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I was disappointed that the UK Government Minister for Energy Security was unable to attend the recent meeting of the Grangemouth Future Industry Board Industrial Leadership Forum on the 28th March. He did attend the previous meeting in January and met with Scottish Ministers.

However I was pleased that the UK Government Scotland Office was represented by John Lamont MP. It is my understanding that Lord Cameron will now take forward the Scotland Office interests on this group and I have written to him to ask for a meeting to discuss these important matters.

I am also regretful that the previous Minister for Energy Security declined my invitation to meet since taking up my new position, however I have since written to the newly appointed Minister and hope that he will be able to join trilateral discussion with Petroineos in the coming weeks.

The M8 Woodside Viaducts are a vital element of the motorway and road network serving Glasgow, the wider region and country, carrying approximately 150,000 vehicles per day. The structure requires to be temporarily propped to facilitate the refurbishment of the bridge elements in need of repair. The temporary propping design and implementation is highly complex in nature and requires careful consideration of the underground services and other site constraints in the vicinity of the Viaducts.

The budget allocation for the ongoing works on the Woodside Viaduct project for the 2024-25 financial year is £46.97m.

One application was received by the Scottish Government for support from the Waterborne Freight Grant Scheme in the last five financial years.

It is the responsibility of the college unions and employers to negotiate pay, terms and conditions, not the Scottish Government.

While the Scottish Government respects the right of trade unions to take industrial action, we remain concerned about the potential impacts this action will have on students.

That is why the Scottish Government continues to encourage unions and employers to reach a resolution that is fair and affordable and brings this action to a close.

There were 24 responses to the consultation on the Report into the Effectiveness of Environmental Governance. Section 41 of the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021 requires a statement to be laid before Parliament including a summary of any views expressed in response to the consultation, and the Scottish Ministers’ recommendations in response to those views. The publication of this statement will be confirmed in due course.

Questions regarding day-to-day operational matters of Historic Environment Scotland 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.

Transport Scotland's National Traffic Data System (NTDS) has live traffic counters at the two junctions measuring the volume of traffic on the slip roads and the main carriageway.

At this stage, as previously stated, there is no reason for Transport Scotland to consider temporarily closing the M74 Junction 1 Kingston Interchange, due to the volume of traffic on the M74 and M8 and the resulting impact on the road traffic network around Glasgow City Centre.

Glasgow City Council, as part of its Strategic Plan 2022-27 , plan to commission research on and explore options to reduce the impact of the M8 on the city centre, and review opportunities to re-engineer other roads infrastructure to become more people friendly, including options for a possible long-term replacement.

The Scottish Government supports innovation where it contributes to the sustainable production of salmon, including adaptive husbandry, health and welfare, nutrition and the reduction and monitoring of environmental impact. We recognise that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to farmed fish production, and that technological innovations must be designed to operate in the conditions of the surrounding environment. The Government’s Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture, published in July 2023, sets out our expectation of producers that they must drive mortalities to lowest possible levels and that technology is always used appropriately where it is deployed.

The 7 March 2024 publication by Nature Scientific Reports concerning mass mortality events in salmon aquaculture focused on the community impacts in relation to specific catastrophic events in Chile. Similar impacts on communities have not been experienced in Scotland and the Scottish Government does not consider that speculative extrapolation between Chile and Scotland on community impacts or worker safety is appropriate given differences in circumstances and approaches including health and safety regimes.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL), as procuring authority for new vessels for the Scottish Government, operate under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and also comply with the statutory and legislative requirements derived from The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014.

Contracts for Operators of Ferry Services are also subject to the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and also comply with the statutory and legislative requirements derived from The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014.