Seòmar agus comataidhean

We have accepted that the 25% figure for offshore wind potential is dated. The figure has been used widely and was included in a UK Government report in 2013. In relation to the Freedom of Information requests associated with the These Islands report, we recognise that there was correspondence between officials about the use of the statistic in late 2020, and we are now undertaking a further examination of our records, alongside work to provide an updated estimate.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11872 on 24 November 2022. 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

I refer the member to S6W-12515 on 8 December 2022 which outlines the national steps taken by the MSN to ensure there is sufficient psychological support for children and young people with cancer. 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 continues to work closely with COSLA to find a way forward on the introduction of a Scottish Recommended Allowance for foster and kinship carers.

The suite of final reports presenting the recommendations of the Second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) will be published on the Transport Scotland website on Thursday 8 December 2022. This represents a key milestone for strategic transport planning in Scotland. Setting out a 20 year framework for capital investment to drive the change we need to achieve the Scottish Government’s strategic vision and move towards Net Zero – the majority of the 45 recommendations contribute directly towards achieving emissions reduction.

This marks the culmination of over three years’ intensive work.

The evidence gathering and robust objective-led appraisal work feeding in to this review has been informed by stakeholder engagement from the very outset. The public have been provided with several opportunities for involvement, not least the three month statutory consultation on draft versions of the reports during January to April 2022. All responses to this have been carefully considered and used to inform refinement of the final recommendations.

The intention was to publish a Delivery Plan for these recommendations, alongside the final report. However, due to the current huge lack of certainty around available capital budget and fiscal policy over recent months, this has not been possible as yet. As such the Delivery Plan will follow in 2023, which will include more detail on prioritisation and delivery timescales, however, I am pleased to note that work is already underway on 38 of the 45 recommendations.

Licensing fees must not be set at a level greater than the amount necessary to recover establishment and running costs. Guidance to licensing authorities on setting licence fees is contained within Chapter 3 of our short-term lets licensing guidance part 2: Supporting documents - Short term lets - licensing scheme part 2: supplementary guidance for licensing authorities, letting agencies and platforms - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Guidance sets out that licensing authorities are expected to have regard to minimising licence fee costs. It also encourages licensing authorities to offer lower fees for home sharing and home letting licences than for secondary letting. However, the exact fee levels are a matter for licensing authorities, and will likely depend on a number of factors such as volume of short-term let activity in their area, approach to physical property inspections and geography.

Licensing authorities must review their fees from time to time to ensure that revenue from fees remains in line with the running costs of the licensing scheme, as required by Paragraph 15(2)(a) of schedule 1 to the 1982 Act, as inserted by the Licensing Order.

The Scottish Government has accepted that the 25% figure for offshore wind potential is dated. We are undertaking an examination of our records and have initiated work to quantify Scotland’s offshore wind potential. Once this work has concluded we will consider which legacy documents may need to be updated.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-12355 on 8 December 2022. 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 .

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.

Addressing the wellbeing needs of the Health and Social Care workforce is now even more crucial than it was prior to Covid-19 and is key to both retaining our GP workforce as we press ahead with our commitment to increase the GP population in Scotland by at least 800 additional GPs by 2027.

Staff wellbeing is front and centre of our efforts to support the recovery of health and social care services. If we want our NHS and social care to provide the best care for us, we need to make sure we take care of them. The NHS Recovery Plan highlights that the recovery of staff is intrinsic to our collective ambitions for renewing our NHS, and highlights measures to support the physical, mental and emotional needs of the workforce.