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Historic Environment Scotland continues to review the budgetary requirements during its ongoing inspections programme. Findings from this programme will allow informed decisions to be made regarding the capacity and resources required to carry out any subsequent conservation and repair works.

Against the current challenging financial backdrop, the Scottish Government will maintain our support of Historic Environment Scotland to protect Scotland’s unique heritage and historic environment. I will continue to engage regularly with Historic Environment Scotland to discuss the access restrictions and restoration programme.

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland, including information relating to the members of Historic Environment Scotland’s HistoricScot Youth Forum, are best answered directly by Historic Environment Scotland.

I have asked Historic Environment Scotland to respond directly to the member with a full reply to his question in writing.

The adjustable car ramp (mezzanine deck) on the MV Hebrides has not been removed and is fully operational on specified sailings.

The evaluation of the Scottish Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme for GPs or GP Speciality Training bursary (GPST bursary) was led by Scottish Government Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellows in collaboration with NHS Education for Scotland (NES). The evaluation is expected to be completed by Spring 2023. The evaluation was instructed to inform policy consideration and was not conducted on the basis that it would in future become a publication. Nevertheless, once the evaluation is completed, consideration will be given to the publication of the final evaluation report.

The Scottish Government does not hold data broken down by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, however, the data is set out below highlighting what percentage of primary schools are signed up to the Daily Mile initiative.

We have been working with NHS Highland on an improvement plan for long-term, sustainable improvement to Psychological Therapies and we appreciate the hard work that the Director of Psychology and supporting staff in NHS Highland are doing to clear backlogs.

We recognise that performance in NHS Highland is not satisfactory. Long waits are unacceptable and we are continuing to offer tailored support to Boards, including NHS Highland, in the form of support from the Scottish Government Principal Psychology Advisor, Quality Improvement Advisor, Data Analyst and policy support. We are monitoring progress on this closely.

To help ensure that services deliver and measure Psychological Therapies in a more standardised way across Scotland, a new National Specification for the delivery of Psychological Therapies and Interventions is currently under development, with a consultation publication date of Winter 2022.

The Scottish Government approved funding of £10.16m for the project to repair the funicular and to undertake associated capital works on Cairngorm Mountain when it approved the business case submitted by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in 2020.

Following cost increases to the project, HIE re-considered the business case and concluded that reinstatement of the funicular was still the recommended option. Following review of the available options, the Scottish Government confirmed its continued support for the project and agreed to provide additional funding of £7m.

As part of the original business case, the Scottish Government agreed to provide funding towards the operating costs for Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Ltd (CMSL). The funding required from the Scottish Government depends on the CMSL’s income in a given year and is expected to reduce once the funicular is operational.

The Scottish Government has provided £120,000 to each of the six local authorities that were selected to deliver Green Growth Accelerator pathfinder projects (Aberdeen City Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highland Council, North Lanarkshire Council and West Dunbartonshire Council). This funding was provided for development phase of the pathfinder projects, including feasibility work and business case development.

Further to this, the Scottish Government has worked with COSLA to agree funding from the Green Growth Accelerator 2022-23 budget to support local authorities with the development of low carbon infrastructure projects this year. Each local authority has been allocated funding of £26,000 to assist them in the development of a pipeline of low carbon infrastructure projects which could be supported through the Green Growth Accelerator.

CalMac and NorthLink are required to regularly engage with stakeholders and communities as per their commitments in the ferry service contracts. There are established forums set up to ensure this engagement is inclusive of relevant stakeholders. Full details of this engagement can be found on the Transport Scotland website by following this link: Ferry Services Managed by Transport Scotland .

Transport Scotland officials monitor this engagement on behalf of Ministers at regular contract meetings.