Chamber and committees

The Options Appraisal Report , published on 25 July 2023 describes the process undertaken to determine the three final Neonatal Intensive Care Units, and the feasibility analysis and testing that followed the conclusion of that process. Annex A of the Report includes the criteria and weighting used for the Options Appraisal Process. Annexes C and D of the report outline the data that supported the Options Appraisal process.

Further detail on the methodology and the scoring of individual units can be found as part of the following Freedom of Information request:

Information relating to Options Appraisal Report: FOI release - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The 5 reports from the Neonatal Early Implementers have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (BIB number 64669).

The Best Start emphasises parents as key partners in caring for their baby and aims to keep mothers and babies, and families together as much as possible in the crucial early weeks, with services designed around them.

The new model of care aims to minimise the separation of families, and to support parents with babies in neonatal care. We have a number of measures already in place to support families:

• Providing accommodation for parents to stay on or near neonatal units;
• Roll out of the Young Patients Family Fund (formerly the Neonatal Expenses Fund) to support families with the costs of travel, accommodation and food whilst their baby is in neonatal care;
• and
• Repatriating babies to their local neonatal units as soon as clinically possible.

Under the new model of care mothers in suspected extreme pre-term labour are transferred before they give birth (in-utero) to maternity units in the hospitals that have neonatal intensive care units. Experience from the Early Implementer Boards indicates that this will happen in the vast majority of cases. On occasion when it is not possible to transfer mothers before they give birth, the baby will be stabilised and transferred to a NICU by the specialist neonatal transport service ScotSTAR, and the mother will be transferred to the maternity unit in the same hospital as her baby.

Assessments are made at local level of the potential impacts of non-native species on peatland sites and other priority habitats, through implementation of the Forestry Environmental Impact Assessment regulations, and the implementation of the UK Forestry Standard and associated guidance.

NatureScot is currently undertaking an initial national GIS analysis to estimate the potential scale and distribution of regeneration onto peatland from commercial plantations. This analysis could contribute to an assessment of the potential impact on carbon sequestration and peatland restoration targets in due course. Other assessments have been made on a site by site basis, specifically in Caithness and Sutherland, which have guided management planning.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. I recommend contacting your local authority who may be able to advise.

Dredging and the sea deposit of dredged material are licensable marine activities under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and a marine licence granted by Marine Directorate – Licensing Operations Team (MD-LOT) on behalf of the Scottish Ministers is required for the activities. A marine licence or dredging authorisation granted to Clydeport does not place a requirement on the port to dredge. It only permits the activity if the port determines it is necessary.

The Statutory Harbour Authority (SHA) for the area is Clydeport (Peel Ports) which is responsible for marine safety in its area of jurisdiction and has a statutory duty to maintain its navigable waterways and channels. SHAs are independent statutory bodies – each governed by their own local legislation – and are deemed commercial entities. Therefore, the Scottish Government has no say in the day-to-day running of their business, nor can it dictate business decisions made by a company.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency, on behalf of the Department of Transport, conduct a three yearly Port Marine Safety Code (PMSC) compliance exercise where every SHA, berth, terminal, or marine facility is required to submit a signed statement confirming their compliance with the PMSC. For the period 2021-2023 inclusive, a statement confirming compliance was received from Clydeport.

In our Control Period 6 (2019 – 2024) through our High Level Output Statement (HLOS) we tasked Network Rail with development of an efficient electrification technical specification optimised for Scotland, in order to deliver an efficient and affordable rolling programme of electrification, with appropriate plant, staff and resources based in Scotland. We have built on this on our Control Period 7 HLOS with a requirement placed on to Network Rail to continue to deliver and further develop the efficient electrification technical specification agreed across Team Scotland (Network Rail, Transport Scotland and ScotRail).

With all rail infrastructure works, including railway electrification, Transport Scotland’s officials actively engage with Network Rail and rail industry partners to seek ways to reduce the cost of construction.

For example, Transport Scotland participates in Network Rail Scotland’s Decarbonisation Innovation workstream. This workstream aligns with Network Rail’s Efficient Electrification work with the goal of enabling cost and time savings for electrification schemes as well as identifying process and safety improvements.

Transport Scotland has maintained a rolling programme of electrification work, unlike elsewhere in Great Britain, as reflected in current work on Barrhead and then East Kilbride to ensure learning curve benefits are consolidated.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The member may wish to contact the British Transport Police.

The Scottish Government’s Home Report Review is expected later in the current parliamentary term. The review will take account of the recommendations outlined in the five-year review published in 2015 and be informed by work on wider housing considerations including Housing Standards.

Stantec's Community Needs Assessment report on transport connectivity for Cowal and Rosneath has recently been finalised and is intended for publication by Transport Scotland in the new year once its contents have been reviewed and considered.