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The Scottish Government recognises the importance of working closely and collaboratively with the UK Government and other devolved administrations to deliver a net zero that is mutually beneficial both in economic and social terms.

We will engage directly with each of the Governments to understand how best to establish a four nations climate response group that enables us to work much closer and share more information.

Road closures on the local road network are the responsibility of the local authority in that area. They have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

Local businesses can provide views as part of the planning application process, including comments on transport and traffic considerations and their impacts. If an application is approved, where appropriate, a condition of consent can require a finalised traffic management plan to be approved with the local planning authority and, where required, in consultation with other relevant bodies (such as Transport Scotland).

Other conditions may be imposed requiring developers to set up a community liaison group to assist with the provision of mitigation measures etc. It can be the case that the development is not permitted to commence construction until this group is established and the terms of engagement are signed off by the planning authority.

Within NHSScotland, the duty to maintain registration rests with the healthcare professional. Health Boards must ensure that mechanisms are in place to check the ongoing registration of staff and thereby prevent the risk of staff whose registration has lapsed, been lost or suspended continuing to practise in a role which requires such professional registration.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. This would be a matter for individual public bodies.

Operational decisions of the Scottish National Investment Bank are made independently of Scottish Ministers.

It would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to recover losses resulting from investments made by the Scottish National Investment Bank. This would be a matter for the Bank.

The Scottish Government has no plans to sue the UK Government in relation to the Deposit Return Scheme.

Operational decisions of the Scottish National Investment Bank are made independently of Scottish Ministers.

Despite voting to stay in the EU, Scotland was forced to leave with the UK. That means putting in place trade barriers for both exports and imports that create costs for businesses and consumers.

After delays lasting several years, the UK Government has now moved further on in the implementation of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), the UK Government’s post-Brexit regime of border controls.

Scotland has little choice but reluctantly to accept these controls, not least to at last level the trading field for Scottish exporters. However, the longer these controls have been delayed, the more necessary they have become to protect our biosecurity.

The model brings into force a sliding-scale of risk-based checks and controls on imported goods entering Great Britain (GB), from the EU and the rest of the world. On 31 st of January 2024, documentary checks began under the model with various administrative requirements put in place. Today sees the establishment of the next phase of controls – risk-based physical checks on certain categories of goods.

The requirement for checks on imports from the EU stems of course from Brexit, but Parliament will be aware that it interacts with devolved responsibilities – primarily our responsibility to protect Scotland’s people, environment and businesses from biosecurity risks. Last year, therefore, I reluctantly agreed to adopt this model.

While this model is not perfect, it is an unfortunate necessity. We must deliver robust biosecurity protections for Scotland.

My agreement to endorse the model last year was predicated on receiving assurance from the UK Government that several outstanding issues would be addressed. I am both disappointed and frustrated to have to report to Parliament that instead of joint working on a range of matters and devolution being respected, the UK Government continues to work in isolation, has taken unilateral decisions on areas of devolved responsibility, and has delivered the legislative underpinning of this model so poorly that time for parliamentary scrutiny has been severely limited. I have raised our frustrations repeatedly with UK Government ministers since prior to the model’s publication; despite receiving assurances, our frustrations have not been addressed.

Similarly, I have written to conveners of relevant Scottish Parliament committees on this matter to express concern at how the UK Government’s approach is impacting our Parliament’s scrutiny.

Our stakeholders want clarity about how this model impacts them. Despite the UK Government having had years to prepare for this (and having delayed the model no less than five times), there are still unanswered questions preventing industry from getting clear answers about how to conduct their businesses. For example, interactions between the BTOM and the Windsor Framework remain unclear. Therefore, west coast arrangements have not yet been decided and checks there are not yet coming online. I will of course keep Parliament updated as to any progress in these and other areas.

My fellow ministers and officials will be closely monitoring the implementation of this latest stage of BTOM, not only to ensure that our biosecurity protections are maintained, but to ensure businesses are given the information and support they require to navigate these new roles. We will continue to advocate for substantial and meaningful engagement on issues of major importance to Scotland, as we were promised and which Westminster, has so far failed to deliver.

I have repeatedly urged the UK Government to negotiate a comprehensive veterinary agreement with the EU – sensibly and pragmatically aligning standards that would reduce the financial and administrative requirements that this model will create for some businesses here in Scotland.

Further information on the model can be found on the UK Government’s website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-border-target-operating-model-august-2023

I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-24548 on 30 January 2024 and S6W-23003 on 4 December 2023. Please note that in S6W-24548 we advised the next statistical publication would be April 2024, however I wrote to Parliament with an update on 22 April 2024 – https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/local-gov/correspondence/2024/letterfromministerstl.pdf .

Operational guidance regarding the provision of food is provided to Boards from Health Facilities Scotland (a division of National Services Scotland). Boards carry out quality assurance activity of their catering services through several mechanisms. Patient Experience Surveys are used in all boards, through a variety of methods, and include questions on national measures of quality (which are reported annually to Health Facilities Scotland), alongside additional questions included by the board. Mealtime observations, where the ward service is observed and measured against several topic areas, are used to help to identify areas for improvement. However, some boards do not currently carry out these types of audits. All feedback should be reviewed by the service and used to measure the quality of the service from the patient’s perspective, helping to identify areas for improvement.

Patient Feedback should be considered at several forums, including at the board’s Strategic Hydration and Nutritional Care Group or Food, Fluid and Nutrition Group meetings.

Where patients have complaints, Boards are encouraged to utilise the NHS Complaints Handling Procedure. Where suitable, Boards are encouraged to resolve straightforward complaints at the earliest opportunity, however where this is not possible complaints can be escalated to an investigation stage.

The Scottish Government acknowledges that there is the need for better access to NHS diagnostic assessment and support for people who may have ADHD, and that private assessments can lead to issues with accessing pharmaceutical interventions. We expect, however, local support for people with ADHD to not be diagnosis dependent, but rather be based on needs.

NAIT published guidance on Prescribing ADHD medication to adults following private sector diagnosis in Scotland in April 2022. The guidance was drafted in consultation with practising Psychiatrists, the Royal Colleges of Psychiatry and General Practice and individuals with ADHD.

NAIT’s guidance highlighted, for a Shared Care Agreement to work properly everyone involved must communicate effectively. A Shared Care Agreement is an agreement between a patient, their GP and a specialist service, which can include a private diagnosis service. Recommendations from specialists for ongoing prescribing on the NHS need to be made at an NHS consultation with an NHS specialist.

The Scottish Government is taking forward proposals for a proposed Learning Disabilities, Autism and Neurodivergence bill to help better protect the rights of people with learning disabilities and neurodivergent people, including people with ADHD. The consultation ran from 21 December 2023 to 21 April 2024 and we are currently analysing the responses we received.