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Orkney Islands Council is wholly responsible for their inter-island ferries, including vessel maintenance, and therefore they or Orkney Ferries Limited would be best placed to provide this information.

Since the introduction of the Forestry Grant Scheme in 2016, 7 woodland creation projects with a value of £1.9M have been agreed directly with Gresham House.

The member will be aware in March of this year the previous Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care approved the plan for integrated maternity services across the North of Scotland with consultant-led obstetric services at Dr Gray’s Hospital, supporting this with initial investment of up to £6.6m. NHS Grampian and NHS Highland are moving forward with implementation, including progressing local recruitment and marketing, and progressing the NHS Highland Business Case for Raigmore redevelopment. I mentioned in the Chamber on the 31 st May I was expecting to have the revised NHS Highland Business Case which I have now received. I will be considering this carefully and seeking views from the External Assurance panel led by Prof Linda de Caestecker. I have already received specific questions from the Keep MUM campaign group and my officials will be following up on these points.

As advertised on the Traffic Scotland website a single lane closure and 50mph speed restriction was in place in both directions on the dual carriageway section of the A9 between Kincraig and Dalraddy between 7:00am on 12 June and 12:00pm on 16 June 2023. The traffic restrictions were required to ensure the safety of road users and road workers whilst maintenance works, including repairs to surfacing, structures and roadside infrastructure as well as landscape maintenance, were undertaken by the Contractor responsible for the A9 Dualling: Kincraig to Dalraddy contract.

Due to the scope and timeframe of the question, the information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost as this data is not available from a single source.

HM Treasury budgeting rules, with which the Scottish Government must comply, are very clear that it is not possible to use capital budgets to support current spending. All the capital budget will be used to support capital spending in the 2023-24 financial year.

On 13 June the Cabinet met with Fraser McKinlay – Chief Executive Officer of The Promise Scotland and Fiona Duncan – Chair of The Promise Scotland and Independent Strategic Advisor for the Promise.

The potential impacts on the future transport connectivity needs and any impacts on the Clyde & Hebrides and Northern Isles Ferry Services will be considered as part of the Islands Connectivity Plan in conjunction with the local authorities responsible for implementing the Islands Growth Deal.

Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council are wholly responsible for their inter-island ferries, including considering any such impacts.

As required by Section 103 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010, the next report to the Scottish Parliament on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) will be published in 2024. Reporting occurs in a 6-year cycle. The last report was published in 2018, and is available here: Marine Protected Area Network - 2018 Report to the Scottish Parliament - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Through Scottish Government’s commitment of £36 Million over this parliamentary term, The Climate Justice Fund [CJF] continues to focus on supporting communities being impacted first and worst by the climate crisis.

£7 Million of this has been committed to be spent on Loss and Damage over this parliament (to March 31 2026). £1.7 Million has already been delivered through grants. For details of expenditure I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13351 on 10 January 2023. In addition, once the selection process and delivery mechanism for the £5 Million funding for non-economic loss and damage is finalised, initiatives can begin to be funded through this programme on the otherwise underfunded and undervalued area of addressing non-economic and slow-onset loss and damage.

Scottish Government is expanding its Human Rights Defendership Fellowship programme to include two £50,000 Gender and Environment fellowships. The fellowship will allow human rights defenders from other countries to spend several months in Scotland to develop their work, skills and extend their networks in a safe place.

A further £24 Million will be awarded through the Climate Just Communities programme over three years. This will be split across Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia to build more inclusive communities that are resilient to the material and social effects of climate change.

Officials are developing options for Cabinet Secretary consideration for allocation of the as yet uncommitted funding.

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