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We are making changes at a pace and at a level that we think is right and safe for our current circumstances in Scotland. As we have taken decisions about what sectors and activities to re-open on our route out of lockdown, we have been guided by the principles set out in our Framework for Decision Making.

We are taking a partnership approach to create the conditions for business, trades unions and regulators to share expertise and work together to create safer workplaces. This partnership approach is also being used to develop sectoral guidance and endorse industry specific guidance. On 13 July we published guidance for small and micro businesses, across a variety of industries and sectors, to ensure the safety of staff and customers as they re-open.

We have already published guidance for over 25 specific sectors including manufacturing, labs and research, culture and creative industries, retail, transport, and energy. We will continue to prepare guidance in consultation with relevant stakeholders for sectors re-opening as we move through our Route Map out of Lockdown.

We are also working with partners to develop more comprehensive standalone guidance to provide a detailed set of health protection and Infection, Prevention and Control measures that could be applied to a different types of businesses.

Transport Scotland grant funds a variety of third sector organisations, including Sustrans, Cycling Scotland and Cycling UK to deliver projects and programmes which help towards meeting its outcomes as stated in the Active Travel Outcomes Framework. Transport Scotland has a continuous dialogue with these organisations on policy and on the programmes which they run.

Through the Scottish Government-funded Spaces for People programme, local authorities can receive grant funding for temporary active travel road schemes (i.e. walking and cycling infrastructure proposals that change street layouts and support physical distancing during transition out of the Covid-19 lockdown). Councils can propose sections of trunk roads where they form part of their wider plans and currently we are working with five local authorities (Scottish Borders, Perth & Kinross, Highland, Stirling and Argyll & Bute Councils), to consider their Spaces for People proposals on certain trunk roads in their areas.

Transport Scotland has also funded Sustrans, as custodians of the National Cycling Network (NCN), to extend and improve the NCN. The NCN offers routes adjacent to the trunk road network.

In addition, Transport Scotland’s trunk road major projects also contribute to the Scottish Government’s vision to promote active travel, by ensuring suitable provision for all road users, including cyclists, is considered as part of the development of each project. Transport Scotland works collaboratively throughout scheme development stages with cycling and other non-motorised user groups to help inform its proposals.

As part of our Annual Road Safety Review of the trunk road network, our Operating Companies engage with organisations such as Sustrans and local authorities to understand local priorities for active travel and road safety that will bring forward road safety improvements in areas that require them most.

The Scottish Government has provided financial support through allocating £30 million to the Spaces for People (SfP) fund. This fund helps local authorities to put in place temporary measures which support physical distancing whilst keeping people who are walking, wheeling or cycling safe from traffic during transition out of the Covid-19 lockdown. Since the announcement of the SfP fund, a number of local authorities have intimated that they are looking to introduce SfP measures including temporary 20 mph speed limits on certain trunk roads, as part of their wider SfP scheme proposals. As the roads authority for trunk roads, Transport Scotland is engaging with relevant local authorities to consider these measures.

As part of Transport Scotland’s annual road safety review, we engage with stakeholders including the public to understand local priorities for safer active travel. Where an active travel scheme is identified and progressed on the trunk road, we liaise with Sustrans and local authorities to ensure that this is consistent with strategic plans for walking, cycling and wheeling in their area.

Transport Scotland’s Strategic Road Safety Plan sets out how road safety improvements are delivered on the trunk road network. The Plan supports Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020, which includes cyclists and pedestrians as a priority action area.

The safety performance of the trunk road network is assessed on an annual basis in accordance with the Strategic Road Safety Plan. This robust, evidence-based approach ensures that the available funding can be prioritised for those locations that offer the greatest casualty reduction potential, and thus best contribute to our casualty reduction targets. This annual road safety review includes engagement with organisations such as Sustrans and local authorities on local priorities for active travel, to ensure that road safety improvements are considered for areas that require them most.

Since July 2019 a number of safety improvements in Fife with respect to active travel have been completed, or are ongoing. These include:

• completion of a footway/cycleway on the A92 at Freuchie (with a further two schemes, on the A985 at Hilton Road to West of Pattiesmuir, and at Tofthill junction to Balfarg Steadings, currently under construction);
• a new Toucan (signal controlled shared pedestrian and cycle) crossing was installed on the A92 at Balbirnie in October 2019;
• uncontrolled crossing point improvements are under construction on the A92 at the Balfarg junction in Glenrothes;
• schemes are currently being developed on the A92 at Freuchie and Balfarg which involve junction signalisation including controlled crossing facilities for pedestrians and cyclists;
• Improvements to dropped kerbing provision on the A92 at Forgan Roundabout and installation of bollards to improve visibility of pedestrian crossing points;
• A feasibility study into a new active travel route alongside the A985 between Waggon Road and Limekilns is also currently underway;
• our agents have also delivered an upgrade of four pedestrian crossings on the A985 to ‘Puffin’ crossing standard, and a road layout redesign in Kincardine Town Centre at High Street, North Approach Road and Toll Road as part of the ‘Places for Everyone’ scheme to improve pedestrian and cycling movements.

