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The Scottish Government operates a Shared Services approach to IT. 52 Agencies and Public Bodies out with the core Scottish Government take IT services from a centralised IT Service called SCOTSConnect.

The large customer base of over 21,000 staff and shared network brings a high level of standardisation, meaning we can drive economies of scale with better buying power for software and deliver exceptional value for money without compromising the provision of high quality services.

As explained in the answer to questions S6W-33501 and S6W-33502 on 28 January 2025 , decisions on professional memberships are made by Directorates, Divisions and Departments. Professional memberships are, by their nature, used to develop individuals in a professional capacity. We are not aware of any professional memberships that can be shared between individuals or Departments.

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 Scottish Government is committed to improving road infrastructure throughout Scotland as a key factor in securing economic growth and high-quality public infrastructure across Scotland. This includes our ongoing commitment to dual the A9, delivering improvements to the A96 which includes dualling Inverness to Nairn and the Nairn Bypass, delivering a range of measures of improvements to the A83 to reduce the risk of landslips at the Rest and Be Thankful and taking forward design work on the A75 between Springholm and Crocketford.

During 2025-26 main construction works are expected to commence on the third A9 Dualling contract, Tomatin to Moy, following contract award in July 2024, and preparatory works followed by main construction works are expected to commence on the fourth A9 Dualling contract, Tay Crossing to Ballinluig, following anticipated contract award in Summer 2025. In addition, procurement of the fifth A9 Dualling contract, Pitlochry to Killiecrankie, is expected to commence in Summer 2025.

Subject to completing the necessary statutory procedures, we will also during 2025-26 commence the next phase of the medium term improvements to reduce the impact of landslips at the Rest and Be Thankful.

The Scottish Government has provided £4.2bn of funding from 2024 to 2029 for Network Rail to operate, maintain and renew Scotland’s rail infrastructure. The Scottish Government expects Network rail to deliver significant improvements in the capability, resilience and performance of rail infrastructure across the network with this funding.

In addition, the Scottish Government has an impressive record of delivering a rolling programme of rail enhancement projects. Decisions on which further enhancements will commence in 2025-2026 remain subject to consideration by the Investment Decision Making Board at Transport Scotland and myself and will be announced in due course.

The Scottish Government has committed to conduct any future new build or major refurbishment projects following the Net Zero Public Buildings Standard and will ensure its buildings comply with changes to energy efficiency standards where applicable.

6% of buildings owned by the Scottish Government meet an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A or B.

Feasibility studies have been conducted to look at options to improve the lower performing buildings.

In terms of part (a), statistics on police recorded crimes of weapon possession within a school are available in the following table. Information is available from 2017-18 onwards, the first year that data was collected separately for school settings. The fall in 2020-21 will reflect the closure of schools due to the Covid pandemic. Information is not held centrally on the age of the perpetrator, so whilst it is likely the majority of these crimes in a school involve a child or young person, it is not necessarily the case for every incident.

The Familial Breast Cancer pathway which is hosted by the Scottish Cancer Network’s Clinical Management Pathway website is a consensus document which is not a rigid constraint on clinical practice, but a concept of good practice against which the needs of the individual patient can be considered by health care professionals.

Surveillance for high-risk breast cancer is the responsibility of NHS Health Boards and are managed locally by health care professionals. The inclusion of a treatment or approach within a consensus document is not a guarantee of immediate access.

The Scottish Government supports local authorities to manage ash dieback and replace lost trees with appropriate species through Scottish Forestry working in partnership with The Tree Council. This collaboration produced an ash dieback toolkit, first published in 2022, to help local authorities to manage ash dieback effectively. This covers:

• Raising awareness of ash dieback

• Preparing an Ash Dieback Action Plan

• Taking action and responding to ash dieback

• Recovery and adaptation

Ongoing support for local authorities provides help to develop Ash Dieback Action Plans and facilitates joint working and sharing of experience and best practice across local authorities. Guidance is provided to help those with responsibility for ash trees in Scotland, including local authorities, to make informed management decisions. This includes identifying and monitoring affected ash trees and managing them accordingly, taking a risk-based approach considering tree condition and location. Guidance is also provided to assist with decisions about replacing lost ash trees. This covers both advice on encouraging natural regeneration of alternative native species where possible, and information on appropriate replacement tree species for ash in different habitat types in Scotland in cases where planting is necessary.

The core elements of Anne’s Law have already been delivered by using our existing powers to strengthen Health and social care standards on visiting in care homes and in updates to guidance. As a result people living in care homes can now expect to see family members or friends during outbreaks and are able to name people who can directly participate in meeting their care needs.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to enshrining Anne’s Law in primary legislation, and will deliver it within the National Care Service Bill. The timing of this will be dependent on the Bill successfully completing its Parliamentary passage.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-32369 on 8 January 2025. 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