Seòmar agus comataidhean

On 29 August I announced Transport Scotland’s intention to appoint Atkins WSP Joint Venture to progress design and development work for the route through Glen Croe. The contract represents £25m of Scottish Government investment, an estimate of the overall contract value for undertaking the design, promotion, procurement and construction supervision of medium and long-term solutions.

Ministers share the urgency communities and businesses place on maintaining and improving connectivity of this vital route, which is why we are progressing measures for the short, medium and long term in tandem.

We will bring forward proposals for the medium term by the end of this year, with an announcement on the preferred route option for the long term by Spring 2023.

As set out by the Deputy First Minister on 7 September 2022, there is a finite budget and, as a result of inflation eroding the purchasing power of available funding, the Scottish Government budget is now worth £1.7 billion less than it was in December 2021. As a result, health funding is worth £650 million less and the Scottish Government continues to work with Health Boards to mitigate the impact of financial pressures across services, including those supporting the needs of people living with long COVID.

£3 million of the £10 million long COVID Support Fund has been made available to NHS Boards and key partners over 2022-23. We engage with NHS Boards on a regular basis regarding their capacity needs, and will continue to do so in order to inform the allocation of the fund.

NHS Highland has now received all five reports from the Independent Review Panel (IRP) of the Healing Process and the work of the IRP is now concluded.

The Board has made significant progress against the majority of the recommendations included in both the Independent Review Panel (IRP) of the Healing Process and the Sturrock reports. As part of this work, the board have ensured that systems and processes are in place which would allow colleagues to speak up and be heard.

A decision has been taken by Scottish Government Health and Social Care Management Board to de-escalate NHS Highland from Stage 3 to Stage 2 of the NHS Board performance escalation framework in relation to Governance, Leadership and Culture.

NHS Highland will remain at Stage 3 for Financial Management and Mental Health Performance until further progress is made in the provision of mental health services, and a national review of NHS Scotland’s financial position is complete. Measures are in place to support NHS Highland will continue for these areas.

You can find out more about the NHS Board performance escalation framework here: NHS healthcare standards: Board performance escalation framework - gov.scot ( www.gov.scot )

The Hon. Lord Brailsford replaces the Hon. Lady Poole as Chair of the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry today. The amended terms of reference also come into effect from today to further emphasise the expectation that the Inquiry will take a human rights-based approach, and that it will demonstrate how that approach has informed and improved the recommendations it makes. Specifically, this change will require the Inquiry when reporting, “To demonstrate how a human rights based approach by the inquiry has contributed to the inquiry’s findings in fact and recommendations”.

The amended Terms of Reference can be found in full here: COVID-19 Inquiry - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

This will be considered once further clarity has been provided on proposals for Investment Zones in Scotland. We have made clear that any model for Scotland must reflect the Scottish economic policy and governance landscape.

As the First Minister has made clear, the creation of any Investment Zones here would have to reflect the devolution settlement, particularly as it relates to environmental protection. The Scottish Government is committed to a programme of enhancing nature protections and delivering nature restoration.

The Scottish Government will only agree to Investment Zones if they reflect Scotland’s regulatory environment, aligning with EU regulation where appropriate and in a manner that contributes towards maintaining and advancing standards across a range of policy areas.

The initial phase of the pilot project is nearly complete. This early work has sought to understand how communities which have been affected by repeated water scarcity events should be identified, to establish the proximity to public water mains, to assess the network capacity and estimate the costs associated with extending the mains to potentially allow those on private water supplies to make a connection. Scottish Water has completed the studies for the pilot projects with final report expected soon. I will write to the Member to provide an update once I have considered the final report.

Officials have initiated exploratory talks with UK Government, pressing for further clarity on the substance and process of proposals in England and the proposed framework for discussing a model for Investment Zones in Scotland.

The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Programme Board will not be extended in its current format beyond March 2023.

Perinatal and infant mental health continues to be a key priority for the Scottish Government and the continued development and implementation of perinatal and infant mental health services will continue to be supported. We will announce our next steps for this work in due course.