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Building upon the good work already undertaken, Atkins WSP Joint Venture will take forward the engineering and environmental assessments to determine the preferred options for the medium and long term solutions, developing the subsequent detailed designs in consultation with stakeholders. They will also assist in completion of the statutory processes including acquisition of land, and in the procurement and construction supervision activities. Given the number of potential solutions and variability of scope and length of each project stage, it is not possible to provide a meaningful breakdown of estimated costs at this stage in the process.

The £25m of Scottish Government investment represents an estimate of the contract value to Atkins WSP Joint Venture to undertake the design, promotion, procurement and construction supervision of both the medium and long-term solutions. Whilst there is no allocation of spend of this estimate to either the medium term or long term solutions, it is anticipated that the vast majority of spend will be on the long-term solution as all of the options require complex civil engineering.

The Scottish Government has commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland to lead a national review to understand any contributing factors to the increase in neonatal mortality during 2021-22. The review will cover reported neonatal deaths across Scotland between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 and be informed by relevant data and clinical expertise. It will assess and determine whether there are any themes, underlying causes or safety factors that have contributed to the increased neonatal mortality rate, from both a clinical and system perspective. Key learning points will be identified and recommendations for improvements in the quality of care should be made.

Families affected by this review can seek support from a number of organisations, should they wish to do so. Further information on help available can be found at: www.mygov.scot/child-baby-death and on the National Bereavement Care Pathways Scotland website at: www.nbcpscotland.org.uk/covid-19/signposting-support/

Responsibility for maintenance of telecoms infrastructure in Scotland falls upon the operator responsible for delivering that infrastructure.

Scottish Government officials regularly meet with local authority staff and ship senior management to ensure the wellbeing and safety of those arriving from Ukraine are central to the provision. This includes work to ensure that all staff are adequately qualified and checked to support the safety of children and adults on board.

Organisations providing services aboard the ships such as local authorities, third and voluntary sectors partners, as well as private employers are responsible for their own background and Disclosure checks on their staff, in the same way that applies to those supporting other Warm Scots Welcome accommodation, such as hotels. Those staff members or volunteers who are resident in Scotland, and whose role supports ‘regulated work’ will have undertaken the necessary Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) level, deemed appropriate for their role. PVG checks can only be progressed for those people resident in the UK or where there is an agreement with other states. Where this doesn’t apply, the background checks undertaken by the Home Office provide assurance to our contract managers. In addition, we have worked with local authorities and other partners to ensure that all crew of the MS Victoria and MS Ambition have a minimum of child and adult protection training and we continue to work collaboratively to ensure additional safeguarding training and resources are made available.

P&O Ferries is not a member of the Scottish Maritime Cluster Limited and therefore has not benefited from funding granted to the Cluster by Transport Scotland.

Yes. Support from the Circular Textiles Fund is available without capital expenditure requirements.

Further information on funding for applicants to the Circular Textiles Fund is available at:-

https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/content/faqs-circular-textiles-fund

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11081 on 29 September 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 crew of the MS Ambition and MS Victoria are paid by the charter company that CTM chartered on the Scottish Government’s behalf. CTM have confirmed that all crew operating on both vessels are at a minimum being paid in line with the National Minimum Wage and are fully compliant with Maritime Labour Convention requirements for seafarer contracts of employment. In addition to wages, as part of the seafarers contract of employment the crew receive accommodation, food and beverage at no charge, flights and other travel related costs to both join and leave the vessel (at end of contract), uniform and medical expenses during service onboard.

We provided an additional £9m to NHS Boards in 2021-22 to address waiting lists for Psychological Therapies. It is encouraging to see this reflected in a consistent and sustained reduction in waits of over 52 weeks over the past year and a more recent reduction in over 18 weeks waits in the most recent quarter.

In addition, we have commissioned the National Autism Implementation Team (NAIT) to carry out a feasibility study to investigate a National Clinical Pathway to benefit adults diagnosed with ADHD. Adult Neurodevelopmental Pathways are being piloted in four Health Boards to support a single diagnostic pathway for ADHD and Autism. The pilot started in January 2022 and will run for 12 months.