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The Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) are required, by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, to produce a transport strategy for their area. The Act sets out what the strategy should cover, including the future needs of the region and what can be achieved taking account of funding and practicability. The Act also requires regional transport strategies to have regard to the National Transport Strategy produced by the Scottish Ministers.

Scotland’s second National Transport Strategy was published in February 2020 and sets out an ambitious vision for or Scotland’s transport system for the next 20 years. The Strategy sets out the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy to inform future investment decisions and ensure transport options that focus on reducing inequalities and the need to travel unsustainably are prioritised. The Strategy also embeds the Sustainable Travel Hierarchy into decision making, by promoting walking, wheeling, cycling, public transport and shared options in preference to single occupancy private car use. We are aware that the RTPs are at varying stages of development in producing new strategies for their region. The regional transport strategies are approved by the Scottish Ministers before they can come into effect.

Regional Transport Partnerships work with Local Authorities and others stakeholders across their areas to input into infrastructure investment plans, for example through Growth Deals. They are also engaged in the Scottish Government’s second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) through Regional Transport Working Groups. They have provided valuable input and evidence to the Review which will to help inform strategic transport investment in Scotland for the next 20 years.

The Scottish Government has not held discussions with port operators about accessing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Government has consistently failed to engage meaningfully with the Devolved Nations on the Fund. It remains unclear how much Scotland will receive or on what basis our allocation will be decided. This is clearly not conducive to a smooth introduction of the Fund in Scotland.

It is extremely disappointing that the UK Government has again decided to use the powers it has given itself in the Internal Market Act to introduce a scheme which bypasses the Scottish Government and stakeholders.

Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, BEAR Scotland, and its specialist suppliers are finalising the design for a system of optical and infra-red cameras to be installed on the tower tops. This equipment will assist in providing a better understanding of the mechanism for ice accreting and falling off the cable stays and towers. Installation is scheduled for August. Options currently under consideration to prevent or reduce ice formation include coatings and de-icing compounds applied to the stay cables and towers and cleaning of the stay cables to remove deposited air borne particulates from the external surface of the stay cables. These options are being considered for laboratory testing and possible site trials.

Consideration of potential improvements to all strategic transport infrastructure across the whole of Scotland continues to be undertaken through the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2). This work is building upon the findings of the South West Scotland Transport Study which set out the Case for Change for transport in the south west and included 23 recommendations, four of which were specifically focussed on the A77 and A75.

STPR2 will create the evidence basis for future transport investment decisions by the Scottish Government for the next 20 years. It will set out how the recommended investments will contribute Net Zero, Inclusive Growth and our vision is for a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system helping deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors.

At the core of STPR2 is the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy. We will aim first to reduce the need to travel unsustainably, make better use of and enhance existing infrastructure, before investing in new capacity. This hierarchy is also central to Infrastructure Investment Plan.

STPR2 will conclude later this year, with publication of recommendations for investment and an appropriate statutory consultation period.

Probation can be completed through either the one year full time Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) or a flexible route. Probationers entering via a flexible route are not included in this analysis as they are not identified separately in the teacher census. These probationers account for a very small proportion of all probationers.

The following tables show the number of Teacher Induction Scheme teachers who, at the time of the September teacher census following their probationary year were (1) in permanent teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland, (2) in temporary teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland, or (3) not teaching in a publicly funded school in Scotland.

These figures are broken down by the local authority in which the individual carried out their probationer year.

Table 1: Post-induction scheme teachers in permanent posts in the following year’s teacher census (headcount)

During the pre-election period Scottish Ministers only met with SQA when both attended the the COVID-19 Education Recovery Group (CERG): https://www.gov.scot/groups/covid-19-education-recovery-group/ . I continue to attend these meetings alongside SQA Chief Executive Fiona Robertson.

I attended a meeting which Fiona Robertson also attended on 24 May. We had a brief phone call on 3 June. We will have a formal introductory meeting on 24 June.

Officials meet regularly with SQA on a range of matters relating to the delivery of SQA’s functions.

Scottish Ministers, through Transport Scotland, are responsible for 2 Trunk Roads in South Ayrshire, the A77 and A78. Transport Scotland’s Operating Company for the South West Unit, Amey is allocated an overall maintenance budget for the Trunk Roads within this unit. Amey and Transport Scotland agree which areas require improvements or repairs, the urgency of any works and programming any works using the funds available. The following table shows the actual spend for these roads from 2018. These include minor improvements, bridge improvements and structural maintenance costs. It should also be noted that these figures are for the whole of the A77 and A78 routes, however not all of the routes lie within South Ayrshire. Investment in the A77 also continues with the construction of the Maybole bypass, which has a construction cost of £29 million, currently ongoing and is anticipated to be completed in winter 2021.

Despite the Scottish Government being ready to launch, the UK Government has yet to agree to a joint bidding process for implementation of the green port model in Scotland. However, in the draft applicant prospectus published on the Scottish Government website on 18 March 2021 we made it clear that we would welcome bids from applicants or multi-applicant partnerships. This would include joint bids from trust ports.

I want to thank our health and care staff for their magnificent work to date. The last few months have been enormously challenging, with the expansion of our vaccination programme and the on-going demands of continuing to provide vital services to those requiring care.

While we have made great strides forward in dealing with the challenges that the pandemic has brought, the spread and impact of Covid continues to urge the need for caution in protecting the capacity of the NHS. Case numbers have continued to increase slowly over the last few weeks and our vaccination and Test and Trace resources have had to flex in response to emerging issues. All of this is taking place while our NHS continues to recover and so I want to continue with a measured and consistent approach to remobilising and renewing the vital services that we all rely upon. Additionally, we continue to be mindful of the impact on health and care staff, many of whom have been on the frontline of the Covid response for a considerable period.

It is clear that we need to continue to balance the capacity of the NHS to deal with Covid as well as the demands of emergency, urgent and planned care. With this in mind, I have decided that the NHS will remain on an emergency footing until at least 30 September 2021.

The M8 Woodside Viaducts are essential links in the M8 central Scotland urban motorway, vital for the economy and connectivity of Scotland. Therefore, the repair of the viaducts and removal of restrictions is high priority as Scotland emerges from the Covid-19 restrictions. The viaducts carry 150,000 vehicles per day in normal times, which would be difficult to accommodate by other routes or modes. As a result, there are no engineering or urban planning options currently being considered as an alternative to the structural repair of the viaducts. Two lanes of traffic will be maintained in both directions and we will work with operational partners to maximise traffic flows through the site, managing impacts on the M8 and adjacent local roads.