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The Scottish Government has not asked KPMG to conduct a review of the implementation of the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards. The embedding of the standards will be reported on in a document to be published in Summer 2022.

Up to £5m funding has been made available to local authorities on the basis that they may use it to undertake remedial action in line with guidance on ventilation, with problematic spaces prioritised for action.

As part of the funding arrangements and ongoing work with local authorities on schools/ELC ventilation, the Scottish Government has agreed updated reporting arrangements with local authorities to ensure an appropriate understanding of how and to what extent funding is being used to support remedial action.

During the Covid pandemic Network Rail and Transport Scotland examined ways where efficiency savings could be made. There has been no reduction to the maintenance budget in Scotland.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS is taking forward the work in relation to the transition of HMP Kilmarnock from the private sector into public ownership. A Project Executive is to be appointed within SPS and thereafter the relevant stakeholders will be identified for future discussions.

Our guidance asks local authorities to complete assessments of ventilation in their schools and to ensure that all day care of children services have access to CO2 monitoring, whether via mobile or fixed devices.

We have empowered local authorities to make their own supply arrangements, and supported them to overcome logistical problems when they have arisen.

a) The ChargePlace Scotland Single Framework Agreement between Transport Scotland and SWARCO eVolt Ltd will be published shortly.

b) The ChargePlace Scotland Single Framework Agreement contains Key Performance Indictors (KPI), it is the KPIs which Transport Scotland use to monitor the contractor’s performance. These KPI’s have been published on the ChargePlace Scotland website and are updated monthly. The Framework Agreement describes the service levels which the contractor is expected to deliver in Schedule 1 of the document.

The ChargePlace Scotland Single Framework Agreement between Transport Scotland and SWARCO eVolt Ltd will be published by the end of March 2022. All personal data and commercially sensitive information will be removed prior to publication.

The Scottish Government expects the Scottish National Investment Bank’s gender equality strategy to be published shortly, following approval from the Board when it meets on 3 March 2022.

Transport Scotland has not held any discussions with Network Rail on proposed staff reductions in Scotland.

Network Rail advise that UK wide it has undertaken two rounds of an industry special Voluntary Severance Scheme, focused on management grades where it could be verified there would be no impact on safety, performance or customer service. However, no representations have been made to Scottish Government on this matter.

Decisions on lending and investment are a matter for the Scottish National Investment Bank. I have asked the Bank about how their lending in 2021 aimed to benefit women’s equality in Scotland, and their response is as follows:

“Due diligence of all potential investments includes consideration of gender balance across workforce, management and Board.

“The Bank engages with investees on representation and equality issues, and has required reporting on gender balance (and pay gap) where practical. Moving forward the Bank will aim to have gender equality and gender pay gap reporting for all investments. Where appropriate, the Bank will also consider engagement with investees to enhance opportunities that increase gender equality opportunities in Bank investments.”