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The Scottish Stroke Improvement Team supports Managed Clinical Networks to evaluate Board performance, identify areas of concern and work with them to implement local action plans with strong managerial support to improve the delivery of stroke care across Scotland.

This support includes visiting all NHS Boards at least once per year to review stroke care with NHS Board representatives to assess performance, highlight achievements and good practice and to formulate an improvement plan for areas of concern where necessary.

The Scottish Government has not set a minimum standard of performance but expects NHS Boards to deliver the best possible care for those who have experienced a stroke. We expect care provided to be safe, effective and person-centred and reflect the needs of local populations.

The timing of the opening of the booking system is set out in the contract with Serco NorthLink Ferries and is aimed at opening the booking system for a full 12 months to provide maximum flexibility for customers. In principle we would be open to exploring bringing this forward to an earlier date, but would need to consider the matter further to assess any unintended consequences this might have.

I have engaged with all Cabinet Secretaries collectively throughout the EBR process.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-11493 on 26 October 2022 and S6T-00915 on 25 October 2022 respectively.

The answer to Topical Question S6T-00915 can be found here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-25-10-2022?meeting=13939&iob=126317#16180

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

There has been promising progress in reducing the backlog of cases in the criminal courts, and the total number of scheduled trials outstanding has fallen by over 10,000 since January this year. In the High Court, the number of trials called where evidence is led has equalled or exceeded pre-pandemic monthly averages throughout 2022. However, progress has been greatest in the summary courts. The Criminal Justice Board, composed of leaders across the sector, is now considering proposals to ensure the allocation of resources is directed towards delivering similar progress in solemn courts.

We are supporting measures that allow victims and witnesses to give their evidence before trial, helping to mitigate the impact of trial delays. For example, we have invested over £2 million across the High Court estate to facilitate the pre-recording of evidence, and there is now capacity to conduct 1,250 of these ‘evidence by commissioner’ hearings every year.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11675 on 8 November 2022. 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

Corporate Travel Management (CTM) source and provide the majority of our travel-related services for displaced people from Ukraine, including accommodation in hotels. However, due to the popularity of the Super Sponsor Scheme, the Scottish Government also booked some temporary accommodation for a short period of time in June and July to meet demand.

Obtaining the detailed information requested would require significant time and resource, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

The following table shows how many pupils are in each of the named local authorities (taken from the most recent pupil census data from 2021) and how many devices have been distributed by these local authorities, using £25m digital inclusion funding made available by Scottish Government in 2020-21. In total, this funding supported the provision of 14,000 internet connections and 72,000 devices for learners across all local authorities.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11675 on 8 November 2022. 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 Lived Experience Experts Panel doesn’t reflect traditional policy panels, which meet together on a regular basis. It is most similar to the Experience Panel in place for Social Security. It functions as a pool of people with lived experience who can be called upon to take part in co-design and research to support service development.

This means that the panel don’t have meetings together, although members will often attend group sessions with a small number of other people in the panel.

Panel members are currently being invited to introductory sessions to support their participation in co-design sessions. The first introductory session is scheduled for15 November, with up to 20 of the panel attending. We expect the co-design sessions to begin shortly after that.