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The updated MPA Monitoring Strategy Annexes will be published on the Marine Directorate website by the end of March 2024.

This will include:

a) The plan for surveys undertaken in 2023 and proposals for upcoming surveys in 2024. The planned surveys for 2024 are indicative and can be subject to change due to survey logistics and programme focus.

b) Information on the recent surveys in 2021 & 2022.

The information on surveys conducted in 2023 will be published later in 2024.

The updated MPA Monitoring Strategy Annexes, which will include lists of all sites that have been monitored over the period, will be published on the Marine Directorate website by the end of March 2024.

Transport Scotland officials discuss all aspects of the SQUIRe regime with ScotRail including performance and on-going issues.

As noted in S6W-26045 on 18 March 2024, the SQUIRe regime is one of the toughest performance regimes in the UK. It is an operational matter for ScotRail to investigate and rectify areas where performance has not met the standards expected by the Scottish Government. By doing so the overall scoring for ScotRail should improve.

The scoring shows that the SQUIRe regime is operating as expected by highlighting areas where ScotRail is not performing as expected and where improvement is required.

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 .

The Framework Agreement between Scottish Ministers and Scottish Rail Holdings confirms under the Stations, Operational Plan section that “particular attention should be given to identifying efficiencies in staffing levels as well as focus on elements which will be monitored through SQUIRE”. This provides ScotRail with the ability to ensure that staff are deployed appropriately across the rail network to deliver a high performing service that passengers rightly expect.

SPS has always been clear it is taking an open and transparent approach to the introduction of this policy which is evident in all they have put in the public domain. The SPS policy for the management of transgender people in custody was published on 5 December 2023, with operational guidance and an evidence paper published on 26 February. As these additional documents were intended for publication, they did not need to be released prior to that under freedom of information requests.

The SPS Chief Executive made this clear at the Criminal Justice Committee on 11 January, where she said: “Implementation will therefore commence from 26 February this year. In addition, at that time, we will publish our operational policy guidance, our gender diversity guidance and an evidence review document, which will all underpin the policy that was published last year”.

Data from the Scottish Health Survey did not inform the development of ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19): Scotland's Long Covid service’, published on 30 September 2021. This is because the results of the Scottish Health Survey 2021, which included questions on long COVID for the first time, were published on 8 November 2022.

Responsibility for service delivery rests locally with NHS Boards who configure services taking into account local circumstances and the reasonable needs of their patient populations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26075 on 18 March 2024, which outlines the progress the Scottish Government has made in moving towards a targeted lung cancer screening programme.

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 .

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Wales and Northern Ireland, have noted the petition PE1997: Introduce mandatory braille labelling for food products sold in Scotland and the interest in Scotland around progressing this issue under the UK Food Compositional Standards and Labelling Common Framework. Defra have indicated that the UK Government has no immediate plans to initiate a public consultation on policy proposals for the introduction of mandatory braille labelling on food products, citing several factors that need to be explored before policy development can be considered on a UK-wide basis. This includes how viable braille labelling would be on a wide range of packaging, as well as the relative effectiveness and associated costs alongside using alternative different digital technologies. FSS intend to initiate stakeholder engagement in this respect during the 2024-25 business year and will keep the other UK lead departments updated at Common Framework discussions.

The Scottish Government meets regularly with the UK Government regarding electricity networks in Scotland. The Scottish Government is represented on the Electricity Networks Delivery Forum, which has been established to oversee the implementation and delivery of the UK’s Transmission Acceleration Action Plan (TAAP) and the Connections Action Plan (CAP). The first meeting of the Electricity Networks Delivery Forum was on 30 January, and it is expected it will meet on a quarterly basis. We are continuing to use this forum, and our wider engagement with all relevant stakeholders, to continue to push for reform and ensure that the proposals in the TAAP and the CAP are robust, fit for purpose and work for Scotland.