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The Scottish Government has engaged with The Highland Council during the previous appraisal work carried out by HITRANS, on behalf of the Council, which considered a range of options for the Corran Narrows. We are aware the Council is now pursuing an upgrade to the existing ferries, but maintain a longer term aspiration for a fixed link connection across Loch Linnhe.

The Highland Council was part of regional working group which helped to inform the second Strategic Transport Projects Review. During this time, the transport options for the Corran Narrows was raised by the Council. However, ferry services and their replacement were not within the scope of that national review.

I am advised by Transport Scotland that CalMac Ferries informed West Coast Motors, who operate the bus service on Mull, of their revised timetable for the Oban-Craignure route on 29 December 2022. A revised bus timetable was implemented by West Coast Motors between 31 December 2022 and 8 January 2023 allowing ferry connections.

Scottish Ministers have no locus in this decision. Transport links across the Corran Narrows are wholly the responsibility of The Highland Council and, as such, any decision to replace ferries or deliver a fixed link (including funding of this) would be a matter for the Local Authority. Therefore, the Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific consultation regarding future transport options for Corran Narrows.

The Scottish Government recently completed a national review of future transport infrastructure. The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) was an example of effective collaboration with stakeholders and the public. It included a considerable programme of engagement activities at a national and regional level with participation from local residents and business owners at various points throughout the process, including within the Lochaber area.

We continue to monitor the introduction of the £2 fare cap in England, however in Scotland we already provide free bus travel for more of the population compared to the rest of the UK, investing £300 million annually to the benefit of over 2 million people, helping improve access to education, leisure, and work. The network support grant plus was also extended to 31 March 2023 which is conditional on participating operators meeting terms and conditions including in relation to freezing fares to help keep bus travel more affordable.

Additionally, the Scottish Government is progressing the Fair Fares Review to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares that supports the long term viability of our public transport system as we recover from the pandemic. The Review is considering both the cost and availability of services and the range of discounts and concessionary schemes which are available on all modes including bus, rail and ferry.

Transport Scotland continues to collaborate with bus operators through the bus taskforce, to support the industry in addressing the immediate challenges, and improve bus services for people in Scotland.

The SCI-Diabetes eHealth Clinical Lead provides regular updates to the Scottish Diabetes Group and Managed Clinical Networks in order to ensure that the clinical community is aware of the functionality of the dashboard and how they can work together to continuously improve it.

Any individual healthcare professional or clinical team can submit a change request to SCI-Diabetes team. Any change request made to the SCI-Diabetes system must demonstrate how the change will support clinical care and improve patient care more broadly.

The decision to implement a fares freeze until October 2023 will reduce the income received by operators across that period which may require additional subsidy once any final costs are known or increased patronage is considered. This will be reconciled with operators in the normal manner.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any assessments regarding the viability of a fixed link across the Corran Narrows.

The Scottish Government is aware of work carried out by HITRANS on behalf of The Highland Council to consider a range of options for the Corran Narrows. As any decision to deliver a fixed link would be a matter for the Local Authority, it would not be for the Scottish Government to undertake an assessment of viability.

No airports were forced to close.

Since publication of the Independent External View of Skye, Lochalsh and South-West Ross Report in May 2018 by Sir Lewis Ritchie. Scottish Government officials have been in regular contact with NHS Highland to assess progress.

Sir Lewis Ritchie has made four review visits to Portree (in 2018, 2019 and twice in 2022). He also made an additional virtual meeting assessment of progress in 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Sir Lewis has met (virtually) with a number of clinicians on Skye on two occasions in January 2023. That engagement process continues and Sir Lewis plans to return to Skye, Lochalsh and South-West Ross for further in-person meetings later in 2023.

The Independent External View of Skye, Lochalsh and South-West Ross Report written by Sir Lewis Ritchie contained 15 recommendations. Progress has been made on most of the recommendations, including preservation of in-patient bed provision at Portree Hospital, increasing Scottish Ambulance Service capacity, restoring sustainable out of hours care to the communities of Raasay and Glenelg & Arnisdale and promoting digital innovation - the SkyeLab* project.

24/7 urgent care provision at Portree Hospital was partially suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 and then fully suspended in 2022, because of severe staff shortages. Workforce recruitment and retention issues continue to be a challenge for all health services, something which is not just felt in the Highlands and Islands but across the UK. Partial restoration of the out of hours (OOH) service at Portree Hospital began on 9 January 2023 with weekend and public holiday opening 9am-6pm. In 2022, Sir Lewis Ritchie made two visits to Skye (in May and November) to assess progress, a further visit is planned for later in 2023.