Chamber and committees

No date has been set for the electrification of the Maryhill railway line. However in line with the Rail Services Decarbonisation Action Plan this route will be considered by Transport Scotland, who will, in turn, provide advice to Scottish Ministers for decision.

The Decarbonisation Action Plan commits to all passenger diesel trains being replaced; the order and programme in which that is done will depend on business cases and available budgets.

Scottish Ministers have attended the Arctic Circle Assembly (ACA) every year it has been held since 2016. The Scottish Government remains committed to building on the strong partnership that it has established with the Arctic Circle secretariat, with a view to continuing to showcase relevant Scottish expertise internationally and facilitating Scottish-Arctic collaboration. A decision on Ministerial attendance will be made once an official invitation has been received.

The Scottish Government has no plans to establish such a fund; however, we are currently considering a number of advocacy-related recommendations from the Scottish Mental Health Law Review. This includes whether a national dedicated independent advocacy service for unpaid carers should be developed.

Independent advocacy is central to empowering people to have their voices heard and to participate fully in decisions about their care. The Scottish Government is committed to co-designing, with people with lived experience including unpaid carers, and implementing a coherent, consolidated and consistent approach to independent advocacy across the National Care Service.

The Scottish Government also funds the Social Security Independent Advocacy Service, delivered independently by VoiceAbility. This is available to support anyone who self-identifies as disabled to access their Scottish Government benefits. This means the service is available free of charge to all carers and cared-for-people who identify as such.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15454 on‎ 15 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

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15447 on 15 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

The following tables show the number of people from Scotland who have received elective or emergency treatment as an inpatient or day case in hospitals in other parts of the UK in each year since 2017.

Information is provided in the following table on the number of finished admission episodes for patients resident in Scotland who have received healthcare from the NHS in England since 2017.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15454 on15 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

The ScotRail peak fares pilot is scheduled to be undertaken in the next financial year (2023-2024).

Work on the precise methodology and design is ongoing with Transport Scotland officials working closely with Scottish Rail Holdings (SRH) and ScotRail to derive maximum benefit for this scheme.

Once this work has been completed an update will be provided well in advance of the ScotRail peak fares pilot commencing.

The information requested on what the current vacancy rate is for lung cancer nurse specialists within the (a) West of Scotland Cancer Network, (b) North Cancer Alliance and (c) South East Scotland Cancer Network is not centrally available.

The current non-executive directors of Scottish Rail Holdings (SRH) Board were appointed on an interim basis to 31 March 2023. The SRH Board non-executive appointments are non-regulated and there is no stipulation of specific appointment length detailed within the Framework Agreement, however going forward it is anticipated that terms for non-interim appointments will be for up to three years.

The standard tenure of the executive members of the SRH Board is permanent.