Chamber and committees

Spend on our trunk road improvement projects is managed within the Capital Land and Works allocation of £121.9 million as part of the Motorway and Trunk Roads Spending Plans set out in the Scottish Budget: 2023-24. This covers preparation and delivery of a range of projects and programmes including A9 Dualling Perth to Inverness, the A83 Rest and Be Thankful medium and long options and improvements to the A96 corridor as well as a number of other projects and programmes. Spend on each individual project is managed with the Capital Land and Works allocation budget line which reflects the scope of work anticipated to be taken forward within the financial year.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15219 on‎ 6 March 2023. 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

Transport Scotland’s trunk road maintenance budget is not allocated on a route or part-route basis. It is distributed based upon need and prioritisation of schemes developed from regular inspections and condition surveys.

For financial year 2023-24, the current programmes identify a maintenance investment total of £5.22M for the A9 between Inverness and Scrabster, for schemes delivered through our North West Network Management Contract . Programmes across the contract will remain under review depending on new or emerging pressures.

The schemes include investment in Active Travel measures, road and bridge maintenance, road safety schemes and works to improve network resilience under emerging climate challenges (e.g. earthworks, larger drainage schemes)

This is in addition to ‘core operations’ (e.g. weekly inspections, incident response, winter treatments) which the contractor delivers across the whole of the North West unit throughout the life of the contract. These are paid through a tendered monthly rate that cannot be disaggregated for specific locations or extents.

The Scottish Government has committed to a process of a judge-led inquiry once all legal proceedings relating to the malicious prosecutions are at an end. The exact form of inquiry will be determined at the point once all legal proceedings are concluded. The Scottish Ministers will announce when an inquiry will be held and the Justice Directorate has been identified as the directorate to lead on providing advice to Ministers.

The former Lord Advocate, James Wolffe KC, advised Parliament on 9 February 2021 that the Crown is committed to supporting an inquiry.

Shelagh McCall KC has been instructed to independently consider reports of criminal conduct from a legal perspective in relation to the prosecutions connected to Rangers Football Club. This process is in place to ensure that any allegations of criminal conduct are considered fairly and objectively.

The civil litigation and the work of Shelagh McCall KC remains ongoing at this time, and it would be inappropriate to comment on specifics in respect of these cases. However, the Crown remain committed to supporting an inquiry once all legal proceedings have concluded.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-02056 on 23 March 2023 which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Meeting of the Parliament: 23/03/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website

The Cladding Stakeholder Group is an official level meeting. Issues raised by stakeholders are fed back to Ministers and considered as part of the Cladding Remediation Programme. The group has met on the following occasions:

The Scottish Ministers, in exercise of their powers under Section 88 of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, offer to give to the Scottish Police Authority an annual grant in connection with delivery of the operational policing aspects of the Scottish Safety Camera Programme. These operational aspects are undertaken by three regional safety camera units covering the north, east and west of Scotland.

The value of the grant for the 3 year period 2020-2023 is set out below.

Scottish Ministers remain committed to supporting Scotland’s fishing sector, which plays such a key role in contributing to our economic prosperity - especially in remote, rural and island communities.

Our Regional Inshore Fisheries Group (RIFG) Network is our main vehicle for delivering stakeholder-led fisheries management projects, as well as providing a forum for inshore commercial fishers and offering them a strong voice in matters that affect them.

Prior to the launch of our initial consultation, on 12 December 2022, Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) were discussed at a number of RIFG meetings –

• 7 October 2021 – All Chairs
• 4 November 2021 – All Chairs
• 5 November 2021 – West Coast
• 3 December 2021 – Outer Hebrides
• 13 December 2021 – North & East Coast
• 24 January 2022 – All Chairs
• 9 May 2022 – All Chairs
• 16 May 2022 – Outer Hebrides
• 17 May 2022 – Outer Hebrides
• 12 July 2022 – All Chairs
• 2 August 2022 – All Chairs
• 11 November 2022 – North and East Coast
• 29 November 2022 – West Coast

Officials also had regular ongoing discussions throughout 2022 with both the Scottish Fishermen's Federation (SFF) and the Scottish White Fish Producers Association (SWFPA) to hear their views as we developed our proposed approach to HPMAs. Meetings were held on –

• 11 October 2021
• 4 November 2021
• 10 December 2021
• 14 January 2022
• 4 March 2022
• 1 April 2022
• 29 April 2022
• 20 May 2022
• 24 June 2022
• 22 July 2022
• 26 August 2022
• 14 October 2022
• 11 November 2022
• 9 December 2022

Additionally, officials also had discussions specifically regarding HPMAs with the Communities Inshore Fisheries Alliance (CIFA) on 10 March 2022 and the Scottish Creel Fishermen's Federation (SCFF) on 29 March 2022.

At the moment, we are at the very early stages of developing HPMAs and are yet to consider where they might be located as part of a separate process. There will be further opportunities for those involved in the fishing industry to have their say on where and how we enhance our marine protection.

Health Boards are responsible for the health and safety of NHS staff. Scottish Government officials have been assured by NHS Greater Glasgow and Cycle (NHS GGC) that they have the necessary controls, protocols and support in place to protect staff. We will continue to work closely with NHS GGC to monitor the safety and wellbeing of staff at the Langhill Clinic.

NHSScotland has joined the multi-agency Your Safety Matters (YSM) initiative, led by Police Scotland. YSM aims to minimise incidents of violence and aggression in workplaces, through campaigns, sharing resources and good practice.

Abuse towards NHS staff is unacceptable, and the courts have extensive powers to deal robustly with those who carry out such appalling behaviour on emergency workers.

Transport Scotland officials regularly meet with the A77 Action group, to which representatives from the ferry operators are invited. Meeting invites to these meetings are sent to PO Ferries, Belfast Harbour and Stena Line.

The last meeting of this group was held on 3 February 2023, however, the last meeting attended by ferry operators was in September 2022.

Representatives from Transport Scotland’s operating company AMEY also meet the ferry operators on an ad hoc basis, as part of the consultation process around planned roadworks on the trunk road network.