Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-34203 on 27 February 2025. 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-35156 on 27 February 2025. 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 Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 gives local licensing authorities a wide range of discretion over the types of vehicle that they can licence as taxis or private hire cars (PHCs).

Chapter 5 (Vehicles) of the Scottish Government best practice guidance for local licensing authorities and taxi and PHC operators on the licensing of taxis and PHCs and their drivers, provides further details of the powers that licensing authorities have: https://www.gov.scot/publications/taxi-private-hire-car-licensing-best-practice-licensing-authorities-taxi-private-hire-car-operators-3rd-edition/pages/7/.

The legal requirement for taxis requires that they should be subject to an MOT test or its equivalent one year after first registration and annually thereafter. For private hire cars, annual MOT testing should commence after the vehicle is three years old. It is a matter for licensing authorities as to what requirements may exist over and above these legal requirements.

The Scottish Government recognises taxis and PHCs are an important link to the public transport chain, filling gaps in overall transport provision not least for those who do not have access to a car. Local licensing authorities are best placed to consider the role that taxis and PHCs play in public transport and ensure that the licensing system in place is appropriate, takes into account local circumstances and meets the need of local communities.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-35156 and S6W-35159 on 27 February 2025. This information is not held centrally. 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-35156 on 27 February 2025. 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 operation of licensing committees is a matter for independent Scottish local authorities.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-35156 and S6W-35159 on 27 February 2025. This information is not held centrally. 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.

As set out in answer to Parliamentary Question S6W-34995 on 27 February 2025, the implementation phase of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce has now begun, and two Implementation Delivery Groups are being established to oversee swift delivery of all 44 recommended actions. One group, chaired by the Interim Chief Nursing Officer, will meet at the end of February and then recurrently every 6 - 8 weeks. A further Implementation Delivery Group will be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and will meet in Spring and then every six months. These two Groups will ensure that priorities are clearly defined, progress is measurable, and key milestones are met. A detailed work plan and timeline to guide the delivery of the recommended actions will be agreed in Spring.

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

As set out in answer to Parliamentary Question S6W-34995 on 27 February 2025, the implementation phase of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce has now begun, and two Implementation Delivery Groups are being established to oversee swift delivery of all 44 recommended actions. One group, chaired by the Interim Chief Nursing Officer, will meet at the end of February and then recurrently every 6 - 8 weeks. A further Implementation Delivery Group will be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and will meet in Spring and then every six months. These two Groups will ensure that priorities are clearly defined, progress is measurable, and key milestones are met. A detailed work plan and timeline to guide the delivery of the recommended actions will be agreed in Spring.

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

We review YouthLink Scotland’s No Knives, Better Lives programme regularly to consider how it can continue to help prevent violence and reduce its harm. Part of this work has included the creation of the Quit Fighting for Likes Campaign, developed by the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, YouthLink Scotland No Knives, Better Lives and Medics Against Violence. Launched on 11 September 2024, the campaign provides a suite of resources aimed at frontline practitioners to help engage young people in conversations to help them understand the impact and harms caused around the filming and sharing of violent incidents.

The campaign, including the accompanying practitioner resources, remain available to access on the websites of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit and YouthLink Scotland No Knives, Better Lives. It is intended that the campaign will be re-run again after the school summer holidays.

Further to my answer on 31 January which laid out in detail the First Minister’s plans for NHS Scotland renewal, I can confirm this will be further expanded with the publication of our operational improvement plan in March.

This plan will build on the work that has been conducted with Health Boards over the past year to improve hospital flow and reduce delays. It will set out whole system improvement action to ensure people receive the right care in the place, recognising that acute hospitals are not always the best place for patients or their families.

As part of this plan Hospital at Home will be expanded to at least 2,000 beds, by December or sooner, and will expand and coverage of treatment people can expect to receive at home and will reduce the number of people needing to be admitted to hospital.

By summer 2025 there will be direct access to a front door frailty service in every hospital with a core emergency department, to ensure people living with frailty get access to the right, specialist care for their healthcare need which will reduce the chance of a prolonged hospital stay and lower the chances of a care home admission.

A vast amount of work has already been undertaken in 2024 to date through the Collaborative Response and Assurance Group, including work with Health and Social Care Partnerships with high levels of delay to understand the challenges they are facing and support them to deliver the changes, a national media campaign highlighting the positives of Home First, and promotion and maximising of good practice such as the Discharge without Delay programme.

I am confident that with all the new measures we have laid out we will continue to see an improving picture on the level of delays across the country and that people will have access to high quality care, in the setting that is right for them.

Good progress is being made towards the current target to restore 250,000 hectares of degraded peatlands by 2030, with - 75,000 hectares restored to date.

Recent years have seen strong increases including, in 2023-24, over 10,000 hectares restored in a single year for the first time. We will again restore over 10,000 ha in 2024-25.

Through the Scottish Budget 2025-26 we will invest £35.5 million towards peatland restoration. With this funding the ambition of the Peatland ACTION partnership is to restore at least 14,000 hectares next year.

The funding will also enable the Peatland ACTION partnership to invest in designing a large number of new projects for future years. This will ensure the sustainability of the sector, allowing us to be more responsive to funding and continue to accelerate the programme’s success towards our 2030 target.