Chamber and committees

I refer the Member to the answer to question S6W-28627 on‎ 31 July 2024.

All answers to Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers .

The decision to grant planning permission for an extension to an existing substation at Bearholm near Moffat was made by the relevant planning authority, Dumfries and Galloway Council.

Planning authorities are required to determine any valid application submitted to them in accordance with the relevant local development plan and National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) unless there are material considerations which justify a departure from the plan. The decision notice of the authority is required to include the reasons for the decision. In addition, as part of the decision-making process the authority is required to produce a report setting out their consideration of the application and the material considerations taken into account. The decision notice and report are published on the planning authority’s website.

Applications for consent for the Rivox Wind Energy Hub and Scoop Hill Community Wind Farm projects are currently with the Scottish Ministers for determination under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989.

It is important to recognise that the dualling of the A9 between Tomatin and Moy and indeed, the whole A9 dualling programme seeks to enhance journey reliability and safety for all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and bus and coach passengers, as well as vehicle drivers and passengers. The design of each project builds in these elements, for example, the provision of new bus stops is integral to the contract for the Tomatin to Moy section.

The advance works listed in the response to S6W-28536 on 7 August 2024 include the following elements of work that will make improvements for pedestrians, cyclists, and bus and coach passengers.

? Tomatin Distillery Access and Local Road Improvements Project:

This advance works contract provided new facilities for pedestrians, cyclists, and bus and coach passengers to facilitate more reliable and safer travel in the area. This included footpaths, a new footbridge which replaced an existing footbridge over All na Frithe watercourse, and new bus stops and bus shelters. Public lighting was also provided along the new footpaths. These enhancements were completed in autumn 2022.

? Lynebeg Railway Underbridge:

This advance works contract included the provision of a new bus lay-by and bus shelter, and associated sections of new footpath, to provide better facilities for pedestrians and bus and coach passengers. This enhancement was completed in Spring 2022.

The cost information available does not enable a breakdown of costs to be provided for each of these measures included in these advance works contracts.

These works have been delivered early as part of the advanced works contracts for the A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy project, which was the subject of statutory consultation following publication of draft Orders and the Environmental Statement on 18 May 2018. Prior to that date, consultations on developing proposals were undertaken with a number of individuals and organisations and those findings helped to inform the nature of and design of the measures set out above that have been undertaken to improve reliability and safety for pedestrians, cyclists and bus and coach passengers who travel on this section of the A9.

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 .

Following the conclusion of the procurement process and contract award for the A9 Dualling Tomatin to Moy project, I recently wrote to the Net Zero Energy and Transport Committee to disclose this information which I am aware is of great interest. An extract of this letter containing this information is provided below:

'Having considered carefully our obligations around confidentiality and transparency, and following consultation with the contractor involved, I can advise that the contract value for the single bid received in October 2022 in relation to the previous procurement for the A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy project was £169,986,287.00 at October 2022 prices.

At the time of receipt of this tender, which was the first procurement of a major roads project undertaken by Transport Scotland following the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scottish Ministers were unable to conclude that the tender submission represented best value for the taxpayer. As only a single tender was received on that procurement, no direct market comparator cost was available at that time. The cost of the tender received was significantly higher than both the original £115 million cost estimate for this project, even after allowing for significant inflationary effects, and a cost comparator bid of £136,945,150 compiled by Transport Scotland’s technical advisors.

I am delighted that the recent procurement process has led to a successful contract award and I am pleased to see progress with the delivery of the dualling. I am strongly of the view that the conclusion reached in respect of the previous procurement was appropriate based on the information available at that time. It is imperative that the Government ensures appropriate use of public funds and as best value for the taxpayer could not be demonstrated as outlined above, it was clearly not appropriate for the Government to proceed with a contract award at that time.'

Following careful consideration of the single tender received in 2022, the price of which was significantly higher than expected, Ministers concluded that award of the contract at that time would not represent best value for the taxpayer. Further background on this decision is set out in my response to S6W-28531 on 7 August 2024.

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 .

The investigation of reports relating to dangerous beauty products, such as counterfeit prescription only medicines (POMs) e.g. unlicensed botulinum toxins, is reserved to the UK Government.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for compliance with the regulatory requirements which govern the manufacture, distribution, retail sale/supply and advertisement of medicinal products, and the Scottish Government continues to work with and raise concerns to MHRA on these issues.

Other forms of potentially dangerous beauty products, that are not classified as medicinal products (e.g. non UKCA or CE marked dermal fillers), are not subject to the same laws. These should be reported to Local Authority Trading Standards (LATS), as they are responsible for investigating allegations of all forms of dangerous products.

The requested information on how many graduate nurses have been employed by NHS Scotland in 2024, broken down by (a) NHS board and (b) speciality is not centrally held.

Information on the number of nursing staff joining the NHS broken down by band, NHS board and specialty can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHS Scotland workforce (phase one) | Turas Data Intelligence (turnover tab)

All Scottish Ministers routinely use electronic boxes (‘e-boxes’) for ministerial business. Cabinet Folders are issued to Cabinet Secretaries on appointment.

Decisions on prescribing medicines are a matter of clinical judgement for the prescribing clinician in consultation with their patient. These should be based on individual clinical need, informed by relevant advice such as that issued by the General Medical Council (GMC) and guidance for the medicine.

The Scottish Government’s Menopause Clinical Reference Group, Chaired by Dr Heather Currie, has discussed the prescribing of testosterone for women in menopause. This group is exploring supplementary guidance for healthcare professionals on prescribing testosterone for loss of libido in menopause, in line with the British Menopause Society and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance.

Social Security Scotland has not been subject to any denial of service (DoS) attacks during the period between 30 June 2023 and 24 July 2024. During that same period, our security mechanisms protected our environment against 345,027 cyber events, the majority of which being external actors scanning our internet facing benefit systems to identify potential weaknesses.