government does not currently have infrastructure or vessel design contracts with either company; Mott MacDonald or BMT; that is overseen or is directly managed by Transport Scotland, however both companies are used by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) as part of their Professional Consultancy Services Framework.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) awarded a £155,000 contract to international design and engineering firm BMT to provide consultancy services for the concept design of a new passenger ferry for the Gourock, Dunoon and Kilcreggan routes as part of the Gourock Dunoon Kilcreggan Infrastructure and Vessels Programme.

Following a public sector procurement process, in August 2020, CMAL appointed engineering firm Mott MacDonald to draw up high-level options for the redevelopment of Gourock harbour.

Mott MacDonald was also awarded a £1.5 million contract which covers design consultancy services for vessel enabling works at Port Ellen and Port Askaig in Islay, Kennacraig and Colonsay.

Further details of these projects can be found here - CMAL Caledonian Maritime Assets LtdHome - CMAL Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (cmassets.co.uk) .

The outputs from Project Neptune will be considered alongside the suite of existing documents that support our ambitious vision for Scotland’s transport system for the next 20 years.

The value and duration of the contracts the Scottish Government has signed with Ernst & Young in connection with the Scottish ferries network since 1 January 2015 are listed below:

Project Neptune - £156,000 – 2021-2022

Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services: Financial Support - £404,000 – 2015-end of CHFS contract .

Decisions on lending and investment are a matter for the Scottish National Investment Bank. I have asked the Bank about how their lending in 2021 aimed to benefit women’s equality in Scotland, and their response is as follows:

“Due diligence of all potential investments includes consideration of gender balance across workforce, management and Board.

“The Bank engages with investees on representation and equality issues, and has required reporting on gender balance (and pay gap) where practical. Moving forward the Bank will aim to have gender equality and gender pay gap reporting for all investments. Where appropriate, the Bank will also consider engagement with investees to enhance opportunities that increase gender equality opportunities in Bank investments.”

The Scottish Government is aware that Crown Estate Scotland have issued Mines Royal Options Agreements for gold and silver exploration in south west Scotland. The Scottish Government do not have direct involvement in this process, and do not hold details of Crown Estate Scotland Option Agreements or leases for mineral exploration. You may wish to contact Crown Estate Scotland directly at [email protected] .

There are no plans to review the Access Code. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 is clear that conduct excluded from access rights includes being on or crossing land while responsible for a dog which is not under proper control. The Access Code sets a balance between the rights of those taking access and those of land managers. It states that when in a field of farm animals, people should keep their dog on a short lead or under close control and keep as far as possible from the animals. Dogs should not be taken into fields where there are lambs, calves or other young animals.

The Scottish Government considers that this advice accords with the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2021 which strengthened the law around livestock worrying by increasing the maximum penalties for offences. The small minority who do not treat livestock with respect and care must be held accountable and consequences must appropriately reflect the severity of their crime.

The Scottish Government, in November 2021, issued a joint protocol for the examination of dogs suspected of livestock worrying and seized by Police Scotland under the 2021 Act. That offers guidance to veterinarians who may be asked to examine such dogs.