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LED parapet lighting installations are currently in place and attached to the Carnoustie Street, West Street and Eglinton Street flyovers on the M74 motorway in Glasgow.

Transport Scotland’s Operating Company for the Glasgow area, Amey Ltd, has identified some faults in these assets as part of their ongoing inspection regime. Amey is currently developing a programme for these repairs and I have asked officials at Transport Scotland to provide with a further update by the end of January.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting all young people to achieve their potential through Developing the Young Workforce (DYW). Although no specific data is available on the number of disabled young people supported through DYW, the employer-led DYW Regional Groups and School Coordinators work with specialist partners and third sector organisations to support young people who are furthest from the labour market into positive destinations, including young disabled people.

A recent example of this is in DYW Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian. Enable and Action For Children provided ASN training for their School Coordinators and management staff. As a result, the Regional Group now work closely with Pilrig Park School, who deliver education for secondary school pupils experiencing complex long-term additional support needs. Through this collaboration they ensure that every pupil has flexible, personalised pathways to develop knowledge, understanding and skills for learning, life and work. In addition, DYW Fife have dedicated School Coordinators to increase support and opportunities for ASN Schools, Pupil Support Service Students and care experienced young people. Through collaboration with key partners, a more inclusive approach is adopted for these young people.

Across NHS Scotland a total of 89 patients have been treated for fascial sling repair, urethra bulking or colposuspension since this summer. This excludes patients from NHS Tayside who have been treated via independent sector support. Treatment has been booked for 38 patients in December and January, and further patients are currently in the pre-assessment stage and will be offered a date early in the new year.

As the member will know, the Centre for Sustainable Delivery’s (CfSD) National Elective Coordination Unit (NECU) is supporting a nationally coordinated campaign to support treatment of these patients, which was intended to conclude by November 2023. However, due to a number of complexities this has progressed more slowly than expected.

Programmed work locally within Health Boards is often booked 6-8 weeks in advance, and as such a lead in time for treatment options was longer than initially anticipated. This must also be balanced with clinical prioritisation, with Health Boards continuing to prioritise urgent and suspected cancer pathways within this specialty and subspecialty area.

Each of the three procedures identified also requires enhanced governance processes before patients are identified, particularly when patients are moving from their board of residence, including high vigilance scrutiny checklists to support a person-centred approach. To support a clinically safe and governed pathway, several cross board clinical engagement meetings were required to agree the governance pathway.

A small number of patients have also declined the offer of treatment outwith their local board area.

We will continue to work with Health Boards and NECU to ensure all patients receive treatment as soon as possible.

A national marketing campaign raising awareness and encouraging uptake for the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme was undertaken in autumn 2022. PR and marketing activity was also undertaken during COP26 to promote the scheme ahead of its launch.

The following table provides the spend as at 13 December 2023 (inclusive of VAT where applicable) for both campaigns.

Messaging to promote the scheme was included in our Choose the Bus campaign, co-funded by the bus industry, however it is not possible to provide specific costs as under 22s was not the campaign’s primary focus.

a) Enable Works Stepping Up programme, to date, has been delivered in 75 schools across Scotland, achieving a 98% positive destination rate for young people with learning disabilities. In financial year 2022-23, 2,974 young people were supported through the Stepping Up programme.

b) Stepping Up is an innovative school transitions programme that supports young people who have a learning disability, autism or additional support needs. The programme is delivered in partnership with Education Providers, stakeholders and other third sector organisations. It works collaboratively with Careers, Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG) and Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) to provide joined-up careers experience, advice and guidance, and aims to support young people into positive destinations.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing legislation on ending conversion practices in Scotland. In developing our proposals for legislative change we have carefully considered a wide range of evidence and expert advice. This includes the report of the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, and the report and recommendations of the independent Expert Advisory Group established by the Scottish Government.

The consultation setting out our proposals for legislative change will be published on 9 January 2024. While the consultation document is ready for publication this year prior to recess, this timescale responds to an ask from a range of stakeholders to avoid publishing the consultation during a holiday period where those with an interest in the proposals work at a lower capacity. A January publication also maximises the opportunity for responses during the twelve-week consultation period. Critically, it also ensures that there is sufficient support available for victims and survivors of conversion practices who may be impacted by the public discussion. To facilitate this we are providing funding to support the delivery of a helpline service for survivors in Scotland.

Our public consultation will contain clear and detailed information on our proposals for legislative change in order to obtain views from stakeholders and the broader public.

Under the established major service change process in the NHS (outlined in the national Planning with People guidance), this proposal, which was agreed by the Board of NHS Ayrshire & Arran at its meeting on 9 October 2023, is subject to Ministerial approval.

Having carefully considered all the available information, I have today written to the Chair of NHS Ayrshire & Arran to confirm that I am approving the Board’s proposal to retain the interim changes to local Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) services. The Board has made a compelling case for retaining the change that has been made, which is supported by the clear majority of local stakeholders. The proposal is fully consistent with both the aims and ambitions of our new cancer strategy and the tiered, clinically risk-assessed approach under the West of Scotland Strategic Review of SACT services. As such, I am content that the Board has adopted an appropriate, clinically-based risk approach to maximise local access to services, as far as possible.

Prior to the introduction of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (“the 2019 Act”) all relevant impact assessments were conducted, and no significant issues were identified as part of this process. All the bus powers in the 2019 Act, including franchising, are designed to be flexible to ensure local transport authorities can improve bus services according to their local needs. In developing their franchising proposals, local authorities will need to take account of the individual circumstances of their area, including any potential impact of technological developments, and how the proposals will contribute to the implementation of their relevant general policies. We continue to engage with local transport authorities as we develop the further regulations and guidance required to give the franchising powers full effect.

We are working with partners to improve social care services and deal with the challenges the sector faces. Adult social care support is vital to all who require additional support, whether that is to live independently at home, in the community, or to move into a care home.

While the number of care homes has fallen, the estimated number of care home places available has remained relatively stable.

This reflects our policy of supporting people to live at home for as long as possible.

No one wants to see the closure of care homes, unfortunately this can happen for a number of reasons, such as quality concerns or changing ownership.

The Scottish Government recognises the potential risks posed by PFAS in drinking water and works closely with Scottish Water and the Drinking Water Quality Regulator to ensure risk is minimised. The Public Water Supply (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 were brought into force to align with the EU's recast Drinking Water Directive's (rDWD) updated list of parameters, which sets statutory limits on the combined concentration of a group of 20 named PFAS substances. These Regulations broadly align with the Royal Society of Chemistry's recommendation to limit the sum of PFAS to 10 nanograms per litre (0.1 µg/l)

There is also a legislative requirement for Scottish Water to carry out risk assessments of all drinking water supplies, and PFAS risk is assessed for every water supply. A further statutory duty is that Scottish Water must sample for any substance where it considers that there is risk, and this would include any other PFAS compounds that are not listed in the Regulations.