Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s Drink and Drug-Driving campaign runs from the 2 December 2024 to 13 January 2025. It covers radio, digital, out of home billboards in urban areas where audience can be reached prior to drinking or taking drugs, tactical outdoor sites, including posters and beermats in pubs and clubs targeting the audience in environments where they may be considering driving home under the influence. Sub-targeting of drivers living in the most deprived areas has been factored into plans and will be achieved through digital media postcode targeting.

All campaign materials will signpost to the roadsafety.scot website, which will support behaviour change by including further information on drug and drink-driving penalties, legal alcohol limits and roadside drug testing. PR and partnership activity and a campaign toolkit is available for partners which outlines details of the campaign and key messaging alongside shareable assets.

The effectiveness of the campaign will be evaluated and this work is undertaken by independent research agencies and seeks to track shifts in the target audiences’ attitudes and behaviours as a result of campaign exposure.

The Force Majeure/Exceptional Circumstance (FM/EC) provision is one that has existed for a number of years and if a business has been unable to comply with the rules of a scheme because of FM/EC, they may retain the right to aid in respect of the claim. To qualify, a business must notify the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division (SGRPID) in writing of the FM/EC event along with relevant evidence from the date they are in a position to do so.

The FM/EC provision applies on a case by case basis, and decisions are taken on the basis of relevant evidence provided. The way on which the Scottish Government continue to approach cases relies on the approach set out by legislation.

Examples of force majeure or exceptional circumstances are:

1.the death of the farmer

2.the long-term professional incapacity of the farmer

3.a severe natural disaster gravely affecting the holding's agricultural land

4.the accidental destruction of livestock buildings on the holding

5.an epizootic affecting part of or all of the farmer’s livestock (for example, Foot and Mouth Disease)

This is not an exhaustive list and animal health concerns, weather conditions, bull failure or transport issues may also qualify as FM/EC. These are only examples and they are not, by themselves, sufficient to qualify as FM/EC and the applicant would still need to provide evidence in support of these events that demonstrate that calving performance has been impacted by comparison to previous years.

In August 2024, the Scottish Government posted a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (Mainland and Islands) to support the industry with information on the new calving interval condition being introduced to the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS) from 2025. The FAQ includes detail of the FM/EC provision in the context of the SSBSS calving interval condition, including the type of evidence that would be required to support a request for it to be applied.

Tier 3 and Tier 4 services are those secondary and specialist mental health services - including Community Mental Health Teams, Adult Acute Psychiatry, and specialist Perinatal Mental Health care, that usually require a referral from a GP or other health care professional. All mental health scheduled and planned care services manage access in some way for example by using waiting lists – including access to Psychological Therapies teams or CAMHS services. In all cases patients are triaged and urgent cases are seen as a priority.

Improving access to Mental Health services is a priority for Scottish Government and whilst we recognise the ongoing pressures facing the NHS, long waits are unacceptable we remain committed to supporting all Boards to achieve the standard that 90% of patents start treatment within 18 weeks of referral in CAMHS and PT.

We are also working with NHS Boards and National Partners to improve Mental Health Unscheduled Care pathways to ensure that anyone requiring urgent and unplanned support is able to get the right care, in the right place, the first time regardless of when or how they access care. This is facilitated by NHS 24’s Mental Health Hub which is accessible through the 111 service and provides a 24/7 compassionate service to anyone in distress or requiring mental health and wellbeing support. Should the Hub determine that further urgent assessment or urgent referral to local services is required, they will refer the person to a mental health clinician within their relevant Board. Each Health Board is now providing access to a mental health unscheduled care clinician 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The abundance of fish in Scottish waters means that a varied industry has developed over time, with many different types of fishing vessels operating as part of a mixed fishery. There are different target fish species, depending on the type of fishing vessel and where it operates, and different issues around unwanted catch. Discarding in the nephrops trawl fishery does occur as whitefish may be caught alongside nephrops. Since the introduction of the landing obligation, this unwanted catch can amount to a disproportionate cost for fisherman who have to land and then dispose of it. As such, the Scottish Government have utilised lawful exemptions to the landing obligation for these fish, in order to lessen the financial burden on these small nephrops vessels. These exempted fish are fully accounted for in quota calculations and factored into stock assessments.

As part of the policy development of our Future Catching Policy, we have been working with industry to explore pragmatic technical and spatial measures to support fishers to reduce discarding. We also know there are improvements we can make to the implementation of the landing obligation that will make the rules around discarding more effective and will work with industry and others to develop this.

ScotRail performance metrics, including cancellations are published on Office for Rail and Road website for the year up to April 2024. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail to secure information regarding its current performance. ScotRail performs well as compared to many GB operators and its average performance is consistently higher than the GB network as a whole.

The development of the National Marine Plan 2 (NMP2) is supported by an extensive programme of engagement as detailed in the Statement of Public Participation and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy.

Consultation on a Planning Position Statement (PPS) for NMP2 is currently open until 28 January 2025. The PPS was developed following 14 marine sector workshops held in 2024. Consultation on the PPS was supported through discussion at the National Marine Planning Forum, held 13 November 2024, with over 100 delegates from marine sectors, academia and government.

The NMP2 will be constructed using a robust and transparent evidence base informing the plan and its statutory Sustainability Appraisal, which encompasses environmental and socio-economic impact assessments. The primary evidence base for the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is Scotland’s Marine Assessment 2020 (“SMA2020”).

The assessments are being supported by a steering group of relevant national organisations, who provide guidance and advice on additional relevant datasets. The assessments will form part of the public consultation on the draft NMP2, planned for Winter 2025.

The health and wellbeing of MSPs, their staff and SPCB staff is a priority for the SPCB. The SPCB promotes a wide range of health and wellbeing resources on its intranet, including those provided by Spectrum Life, the SPCB’s employee wellbeing partner. These resources include cancer awareness and prevention and cancer survivor podcasts as well as information about World Cancer Day. The SPCB is aware of Fight Bladder Cancer’s awareness raising campaign. The SPCB will consider how it might raise awareness of this disease during bladder cancer awareness month in May.

The project is nearly at construction stage and has been assessed by Transport Scotland for construction-ready funding through Tier 2 of the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund (ATIF). Our operating company, BEAR Scotland, has been working with the original project designers to progress the remaining elements of the design. Recent work has included updating traffic counts, traffic modelling and traffic signal design, and included resolving carriageway level and drainage issues. The next stage will involve BEAR Scotland’s environmental team carrying out site visits in January 2025. The findings of this will determine the requirement for further environmental work.

Once the design package has been finalised, in early 2025 it is proposed to seek tendered prices for delivery of the project. Funding for the ATIF is allocated on an annual basis subject to the Scottish Government’s final budget approval and internal governance processes. Upon confirmation of ATIF funding for next financial year, this project will be included within the prioritisation list for funding support. Once funding has been confirmed, a programme for delivery of the works can then be developed.

Whilst staff working on rest days and overtime is a measure adopted by all GB train operating companies, ScotRail has been recruiting more staff to minimise this reliance. ScotRail is currently recruiting 160 Drivers each year, one of the highest numbers across all UK operators, which will help to reduce these challenges in the future.

Transport Scotland officials hold regular discussions with Scottish Rail Holdings and ScotRail. These discussions include considerations of any initiatives and incentives to encourage passengers to choose rail as an attractive and a more sustainable travel mode.