Seòmar agus comataidhean

Transport Scotland is still engaged in positive dialogue with the housing developer to agree a way forward for access through Ferrymuir Gait. An exact timescale for concluding this matter cannot be provided. However, Transport Scotland is pressing the developer to ensure that the previously communicated timescale of Spring 2024 is achieved.

The Scottish Government has welcomed the recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee (NSC) that the 4 UK Nations should move towards implementing a programme of targeted lung screening for those between 55-74 with a history of smoking.

The Scottish Expert Advisory Group (SEAG) was established to assess the specific challenges and opportunities for a Scottish programme. The SEAG met for the first time in August 2023. Further meetings are scheduled in the coming months as part of work to develop a business case.

The complexity of the challenge means a national screening programme is likely to take years rather than months to implement. Until the business case is complete, we cannot provide timings for implementation or specifics relating to implementation and annual running costs.

Lung cancer remains a national priority, which is why the Scottish Government has a dedicated chapter in our £114.5 million National Cancer Plan, and last December we redesigned lung cancer diagnostic services to help ensure patients receive faster access to treatment.

The Scottish Government’s Diabetes Improvement Plan contains a key commitment to further increase access to existing and emerging diabetes technologies.

Budgets for 2024-2025 are yet to be confirmed, however we recognise the benefits that technology provides to people with diabetes.

It is for each NHS Board to determine how best to utilise the funding and resources provided by the Scottish Government to meet the needs and priorities of their local populations. This includes ensuring that people with Type 1 diabetes have access to the most appropriate treatment and care.

On 22 February, the Under-Secretary of State for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business stated that the UK Government would introduce legislation to reverse only the convictions of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses convicted in courts in England and Wales. This followed the Scottish Government making clear on 10 January in a letter from the First Minister to the Prime Minister that UK-wide legislation would be the appropriate response to this issue. The position of the Scottish Government was also made in further letters from the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs.

Following the UK Government announcement on 22 February, I wrote to the Minister the following day to make clear that the Scottish Government remained of the view that the best way to ensure a solution that treats all affected sub-postmasters across the United Kingdom equitably is for the Westminster Parliament to legislate to overturn the convictions of those affected across the whole of the UK, and asking the UK Government to reconsider its approach on this matter.

On 13 March, the UK Government introduced its Bill to reverse the convictions of affected sub-postmasters and post office employees convicted in courts in England and Wales. The Deputy First Minister wrote to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations on 14 March urging him to make good on the commitment he made at the meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Standing Committee on 12 March to consider extending the Bill to cover convictions in courts in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

This reflects the fact that the cause of these wrongful convictions, wherever they occurred, is the defective Post Office Horizon IT system and the failure of the Post Office to disclose relevant information about it to prosecutors.

However, if the UK Government maintains its position that it will legislate only to reverse convictions of sub-postmasters convicted in England and Wales, we will introduce legislation in the Scottish Parliament to reverse the convictions of affected sub-postmasters in Scotland. Any such Bill will have to be passed after the equivalent UK Bill to ensure that the approach is compatible with the approach taken in the UK Bill and sub-postmasters convicted in Scotland whose convictions are reversed can access the Horizon compensation scheme operated by the UK Government.

Scottish Government officials are continuing to engage with UK Government officials on this matter.

The Scottish Government acknowledges the findings of the Economic Impact Assessment paper the Developer commissioned, by SYSTRA.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25534 on 9 March 2024. 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 the member is aware, the Scottish Government supports a new station in Winchburgh, it is our understanding of the station proposal that it is and always has been a developer-led station, as outlined in the original Winchburgh Developments Ltd Masterplan for the wider development.

Transport Scotland reviewed both the design and construction cost proposals from Network Rail for a new station at Winchburgh and proactively suggested amendments to these proposals, which would see any new station delivered significantly more efficiently.

The Scottish Government has been exploring the workforce demand for skilled stonemasons through engagement with the stonemasonry short life working group led by Historic Environment Scotland. The working group was set up to look at stonemasonry and traditional skills provision in Scotland with a view to identifying sustainable models of stonemasonry training for future delivery.

Additionally, Historic Environment Scotland ran a stonemasonry consultation in early 2023 to inform understanding of the size, shape and resilience of the stonemasonry sector in Scotland. The stonemasonry working group have since provided their report of findings and recommendations to Ministers for their consideration.

Regarding the cessation of stonemasonry apprenticeship training at Edinburgh College, the then Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development and I met Historic Environment Scotland in recent months to discuss stonemasonry and we await their proposals to address the skills issues in the sector.

NHS 24 do not send ambulances to patients. If NHS 24 receive a call from a patient that is deemed to be an emergency, it is passed to a SAS call handler within the Ambulance Control Centres (ACC).

The Scottish Government continues to work closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service and Health Boards to ensure a continuous focus on responding to the most critically unwell patients as quickly as possible.

We continue to invest in supporting the Service and patients, including a record number of additional staff (1388) since 2020. Our £50m funding investment this year is being used, in part, to recruit a further 317 additional frontline staff across the country.

We have also set out a number of principles that health boards should aim to achieve in order to safely reduce handover times at the front door of hospitals. This is an important piece of work that will reduce the pressure on hospital and ambulance services.

The Staff Governance Standard, which is applicable to all staff employed in NHSScotland, requires health boards to appropriately train and develop staff, as well as provide a safe working environment. The Scottish Government monitors compliance annually to ensure health boards, as employers, are meeting this standard. This includes providing the necessary training for staff according to statutory requirements.