Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-16686 on 28 April 2023. 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 .

Transport Scotland is unable to estimate the annual daily traffic flow (AADT) for the entire A1 trunk road within the Scottish Borders. However, the following table provides the AADT taken from the two traffic counters Transport Scotland operate on the A1 trunk road in the Scottish Borders.

As non-executive directors (NXDs) are not employees of the Scottish Government but appointees of the Permanent Secretary, they are remunerated through the payment of quarterly Fees as opposed salaries. Alongside receiving quarterly Fees for their services, NXDs are also entitled to be reimbursed for relevant travel and accommodation expenses in line with the Scottish Government’s Travel and Subsistence policy.

Remuneration of NXD Fees and Expenses in each year since 2016:

Lambing and calving are now underway in many parts of Scotland and it is troubling to see reports on social media of irresponsible behaviour by dog owners. The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2021 has been in force for over a year and provides Police Scotland and the courts with greater powers to deal with those who allow their dogs to worry, attack or kill livestock in Scotland’s countryside.

We want everyone, including dog owners, to enjoy their right to access Scotland’s stunning countryside and landscapes responsibly. I would encourage people to familiarise and remind themselves of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and to exercise caution and vigilance when in and around farms and fields with livestock to help prevent livestock worrying incidents.

I can confirm a surveillance framework was introduced in February 2022 and this framework has been implemented in all Health Boards. The surveillance waiting lists have been re-validated and categorised by diagnosis and risk category. In addition, waiting list triage tools such as qFIT, and endoscopy alternatives such as Cytosponge, and Colon Capsule Endoscopy have been introduced.

The Association for Real Change (ARC) Scotland’s Principles into Practice trial programme, which was conducted in ten participating Local Authority areas, concluded on 31 March 2023. The revised Principles into Practice Framework will shortly be made available on ARC’s dedicated website, along with Compass - an online tool developed in partnership with young people and parents and carers during the trial programme, to help them, and the professionals who support them, to navigate the transition to young adult life.

Over the next two years ARC Scotland will continue the work of the Scottish Transitions Forum, including supporting the wider implementation of Principles into Practice across Scotland, through funding from the Scottish Government’s Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learning Third Sector Fund.

The following table shows the remaining £50 million play park allocation for each local authority. This information can also be found on the Scottish Government website Renewing Scotland’s play parks - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

We are jointly funding a £250,000 endometriosis research project with the charity Wellbeing of Women. The research project, which will primarily be run by researchers at The University of Edinburgh, will look at the drug dichloroacetate in the management of endometriosis-associated pain.

Additionally, in January 2023 our Chief Scientist Office announced funding for the ENDOCAN project, led by researchers at The University of Edinburgh. Through a large scale UK-wide trial, the research will investigate whether a cannabinoid can reduce endometriosis-associated pain. Funding of £299,509 has been committed to this 30 month project.

The Chief Scientist Office is also currently inviting applications for Applied Health Research Programmes . An applied health research programme is envisaged to comprise a coherent group of inter-related projects that together can have a high level of direct impact to address an important Scottish population health or NHS challenge within the lifetime of the programme or soon thereafter.

We recognise the challenges facing remote and rural NHS Boards in balancing paramount safety considerations with the delivery of care as close to home as practicable. Work is ongoing to ensure that services are developed in a flexible way, recognising local population needs and geographic challenges. We expect NHS Boards to engage constructively with local communities in this and understand that there is significant community engagement work already underway across remote and rural NHS Board areas.

Figures for median travel distance for obstetric and/ or gynaecology services are not collected centrally. The requested Information on how many obstetrics and gynaecology consultants have been recruited across all NHS Boards in each of the past 5 years can be found on the TURAS NHS Education for Scotland workforce statistics site at: NHS Scotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence . NHS Boards are responsible for planning and delivering local services, including maternity services. This includes planning where those services should be located, based on local population need and any geographic challenges, and staff recruitment.

Housing to 2040, sets out our plans to continue delivering quality homes for private rent. Over the next decade, we will continue to support the provision of homes for private rent with a focus on maximising delivery of these homes at the affordable end of market rents, working with private sector investors and partners whose business models match our ambition to improve quality and affordability for tenants.

For the social rented sector, we are committed to delivering on our target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which at least 70% will be available for social rent and 10% will be in our remote, rural and island communities. We have delivered 118,124 affordable homes since 2007, over 83,000 (83,291) of which were for social rent, including 21,313 council homes. And we are pleased that housebuilding completions are at their highest annual rate since 2008, up 10% on last year, and that the number of affordable homes delivered is above the pre-pandemic year 2019.

Our ‘New Deal for Tenants’ draft strategy consultation set out that both private and social rented homes have a role to play in delivering affordable, quality housing which gives people choice and flexibility about where they live.

The New Deal for Tenants consultation set out the importance of attracting new investment to the private rented sector, acknowledging the important role of Mid-Market Rental properties and the Build to Rent sector. It was also acknowledged in the draft strategy consultation, that there is a clear need to improve the evidence base on the private rented sector in Scotland, in order to provide key evidence to support future policies. In the meantime, we continue to closely monitor available evidence and data in the private rented sector.

Finally, it is important to acknowledge the interconnections of second homes and Short Term Lets on the rental market. On 17 April, we launched a consultation on Second and Empty Homes – seeking views on giving powers to local authorities to increase the rate of council tax on second homes and empty homes. Nationally, we want to encourage more residential accommodation to be used as homes for living in and for these to be occupied for more of the time. Locally, councils should decide how to achieve the right balance in the use of housing to meet local needs and to support thriving communities.

Our Short Term Lets licensing scheme will allow local authorities and communities to take action to manage issues more effectively, without unduly curtailing the many benefits of short-term lets to hosts, visitors and the Scottish economy whilst ensuring short-term lets are safe and the people providing them are suitable. Powers to designate control areas will allow local authorities to manage high concentrations of short-term lets and help them ensure that homes are used to best effect in their areas. We consider the legislation is appropriate for the whole of Scotland, including island and rural communities, and offers considerable flexibility to local authorities on how it is implemented.