Seòmar agus comataidhean

The responsibility for the ferry and terminal replacement programme for inter-island ferries, is wholly a matter for the local authority that run those services. The Scottish Government continues to engage regarding these matters, including through the Orkney and Shetland Islands Councils' Ferry Replacement Task Forces.

As part of the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan set out in February 2021, £580 million was secured to fund a series of vessel and port projects from April 2021 to March 2026. Beyond this, and as part of the Islands Connectivity Plan, the Long-Term Plan for Vessels and Ports is focusing on the key current challenges of replacing or renewing vessel and port assets and increasing the resilience of ferry services and ferry fleets across both the Clyde and Hebrides and Northern Isles networks.

NHS Grampian and Highland have put in place local governance and programme management arrangements and it is important to allow the Boards time to progress through these structures. They will provide me with an update on progress with implementation of the Joint Plan for an Integrated Maternity Model in the North of Scotland for the period March – June 2023 by the end of June. I gave a commitment to keeping Parliament updated on progress when I was asked this question in the Chamber on the 31 May and I reinforce that commitment.

Meeting of the Parliament: 31/05/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website

The Scottish Government is committed to an infrastructure solution to address landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful and shares the urgency communities and businesses place on maintaining and improving connectivity of this vital route.

The identification of the preferred route option through the Glen Croe Valley was announced on 02 June 2023 and is a very important milestone in finding a solution to this long-standing problem.

Following design and assessment work on the options under consideration, a debris flow shelter has been identified as the preferred option for the long-term solution. This option involves constructing a debris flow shelter over a length of approximately 1.4km with an additional 180m of catch pit and protection wall to protect the road and road users from future debris flow events.

Further details on the preferred route option is available from Access to Argyll and Bute (A83) Story Map (arcgis.com) .

Work has now commenced on the next stage in the assessment process which is the detailed development and assessment of the preferred route option and this stage will culminate in the publication of road Orders and Environmental Impact Assessment Report for formal consultation.

The First Minister’s vision for Scotland published in April 2023 sets out the commitment for enhancing protection for our most precious marine areas. This commitment also includes making progress towards halting biodiversity loss and reversing declines, protecting at least 30% of our land and seas for nature by 2030.

Specific targets relating to ensure the seabed habitats are healthy and sustainable can be found within Part One of the UK Marine Strategy which provides an assessment of our seas and sets objectives, targets and indicators for achieving Good Environmental Status (GES). The high-level objective for GES relating to benthic habitats is “the health of seabed habitats is not significantly adversely affected by human activities.” Under this objective there are four criteria and targets for measuring process towards GES which includes:

1. Spatial extent of physical loss- the physical loss of each seabed habitat type caused by human activities is minimised and where possible reversed;

2. Habitat condition- habitat loss of sensitive fragile or important habitats caused by human activities is prevented, and where feasible reversed;

3. Spatial extent of habitat types adversely affected by physical disturbance- the extent of habitat types adversely affected by physical disturbance caused by human activity should be minimised; and

4. Extent of adverse effects- the extent of adverse effects caused by human activities on condition, function and ecosystem processes of habitats is minimised.

This work was produced externally to the Scottish Government. Scottish public sector representatives on the project board were sighted on the methodologies and evidence used to calculate relevant estimates and were involved in discussions with the report authors during the lifetime of the project. As noted in the report, the authors are responsible for the final report.

These figures are for staff directly employed by TS as of 31st May 2023.

Aviation, Maritime, Freight & Canals - 21

Ferries - 45

Bus, Accessibility and Active Travel - 88

Chief Executive Office - 4

Finance and Corporate Services - 67

Low Carbon Economy - 30

Major Projects - 49

Rail - 68

Roads - 102

Transport Strategy and Analysis - 63

Access to green and blue spaces in Scotland is underpinned by the rights of responsible access to land and inland water enshrined in Part 1 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 . From a marine perspective, as part of our Blue Economy Vision for Scotland , by 2045 our ambition is for thriving, resilient, regenerated, healthy communities to have more equal access to the benefits that ocean resources provide.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) was approved by the Scottish Parliament and adopted by the Scottish Ministers in February 2023. Through a number of policies, it sets out the long-term spatial strategy for Scotland.

National Planning Policy 20: Blue and Green Infrastructure , National Planning Policy 15: Local Living and 20 Minute Neighbourhoods , and Open Space Strategies , support access to green and blue spaces. This is reflected in two National Performance Framework indicators: Visits to the Outdoors , reporting the proportion of adults making one or more visits to the outdoors per week; and Access to Green and Blue Space , reporting the proportion of adults who live within a 5 minute walk of their local green or blue space.

National Planning Policy 4: Natural Places , National Planning Policy 7: Historic Assets and Places , and National Planning Policy 8: Green Belts , support protection of areas of outstanding scenic quality and enhancement of landscape features. Both the Historic Environment Scotland Green Recovery Statement and the recently refreshed strategy for the historic environment in Scotland, Our Past Our Future , highlight the heritage sector’s ambitions for sustainability and accessibility in our historic landscapes through regeneration and responsible land management.

Building on the success of the piloting of Green Health Partnerships (GHPs) through NatureScot’s Our Natural Health Service partnership, the Scottish Government is working with the NHS and other partners to expand the use of nature based solutions in health practice, including increasing the use of green and blue spaces to deliver mental health outcomes. This includes an action within the NHS Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy to establish and embed GHPs and similar approaches.

Access matters are devolved and the Scottish Government has no liaison with the UK Government in relation to these.

As per our delivery partners’ published accounts ( Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park - Annual Report & Accounts , Cairngorms National Park Authority Annual Reports and Accounts , Forestry and Land Scotland Annual reports and accounts , NatureScot Annual Reports and Accounts , Scottish Water Annual Reports ), the level of underspend for the years 2020-21, 2021-22 was around £12 million and £7.4 million respectively. Final capital and resource spend figures for 2022-23 have still to be confirmed and will be available in due course.

Figures for restoration in 2020-21 and 2021-22 can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202200314966/ . For 2022-23 our current estimate is 7,468 ha, however we are awaiting final validation of these figures

Based on provisional financial outturn figures, in 2022-23 the average cost of restoration was around £2,326 per ha. However, as an average, this number tells us very little. There is significant variation in the actual cost to restore peatland depending on site specific factors like the size and location of the site, level of degradation and required work to remedy, and accessibility.

The factors preventing targets from being achieved are physical limitations imposed by weather, access and ecological constraints and gaps in contractor availability and skill shortages. We have identified these in light of our experience of delivering restoration schemes and are putting in place mitigating actions to help resolve these constraints.

The Scottish Government remain committed to delivery of quality health and care facilities on Barra. However, the Scottish Government's ability to fund capital projects has been affected by a reduction in the amount of capital grant from the UK Government over the next two years, and unprecedented levels of inflation as a result of Covid, Brexit, uncertainty in the supply chain and the war in Ukraine.

The Outline Business Case for the provision of new health facilities at the Barra Health and Social Care Hub has been submitted, however detailed design work of the proposals has been unable to start due to the budgetary pressures across the capital investment programme.

Scottish Government officials will engage with NHS Western Isles and the Scottish Futures Trust to consider the timing of the construction and will work closely with partners to identify alternative options.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on how much the Barra and Vatersay Community Campus project has cost to date - this information is held by Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar.

Initial design and development costs have been incurred on the school and community element of the project, which is being delivered through the Learning Estate Investment Programme.

These upfront project costs have been paid by the local authority and will form part of the total project costs, up to 50% of which will be funded by the Scottish Government through the Learning Estate Investment Programme’s outcome based funding model mechanism.