Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03027 on 1 October 2021. 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 are working collaboratively with COSLA and partners to prepare a response to the review of the Town Centre Action Plan which will be published later this year.

A joint interim response with COSLA was published in March 2021 and can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/interim-joint-response-report-recommendations-review-town-centre-action-plan-new-future-scotlands-town-centres/.

The Scottish Government is already working with key partners to address existing data and evidence deficits which will allow us to fully understand the complex picture that exists in health inequalities for people from ethnic minority groups. The Scottish Government welcomes this report and will provide an official response once we have carefully considered its recommendations.

The Scottish Government’s assessment is that there is no requirement for a Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM) in respect of the Nationality and Borders Bill as introduced to the UK Parliament. The Scottish Government is monitoring the Bill as it progresses through the UK Parliament and will consider whether any amendments to the Bill trigger the need for an LCM.

The Scottish Government recognises that long waits are unacceptable, and remains committed to meeting the standard that 90% of patients begin treatment within 18 weeks of referral.

We have asked all Boards, including NHS Grampian, to set out their plans and trajectories for meeting the waiting times standards and clearing backlogs by the end of March 2023. To support this, we have already allocated £5m from the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund, for the first year of clearing waiting list backlogs in Psychological Therapies. NHS Grampian has received £490,666 from this fund.

Nationally, we are starting to see this investment reflected in improved Psychological Therapies waiting times performance, and a decrease in the number of people waiting longest. We will continue to work closely with individual Health Boards to monitor and drive performance in mental health waiting times across Scotland.

The Scottish Government has maintained a rolling programme of rail electrification, unlike other parts of the UK. In line with our Rail Decarbonisation Action Plan it remains the expectation that the East Coast Main Line between Edinburgh Haymarket and Aberdeen will be fully electrified.

We will confirm investment decisions will be made in an appropriate manner following due appraisal, necessarily having regard to the capital funding available to the Scottish Government in the light of UK Government budgetary decisions, however positive progress is being made with Network Rail confirming ground investigation works for the Aberdeen to Central Belt project are starting in October 2021.

The Scottish Government is supporting the rollout of the new Scotland Loves Local Loyalty Card, part of our £10 million Scotland Loves Local programme.

The card is a quick and efficient way to encourage spend and sales growth in our local economies and, thanks to Scottish Government funding, is the first of its kind on a national scale.

We have no plans to replicate the Northern Ireland scheme at present but will be interested to see the impact it makes.

Skills Development Scotland who lead on SG’s Partnership Action for Continuing Employment initiative have been actively engaging with the company and staff, providing support to individuals who may be impacted.

A consultation based on Esther Roberton’s recommendations, from her independent review of legal services regulation, will be available to the public via Citizen Space from 1 October until 24 December 2021. In parallel we will be undertaking a series of consultation focus groups to increase the opportunity for stakeholders and the public to respond to the consultation in part or in whole.

As was stated in my response, the Scottish Government is open to further views on how the report recommendations should be taken forward and this consultation is intentionally broadly set to capture the fullest range of views on the recommendations and what level of reform is supported. As such the consultation has been developed collaboratively with those representing consumer interests and the legal profession.

The findings from the consultation exercise will inform the design of reform, and confirms our commitment to a modern and effective framework of legal services regulation.

The consultation will be available at: https://consult.gov.scot/justice/legal-services-regulation-reform-in-scotland .

The High Level Group on Planning Performance aims to improve the performance of the planning system for all types of development. It does not have a workstream which focuses specifically on the processing of windfarm applications. As highlighted in the response to S6W-02645 on 14 September 2021, the resourcing and performance of the planning system remain key priorities, and we recently recommenced work looking at increasing the financial resources available to planning authorities through changes to the planning fees regime.

The latest planning statistics published in July 2021 indicate that timescales for major applications for electricity generation are 10 weeks faster than the Scottish average for all types of major development. With regards to local applications for electricity generation, although timescales are 4 weeks slower than the Scottish average for all non-householder applications, over 52% were determined within the statutory timescale. The average decision time for local electricity generation developments has varied substantially over the last seven years but prior to 2020-21 the overall trend showed a decrease in average decision time.

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