Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is committed to an infrastructure solution to address the A83 Rest and Be Thankful landslip risks. Delivery of a permanent and resilient solution is a priority, and Transport Scotland continues to seek ways to achieve that as quickly as possible.

Following publication of draft Orders for both the long-term solution and future phases of the medium-term solution on 13 December 2024 Transport Scotland received a number of representations, including objections, to the published draft Orders and the project team are working to resolve these where possible.

If it is not possible to resolve the objections a Public Local Inquiry may be required to consider objections received and not withdrawn.

As with all infrastructure projects, procurement and construction of the long-term solution can only commence if it is approved under the relevant statutory authorisation process and thereafter a timetable for delivery can be determined.

Ministers are at the early stages of taking forward the commitment to introduce a Rural Renewal Bill. Further details on stakeholder engagement will be available in due course.

Ministers are at the early stages of taking forward the commitment to introduce a Rural Renewal Bill. Further details on stakeholder engagement will be available in due course.

Scottish ministers have committed in the Rural Support Plan to providing certainty, preparation, and investment over the next five years, ensuring that our farmers and crofters have the confidence to invest and prepare for changes. Scottish Ministers remain clear in their commitment to support farmers and crofters to produce more of our food more sustainably. In support of that commitment The Code of Practice on Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture published in March 2026 highlights the types of activities that can be adopted on a farm or croft, that will contribute to ever more resilient agricultural production.

It is important that the Scottish Government conducts constructive and collaborative relationships with all of the democratically elected governments across Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Scottish Government engages with the current Northern Ireland Executive in the same way as our predecessors have done since the power sharing agreement was formed.

The Scottish Government has the greatest sympathy and deepest respect for all those who suffered as a consequence of the Troubles. We are also deeply grateful to all of the men and women who have previously, and continue, to serve in the armed forces.

The Scottish Government has a clear focus on ensuring women have access to safe, person-centred and high quality maternity care, and I look forward giving a statement to Parliament in the coming weeks on how the Scottish Government will be further improving maternity services across the country.

It is already a matter of public record that the Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce is reviewing the issues facing rural communities, including Caithness.

The safety of our maternity services is a priority to this government, which is why we have committed to undertake an independent review of maternity services in Scotland. I will shortly be setting out a statement to Parliament detailing what the review will consider, when it will be delivered, how it will engage with stakeholders and how it will be led.

Data on collisions which cause injury and take place on the road network, including adjacent pavements and cycle lanes, is collected by Police Scotland as part of the Great Britain-wide dataset known as STATS19.

The following tables provide the number of injury road collisions recorded as involving an e-bike or an e-scooter and pedestrians between 2016 and 2024, the last full year for which we currently have data.

E-scooters and e-bikes are not designated vehicle types collected within STATS19, and as such they can only be identified using free-text fields which capture other vehicles and similar. This is likely to represent an incomplete record of e-bikes in particular, as it is not always possible to identify where e-bikes may have been recorded as bicycle or electric motorcycle, which are both designated vehicle types.

Transport Scotland is currently part of a working group led by the Department for Transport, which is considering how the collection of injury road collision data for different vehicle types, and for e-bikes in particular, can be improved.

Number of injury road collisions involving e-bikes and pedestrians

I look forward to giving a statement to Parliament before summer recess which will set out further detail on what the independent review will consider, how it will be led and how it will engage with stakeholders, including in Caithness.

The Scottish Government supports Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and training providers to work with employers to raise awareness of the benefits of apprenticeships to their business.

SDS promote all types of apprenticeship opportunities, including bricklaying, as an attractive career path through their all-age career service, in every local authority. An SDS Careers Adviser is embedded in every school in Scotland to highlight the career options available to people, including apprenticeships.

The My World of Work website, used in schools to support young people, includes in depth information about apprenticeships, whilst apprenticeships.scot is promoted to all ages as the main source of information about Scottish Apprenticeships. SDS also work with partners and employers to highlight the importance of apprenticeships particularly through Scottish Apprenticeship Week.

SDS has also explored how to better support the construction workforce through the recently published research they commissioned, on behalf of the Skills and Workforce Group of the Construction Accord.

In tandem, a short-life working group led by the Scottish Funding Council, has focused on developing practical solutions to strengthen learner pathways and improve workforce retention in the sector. This work, in collaboration with the Scottish Government, college sector, SDS and the Construction Industry Training Board, is nearing completion.