Seòmar agus comataidhean

The online public consultation on developing a Scottish Government aviation strategy ran from 18 October 2021 until 21 January 2022. 93 responses were received, 38 from individuals and 55 from a broad range of stakeholder organisations. Officials also ran a series of online stakeholder workshops each of which focused on a particular area of the consultation document, namely international connectivity and airfreight; transition to low and zero-emission aviation; domestic connectivity; and governance arrangements in the Highlands and Islands.

On 6 April we published an independent analysis of the consultation responses, including summaries of the main points from the workshops noted above, and those responses where consent to publish was provided.

Work is ongoing across government to develop the aviation strategy, including in relation to Highlands and Islands connectivity, building on the suggestions from the consultation and relevant Scottish Government strategies and polices. The aviation strategy will also inform the development of the Islands Connectivity Plan.

The Scottish Government intends to publish the key findings from the 2021 Scottish House Condition Survey in February 2023. This was communicated to users through a ScotStat email and is published on forthcoming publications and Scottish Household Survey webpages on the Scottish Government website.

Any changes to this date will be communicated to users, in line with the code of practice for statistics .

The Scottish Government have purchased the following laptops since 1st March 2020 for use on the SCOTS network.

The breakdown of this information by Directorate is not held centrally and to collate this information would be at disproportionate costs. Computers have been defined as any device which has been configured for use on the SCOTS Network. The overall number for Scottish Government over the past 5 years are

I met with Orkney Islands Council on 8 th August during my visit to the Northern Isles, where we discussed a range of issues including inter-island connectivity.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges for local authorities with responsibility for ferries and has provided more than £136m over the last 5 years through the Local Government settlement and Specific Grant. A total of £33.095m has been made available for local authorities in 2022-23, including £13.402m for Orkney, which fully funds the Council to operate inter-island ferry services.

The Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG), are part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and provide advice to NHS Scotland on the use of new and existing health technologies (excluding medicines). The SHTG made a recommendation in 2021 on the use of HeartFlow: 20210714-heartflow-adaptation-v20.pdf (shtg.scot) . Health boards are required to consider SHTG’s advice.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD), hosted by NHS Golden Jubilee, includes the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP). Work to promote HeartFlow technology across Health Boards is a key activity for the MPPP cardiology specialty group.

More information on the Centre for Sustainable Delivery can be found here: CfSD :: NHS Golden Jubilee , with information on the cardiology specialty network available here: Cardiology | Turas | Learn (nhs.scot).

Prior to the 1st April 2022, ScotRail services were operated by Abellio ScotRail. Under the terms of the franchise agreement, revenue figures for the period are commercially confidential. The published accounts for Abellio ScotRail for this period will be found at Companies House in due course.

For the period after 1st April, relevant revenue figures will not be available until the annual accounts for ScotRail Trains Ltd. have been audited, verified and published after the end of the financial year 2022-23.

Transport Scotland is aware of the DfT Roadside Vehicle Noise Measurement trials and will continue to monitor their progress and effectiveness. There is an established Transport Scotland remote sensing programme for vehicle emissions and how these relate to air quality. My officials are preparing to include noise monitoring in the next round of this programme later this year.

Setting of legal limits for noise levels from new vehicles is reserved to UK Government via the Construction and Use Regulations and enforced by Police Scotland. Any noise monitoring and enforcement trials tackling excessively noisy car exhausts within Scottish towns or cities would be the collective responsibility of Police Scotland and the relevant road authority, which we would be happy to support as appropriate.

All women in Scotland should be able to access timely abortion care without judgment or intimidation. Last year, a Ministerial-led working group was formed to explore possible ways to solve the problem of women being harassed outside abortion clinics as quickly as possible. The working group is made up with partners including CoSLA, Police Scotland and affected councils and Health Boards to look at how to address the protests and vigils that take place outside of abortion clinics. A number of pieces of work have been commissioned by the group to explore views in this area, including this work and research to develop a detailed picture of women’s experiences as a result of the protests.

Those leading this work met separately with various parties to hear their views. This work has now concluded.

This is one of a number of actions being taken. Subject to the detail of a forthcoming Supreme Court judgment, the Scottish Government will also support Gillian Mackay MSP with the development and drafting of her proposed Members Bill to protect safe access for women to healthcare facilities that provide abortion services.

The work of the cladding remediation programme will gather data as it progresses with Single Building Assessments. This information will be used to build a reliable register of information as set out in the Ministerial Working Group on Mortgage Lending and cladding report in March 2021.