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Scotland’s Accessible Travel Framework and its successive delivery plans set out the means of ensuring that disabled people can travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens.

Specific programmes to support disabled people to access mobility support include, the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment scheme, under which people receiving a qualifying social security benefit can lease a vehicle or mobility equipment that meets their needs, and the Scottish Driving Assessment Service, which provides advice on people’s ability to resume, continue or begin to drive, along with any potential car modifications, following diagnosis of illness or significant event.

The Scottish Government continues to work with disabled people’s organisations and the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland to provide a focus for action.

The Scottish Government does not currently have any plans to commission a review of climate change risks to salmon farms, specifically in relation to higher sea temperatures. The Marine Directorate is currently collaborating with partners on a revision of the 2022 Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership’s review on the impacts of climate change on aquaculture, https://www.mccip.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-11/Aquaculture%20Formatted_updated%20and%20returned%20by%20authors.pdf  which explores key challenges and emerging issues in this area.

Scotland’s National Adaptation Programme 3 (SNAP3) is due to be laid in Parliament later this year and will set out specific commitments to support the Fisheries and Aquaculture sectors to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) Order 2024 was laid on Thursday 11th January 2024 and the spawning closure will be in place 14 February to 30 April for 2024 and 2025, respectively.

The study undertaken by the Scottish Oceans Institute and Clyde Fishermen’s Association was not used to inform this approach.

There are no plans to alter or update the Sea Fish (Prohibition on Fishing) (Firth of Clyde) Order 2024. Following the 2025 closure there will be another public consultation on the management for 2026 and 2027. That consultation will reflect on how the closure has operated since 2022, what if any factors are new or unchanged and will make recommendations for the future on that basis.

Maximising incomes and ensuring everyone can access social security entitlements are fundamental priorities for the Scottish Government. In 2024-25 we plan to invest over £12 million in income maximisation and welfare advice services – including nearly £4.6 million for Citizens Advice Scotland’s Money Talk Team service, which last year helped over 9,000 older people secure financial gains of over £7 million.

Improving uptake to Pension Credit is important to this, given the DWP estimates from October 2023 that an estimated £1.7bn is unclaimed, made even more critical now, given the UK Government’s announcement to end universal Winter Fuel Payments and to restrict those in receipt of Pension Credit and means-tested benefits only.

My officials are aware of the review of Galloway Community Hospital as part of NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s long-term sustainability planning and the Right Care, Right Place programme. Officials have engaged Dumfries and Galloway on these proposals over the course of the past year.

We understand that a report on the future of the facility is in development, and this will be considered by Dumfries and Galloway IJB in September. Officials are also anticipating a final recommendation later this year by NHS Dumfries and Galloway board on the proposed changes to maternity services offered in Wigtownshire. This is to be accompanied by a statement from the board on the independent consultation that examined options for proposed maternity service changes presented in February.

As it stands, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and the Integration Joint Board have publicly stated that they do not have plans to close Galloway Community Hospital. Scottish Government officials are continuing to engage with Dumfries and Galloway on their review and any proposals that will be made.

The Scottish Government, through the Infrastructure Investment Plan 2021-22 to 2025-26 published in 2021, has enabled the upgrade to the Edinburgh Cancer Centre (ECC) at the Western General Hospital in NHS Lothian, which will complete this financial year.

Beyond this, given the extremely challenging financial position, all capital projects are now under review. Publication of the revised Infrastructure Investment Plan will be considered only once allocations from the new UK Government are confirmed and fully appraised by the Scottish Government.

We intend to resume Tranche 1 of the Sustainability Loan Scheme in 2024-25 once we have completed the disbursement of funds for those loans already completed and confirmed a budget. This will likely not be until midway through the financial year.

Our preference remains to continue the loan scheme into Tranche 2 and beyond – however, this is dependent on whether the UK Government resumes the allocation of Financial Transaction Capital to the Scottish Government.

Staff rotas and timetabling planning are operational matters for ScotRail. After coming into public ownership ScotRail was required to increase the number of Train Drivers to a level which would facilitate a reduction to reliance on staff working rest days and overtime.

The Scottish Government has funded the subsidy required to cover the net cost of ScotRail’s operations, including staffing.

ScotRail informs that its planning to recruit 160 train drivers each year from 2024-25 going forward.

The Government is open to giving local authorities the power to introduce a cruise ship levy. We will therefore be engaging with local authorities, the cruise ship industry, and others over the coming months to explore this issue further and develop more detailed proposals. We plan to launch a public consultation on a potential cruise ship levy before the end of the year.

The Scottish Government continue to work at pace with COSLA to develop a Fiscal Framework underpinned by an Accountability and Assurance Framework. The concept of a power of general competence for local government is a consideration in those discussions.

This work is being supported by working groups consisting of Scottish Government officials, COSLA officers and representatives of CIPFA Directors of Finance and SOLACE.