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With the exception of two additional MSPs being invited to the Taskforce meeting on 29 September 2022, there has been no changes to the recent core attendee list.

I agreed at the last Taskforce meeting on 29 September to increase the frequency of meetings to three times per year, the next Taskforce meeting will be held January 2023, after the medium term proposals have been announced. In relation to the suggestion to appoint an independent chair I put it to the Taskforce members for discussion and it was agreed at the meeting I would chair the Taskforce meetings going forward.

The Scottish Government will not collect any monies as a result of Low Emission Zone enforcement. Any funds received by the relevant local authority will be ring fenced for LEZ enforcement system running costs, and/or air quality improvement works. The penalty charge structure of the LEZs has been designed to deter entry by non-compliant vehicles, in addition, a grace period has been included so that members of the public have time to familiarise themselves with LEZs and how they might impact their lives and travel habits. To help with this, we have launched a national website and a targeted marketing campaign. We anticipate that this will result in fewer fines being issued.

Any period of disruption will be considered on a case by case basis.

Information on the organisations that were invited to tender for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract on each occasion that it was put to tender is already in the public domain and is below

For CHFS1 tender in 2005 - Three organisations (Western Ferries, Caledonian MacBrayne and V-Ships) completed and returned a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire by the closing date of 15 December 2005.

For CHFS2 tender in 2016 - CalMac Ferries Limited and Serco Caledonian Ferries Limited both passed the pre-qualification stage of the process and were invited to submit tenders.

Fampridine (Fampyra ®) was accepted by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) as a treatment for improvement of walking in adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with walking disability, with a score of 4-7 on the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) in April 2020.

There is also an alternative route of access to fampridine out with the SMC advice through the Peer Approved Clinical System (PACS) Tier Two process, where a doctor considers there would be a clinical benefit for an individual on a case-by-case basis. Individuals can discuss this option with their treating clinician.

It is worth noting that the decision to prescribe any medicine for an individual, and which medicine to prescribe, is entirely one for the clinician in charge of the individual’s care to make, having taken into account their clinical condition.

The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) is currently being finalised, taking on board the public consultation.

It will be published along with plan for the delivery of the recommendations before the end of next Parliamentary session (24 December 2022).

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11074 on 5 October 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 can confirm that, Network Rail Scotland, has developed a plan for installing platform edge tactile paving at all Scottish stations by the end of the current Rail Regulatory Control Period 6 (end of March 2024). The work is being completed over two phases. Phase 1 installed tactile paving at 18 high priority stations by the end of March 2022, phase 2 will address the remaining 148 stations.

The Scottish Government introduced the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to provide an enhanced suite of options for local transport authorities to improve bus services according to their local needs. Local Authorities now have the power to run their own bus services, and secondary legislation to enable bus franchising and partnership options will be introduced before the end of 2023.

It is important that the options within the Transport Act 2019 are fully explored to ensure they are appropriate for the area, and are sustainable for local authorities long term. As such, the Community Bus Fund aims to support local authorities to explore their powers under the Transport Act 2019, and enable options to be trialled on a smaller scale.

The Scottish Government remains committed to medium and long term solutions to address landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful.

I can confirm that design and assessment work for both medium and long term solutions at the Rest and be Thankful is being taken forward from the Capital Land and Works allocation as part of the Scottish Budget: 2022-23.