Chamber and committees

The Case for Investment for Clyde Metro is being led by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), supported by Glasgow City Council leading various workstreams alongside SPT, with Transport Scotland providing a project assurance role.

Clyde Metro aims to offer relief for the heavy rail network, freeing rail capacity for longer distance journeys, thus the Clyde Metro project team has been engaging with ScotRail and Network Rail to inform the on-going Case for Investment stage. I understand that the assessment of network options will consider opportunities to improve the integration of rail services in the Greenock and Inverclyde constituency with the wider Clyde Metro network.

The Case for Investment is a key stage of the development process, informing decisions around network selection, phasing and implementation. It is well underway and is currently anticipated to be complete by mid-2027.

Further details on the Case for Investment stage can be obtained by contacting SPT directly at [email protected].

The Scottish Government made a written statement to Parliament on 19 November 2024 on the effectiveness of environmental governance arrangements, following an earlier report and consultation. As stated in those documents, the Scottish Government does not see any strong argument for a change in the balance of parliamentary, administrative and judicial roles in decision making on environmental matters, or for the creation of a specialist court. Therefore, there are no plans to conduct any additional analysis of any potential efficiency savings in the judicial system from the creation of an environment court.

The UK Government has stated its commitment to providing an update as soon as possible, and my officials continue to engage regularly with their UK Government counterparts regarding their plans. Additionally, I recently wrote to the UK Government to request a meeting to gain further insight into the options they are considering in relation to the report.

The Scottish Government remains dedicated to keeping the Scottish Parliament informed of any significant developments.

We also reaffirm our previous apology to all those who have been directly affected by pelvic mesh and sodium valproate, as well as to their caregivers.

The next edition of the Disability and Transport publication will be published by Transport Scotland later in March this year.

It is intended that Transport Scotland will update the report on an annual basis in future. However, this is dependent on the availability of data supporting meaningful annual analysis.

Decisions on publication frequency will continue to be made in consultation with the Disability and Transport Monitoring and Evaluation Group: a steering group for Transport Scotland’s work in this area, which includes representatives from the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS), Disability Equality Scotland, and Transport Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-33261 on 12 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.

Since 2021 the Scottish Government has made funding available to projects relevant to the issue of marine litter through Marine Fund Scotland Marine and fisheries grants - gov.scot Information on the funding provided each year for such projects is publicly available via Marine Fund Scotland: grants awarded - gov.scot.

Funding to be available in the 2025-26 financial year through the fund has not yet been announced.

The Scottish Government commitment to increase the number of GPs by 800 does not include commitments at Health Board level.

NHS Education of Scotland (NES) are responsible for the publication of GP workforce data. The most recent data including a breakdown of GP numbers by Health Board can be found here. NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

We understand that the provision of tailored mental health support remains challenging in some areas of respiratory care. We continue to work closely with health psychologists and other key stakeholders to determine how better support can be provided to people living with respiratory and other long-term conditions.

We have invested £51 million in our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for adults since 2021, with approximately 3300 grants made to local projects across Scotland in the first two years alone.

A further £15 million was announced on 25 March 2024 for Fourth year of the Fund which means the Scottish Government has made £66 million available since 2021, the funding supports people facing socio-economic disadvantage, people- living with a long-term health condition or disability, older people and people disadvantaged by geographical location.

We also continue to provide a range of resources and raise awareness of how to support mental wellbeing through expanding the range of practical mental wellbeing resources available on our Mind to Mind, Parent Club and Young Scots mental wellbeing websites to complement other supports available in person and by phone.

We have recently published the Quality Prescribing Guide for Improvement that aims to keep people at the centre of their treatment, and promote safe, evidenced based, sustainable prescribing.

The guide was developed by a wide range of stakeholders including experts in the field and lived experiences. The guide is intended to support clinicians across the multidisciplinary team and people living with respiratory conditions in shared decision-making and the effective use of medicines and offers practical advice and options for tailoring care to the needs and preferences of individuals

We continue to support a digital first, but not digital only approach across many of our respiratory programmes. Recommendations within the pulmonary rehab work have suggested widening access to online self-management tools and this is something we are actively considering.

NHS Inform provides information about respiratory conditions and other long-term conditions. The service offers information, advice and self-management tools on how to live well with their condition as well as including links to additional support and information provided by third sector partners.

Our updated Quality Prescribing Guide for Improvement keeps the person with respiratory conditions at the centre of their treatment and disease management and offers practical advice and options for tailoring care to the needs and preferences of individuals. A core component of this has been to create user friendly digital tools for both people living with lung conditions and healthcare professionals.