In addition to the above, interventions for other road users have included:

• two vehicle activated warning signs on the A985 at Clinkum Bank, and enhanced road markings and footways at the Admiralty Road roundabout;
• on the A92 the speed limit has been reduced between Halbeath and Crossgates, with upgraded warning signage for pedestrians crossing the trunk road coming into force in early August 2020;
• traffic signs have been upgraded at the Kettlebridge junction;
• upgraded road markings at Cadham and Balfarg junctions, carriageway resurfacing from the New Inn Roundabout to Balfarg;
• and an on-going investigation to assess options for re-profiling the carriageway to improve safety at the Crossgates slip road.

In addition to location-specific interventions, our trunk road operating companies also undertake weekly safety inspections of the network any to identify any safety defects that require prompt or immediate attention.

Lesser defects, and general deterioration which do not necessitate such an immediate safety-led response, are recorded and considered with findings from our annual condition assessments to help determine future maintenance schemes. These include assessments of road surface conditions (including skid resistance). Resultant schemes may include localised patching repairs or larger maintenance schemes, which are considered against competing priorities across the trunk road network and programmed accordingly. These maintenance programmes cover the whole of Scotland across a range of schemes and asset types.

As part of the Scottish Government’s vision to promote active travel, suitable provision for all road users, including cyclists, is also considered as part of our major trunk road projects. We work collaboratively throughout scheme development stages with cycling and other non-motorised user groups to help inform our proposals.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of a safe, accessible and connected trunk road network for (a) cyclists and (b) other road users throughout Scotland. Therefore, as part of the wider management and maintenance of the trunk road network, when developing maintenance programmes and schemes, Transport Scotland and its maintenance agents explore the opportunities to address any existing connectivity or accessibility issues. We also work closely with local authorities and other external parties to facilitate related works which they are seeking to deliver on, adjacent or intersecting the trunk road network.

This has included the delivery of a variety of schemes including footways, cycleways, pedestrian barriers, lighting and pedestrian crossings. This covers a wide range of schemes and programmes.

We also continue to work with Sustrans and local authorities to explore proposals for active travel measures brought forward as part of the National Cycle Network or through the Scottish Government funded Places for Everyone and Spaces for People initiatives.

Looking to the longer term, the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) commenced in spring 2019 and will inform transport infrastructure investment in Scotland for the next 20 years. STPR2 will help deliver the vision, themes and outcomes for transport set out in the new National Transport Strategy (NTS2) published on 5 February 2020. Interventions will be considered in the context of the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy set out in NTS2. Further information is available at: https://www.transport.gov.scot/our-approach/national-transport-strategy .

We remain committed to working with stakeholders to take forward STPR2, albeit in revised timescales, that take account of the Covid-19 impacts and as we work toward a green economic recovery. We will also need to understand how the impact of the pandemic may shape our future transport system and the demands placed on it. We will do that as part of an overall Government programme, before we can take decisions on future strategic transport infrastructure investment.

The Scottish Government has committed to investing a total of £25m to support digital inclusion amongst disadvantaged children and young people. We are in close discussion with local authorities through SOLACE, ADES and Cosla about how to deliver best value and impact on that investment to ensure as many children and young people as possible are lifted out of digital exclusion and are able to connect with their schools, their teachers and their learning. Laptops have not yet been issued to any children and young people.

On 10 April 2020 the Scottish Government's Chief Medical Officer, BMA and RCGP wrote to GP practices to provide advice and support on having anticipatory care planning conversations and to make clear that there is no requirement for health professionals to have a Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) discussion as part of this conversation, unless the patient wishes to discuss it or clinician feels strongly it is necessary to raise in conversation for the patient’s wellbeing.

As the purpose of Anticipatory Care Planning (ACP) conversations is to understand a person’s wishes for their healthcare and ensure that these are recorded appropriately, these can be undertaken by Care Home staff if appropriate and the individual feels comfortable doing so. When an ACP is completed by a member of the wider Health and Social Care team, a copy should be kept with the patient where possible and a copy sent to the GP practice for recording on the appropriate system.

However, it is important to note that conversations relating the appropriateness of specific medical treatments, such as CPR, are always matters for the clinical team responsible for an individual’s care.

I refer the member to the answers to questions S5W-29499 and S5W-29501 on 11 June 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx