Chamber and committees

The South West Scotland Breast Screening Clinic does not accept GP referrals. Patients are referred to the clinic through the national screening programme, therefore this data is not available. The clinic does track the waiting time from initial screening to assessment. In May, the wait to assessment was 100% by week 3.

Housing to 2040 is Scotland’s first ever long-term national housing strategy and makes clear our ambition to deliver 100,000 affordable homes by 2031-32, 70% of which will be for Social Rent.

Local authorities as the statutory housing authority are responsible for assessing housing requirements in their area and setting out their plans to meet these requirements as part of their Local Housing Strategy and Strategic Housing Investment Plan.

The total cost of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People and Young Persons is £223,097,800.

This cost is for financial year 2020-21, and includes free bus and ferry travel and the Covid-19 Support Grant payments for the Older and Disabled People scheme, and bus, rail and ferry travel for young people aged 16-18 and volunteers up to age 25.

The Scottish Government has been reviewing the restrictions and guidance in place regularly.

Following the most recent review, the First Minister announced on 13 July that all remaining parts of Scotland would move to protection level 0 of the updated Strategic Framework with effect from 19 July.

This decision means that under our published guidance up to 200 people can now attend a marriage ceremony or wedding reception subject to the capacity of the couple’s chosen venue with the appropriate physical distancing in place.

In addition, we have amended the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Local Levels) (Restrictions and Requirements) Regulations 2020 to reduce the required physical distance between households indoors to 1 metre in all public venues.

The First Minister’s statement summarises the evidence and data supporting these decisions. Information about strategy and evidence is published at Coronavirus in Scotland (see Scottish Government strategy and evidence). We have also published a report on the outcomes of the recent physical distancing review and information about the current state of the epidemic .

In line with local partnerships’ responsibility for local suicide prevention planning and delivery, NHS Forth Valley recently appointed a strategic suicide and drug related death prevention co-ordinator who is engaging with the National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group’s delivery lead for local suicide prevention action planning. This has enabled support and advice on local suicide prevention planning and evaluation in line with the (NSPLG) April 2021 guidance ( https://www.cosla.gov.uk/about-cosla/our-teams/health-and-social-care/local-area-suicide-prevention-action-plan-guidance ). Further details on local suicide prevention planning, including specific activities taking place in the area, can be provided by the local co-ordinator.

More broadly, the Scottish Government understands that mental health and suicide prevention has been identified as a strategic priority in the Falkirk area, and that the Community Planning Partnership has developed practical resources to support people with their mental health, including in response to the impacts of the pandemic.

The current Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) contract is due to expire in September 2024. Work is underway to consider the appropriate approach to future contracts and tendering. No decisions on the form of tender or timescales have been taken as yet.

Please find the requested information set out in the following table:

The Scottish Government has and will provide funding to support the chartering of suitable vessels to assist resilience on our ferry networks, as demonstrated by the current charter of MV Arrow by CalMac Ferries Ltd.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and CalMac Ferries Ltd continually search the market for suitable second-hand tonnage.

The resources referred to in the previous answer related to staffing resources within Transport Scotland.

Those officials who had been asked to respond to the challenges presented by the pandemic to our transport network and the impacts on Islands communities are now returning to normal duties, and has been made clear, a priority has been restarting the work taking forward identifying potential options for reducing fares on ferry services across the Pentland Firth.

The development of the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) published in December 2020 by Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Government involved close engagement with Industry Leadership Groups and associated skills groups to identify skills requirements and activity underway in support of the transition to net zero.

The CESAP Implementation Steering Group meets quarterly to drive forward progress and is attended by industry representation bodies such as Scottish Renewables and Scottish Engineering as well as trade unions who feed in their expertise.

As outlined in CESAP and our 100 Day Commitment Manifesto, we will shortly launch the Green Jobs Workforce Academy, a national long term programme to support the retraining and upskilling needed for the transition to net zero.

Sectoral discussions between the Scottish Government and industry regarding training for workers transitioning to net zero is ongoing. Some recent examples include:

• Last year Transport Scotland worked with the Scottish Motor Trade Association, and the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) to research the skills required for mass uptake of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles.
• The Scottish Government has discussed skills required to deliver a just transition to net zero with industry representatives through its manufacturing recovery plan, delivered via a public and private sector partnership.
• In December 2020 the Implementation Steering Group for the Skills Action Plan for Rural Scotland discussed alignment to CESAP. Its membership includes Confor (forestry and timber industry), Seafood Scotland, tourism bodies and business organisations.
• The Energy Skills Alliance, which includes industry membership bodies and government agencies discussed the delivery of a work programme to ensure industry is prepared to meet the future demand for skills in oil and gas, and other related energy industries.