Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government remains committed to the north and east of Scotland, including improving the A96 corridor and will take forward an enhancements programme that improves connectivity between surrounding towns, tackles congestion and addresses safety and environmental issues.

The current plan is to fully dual the A96 route between Inverness and Aberdeen, however the Scottish Government has agreed to conduct a transparent, evidence-based review of the programme which is already underway and will report by the end of 2022. Effective stakeholder and public engagement is an essential part of the review and an initial public consultation survey was launched on 12 May 2022.

The A96 Dualling Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass) scheme, which runs from Inverness to Hardmuir, is separate from the wider A96 corridor review process which is currently being undertaken and we continue to progress the preparation stages of the scheme with a view to completing the statutory process.

Delivery of the scheme can only commence if approved under the relevant statutory procedures and thereafter a timetable for progress can be set in line with available budgets.

The Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland to develop an online platform for members of the public to access information on the average waiting times for a range of treatments within their health board area. We expect the platform to be available this summer.

Patients will continue to receive communication from their Health Boards when they are added to a waiting list which will provide details of their point of contact for updated wait times should they be unable to access the online platform.

The requested information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) has advised waste data collection is not measured by product type or hospital department, therefore the requested information is unavailable.

Within the upcoming NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability strategy there is a commitment to work with our existing suppliers to reduce unnecessary plastic and take steps to ensure that unavoidable single-use items contain a high minimum recycled content and are themselves fully recyclable. This strategy is expected to be published in summer 2022.

We were pleased to receive the report and recommendations from the National Partnership for Culture, and recognise that the broad themes in the report align with our priorities across Scottish Government. Scottish Government officials are working together across the Health and Culture portfolios to review the Health and Wellbeing recommendations. Our response to the National Partnership for Culture recommendations will be published shortly.

From the outset, the Scottish Government’s decision-making on the COVID-19 vaccination programme has been guided by the expert advice provided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and senior clinicians.

It is presently anticipated that spring boosters will continue to be offered to those currently eligible according to JCVI guidance until 30 June 2022. On 19 May 2022 the JCVI issued interim advice regarding the autumn 2022 COVID-19 boosters.

Prioritising those most at risk has been our approach from the outset. The JCVI interim advice is to offer the autumn 2022 vaccination to the following individuals:

Residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for older adults;

Frontline health and social care workers;

All those 65 years of age and over; and

Adults aged 16 to 65 years in a clinical risk group.

This is based on an ongoing review of all the available evidence including infection rates, hospitalisation, mortality data and evidence of vaccine waning.

There is a clinical referral route available for clinicians to refer anyone who they identify as requiring additional dose(s) of vaccine or a different dosing schedule for clinical reasons (in keeping with eligibility as recommended by JCVI), on a case by-case-basis.

This is interim advice and the JCVI will continue its ongoing review and provide the eligibility criteria for the autumn 2022 booster in the near future and we stand ready to implement any further decisions on eligibility made by the JCVI.

All farmed fish, including cleaner fish, are protected by the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, which places a duty on fish farms to ensure their needs are met. The Scottish Government’s Fish Health Inspectorate inspects the legally required veterinary and mortality records held by fish farms. Significant cases of poor welfare observed during inspection are reported to the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

The Farmed Fish Health Framework Steering Group, which includes fish vets, regulators, sector representatives and Scottish Government officials, and which is chaired by the Scottish Government Chief Veterinary Officer, provides the appropriate forum within which future policy relating to the health and welfare of farmed fish will be developed.

Currently, there are no plans to introduce further legislation relating to the use of cleaner fish in Scottish aquaculture.

Animals protected under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 are defined as those that are: (a) of a kind which is commonly domesticated in the British Islands; (b) under the control of man on a permanent or temporary basis; or (c) not living in a wild state.

The Scottish Government considers that the sheep on St Kilda, for the purposes of welfare legislation, should be regarded in the same way as an unowned and unmanaged population of wild deer or other wild animals. This position was first communicated in correspondence in February 2020, and was the Scottish Government position prior to that date.

Action 12 of our Learning/Intellectual Disability and Autism: Towards Transformation Plan committed to explore the establishment of mandatory autism and learning/intellectual disability training for all NHS staff. We will consider how this applies across multi-disciplinary settings and use the evaluation findings from the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training pilot to inform our approach to learning disability and autism training in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has also commissioned NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to develop the NES autism training framework as a tool for services and learners, alongside funding a Learning Disability Team at NES to improve the knowledge and skills of the health and social care workforce.

The first phase of a rail decarbonisation scheme to electrify the Fife route (Haymarket to Dalmeny section), is moving to construction.

Work on this estimated £55 million scheme will begin in June 2022 with the section between Haymarket and Dalmeny. It is due for completion by December 2024.

This scheme forms part of a rolling programme that is expected to see electrification extended to Dundee and Aberdeen.

Beyond this, further development work on the business cases for decarbonising the Borders Line has been approved to progress to the next design phase for partial electrification of the route using battery electric multiple units.

This continues the Scottish Government’s rolling programme of railway electrification, with work already in delivery on the East Kilbride and Barrhead routes.

Approval has also been given for a procurement competition to identify a preferred manufacturer and financier for new trains to operate decarbonised rail passenger services on the Fife and Borders routes .

Following my response in January I can provide more detail around the issues pertaining to paediatric audiology in NHS Lothian. I am providing one response that covers all three questions.

The British Academy of Audiology (BAA) reports have been widely distributed amongst professionals, including all GP practices in NHS Lothian, ENT surgeons, community child health doctors, and speech and language therapists. NHS Lothian has had extensive communication with a range of partners including teaching staff and the Director of Education. As part of this process, those working with children who had any concerns about a child's hearing were encouraged to contact the Audiology department directly or to refer the child through the normal route.

The frequently asked questions, which was developed, has also been shared with specialised teams in education in the four local authority areas across NSH Lothian. My officials are also engaging with local authority heads of service for deaf education and NHS Lothian to address any additional concerns regarding support and education planning for families.

So far, 124 families have been contacted directly by NHS Lothian and offered a retest; 39 children have now had their retest with a further 11 with an appointment to date. From the 39 retested, 10 children have been found to have a new hearing impairment.

Officials continue to work closely with NHS Lothian regarding paediatric audiology, including communications. As highlighted, information has been widely circulated amongst professional staff groups working directly with children and their families, with clear mechanisms for children to be referred to the audiology department where there are concerns about their hearing. Indeed, NHS Lothian established a telephone line in December last year and this continues to be operational to make it easy for families to make direct contact with the Board about any audiology concerns, the board is also working closely with the National Deaf Children Society.