Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18221 on 5 June 2023. 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

In Scotland, as part of the wider child health programme , height and weight measurements have always been carried out in Primary 1 only. We are aware that this differs in other parts of the UK.

The purpose and key components of the Scottish programme are similar to that of the National Child Measurement Programme in England: to inform local planning and delivery of services for children; gather population-level data to allow analysis of trends in growth patterns and obesity; increase public and professional understanding of the importance of healthy weight in children and be a vehicle for engaging with children and families about health and weight.

We continue to keep under review whether an additional measure at an older age would be beneficial to improving children’s health.

In my statement to Parliament on 30 May 2023, I announced that the Public Health (Restriction of Promotions) Bill will not be introduced. We instead plan to consult on the detail of proposed regulations to restrict promotions of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt where they are sold to the public this autumn.

My statement is available on the Scottish Parliament website .

Scottish Government Ministers and officials meet regularly with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, to discuss areas of mutual interest.

We recognise the vital work that services like Fife Rape and Sexual Assault Centre do day in, day out to support women and girls. We also understand the difficult circumstances that the Covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis continues to put on front line services.

The 100 Days (Covid emergency) funding provided frontline services for women and girls affected by gender-based violence with an additional £5 million to deal with additional pressures that occurred during the pandemic. Rape Crisis Scotland was awarded £2,250,000 over two years, for network members. We are working with Rape Crisis Scotland to ensure that there is an extension to their 100 days funding beyond September 2023 until the end of this financial year. We are also supporting them beyond this bridge funding to diversify their funding base.

The CashBack for Communities fund is a unique programme that reinvests money recovered from the proceeds of crime to support young people across Scotland.

The 29 organisations that successfully applied for Phase 6 funding were notified about the award in March 2023. Four community groups that previously received indirect funding in Phase 5 were successful in applying for direct funding in Phase 6.

Other previously funded community and youth groups have been informed about the availability of continued funding through Phase 6. This information was circulated in March 2023 by the partners that previously supported groups in Phase 5.

Details of all the Phase 6 CashBack partners were announced on 13 March 2023 and are available on the CashBack for Communities website:

https://cashbackforcommunities.org/

The Scottish Government recognises the strategic and economic importance of the A77 Trunk Road which was reflected in publication of second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) in December 2022. Under recommendation 40, safety, resilience and reliability improvements are to be made on the A77 strategic road corridor. This could include, but is not limited to, enhancing overtaking opportunities, widening or realigning carriageways and improving junctions.

In January 2022, resurfacing and lining works were completed at Dutchhouse roundabout. Whilst there are no current minor improvement schemes planned for the Whitletts or Dutch House Roundabouts at the moment, through our ongoing maintenance of the A77, a resurfacing scheme for the A77 Whitletts roundabout including new Intelligent road studs is currently planned for the 2024-25 financial year.

Transport Scotland is preparing to undertake an evaluation of the A77 Maybole Bypass Project which opened to traffic on 31 January 2022. The evaluation will be undertaken in line with Scottish Trunk Road Infrastructure Project Evaluation (STRIPE) Guidance, comparing conditions one year after (1YA) opening with forecasts of the impacts made during project design and development. The evaluation will consider scheme objectives; operation, including traffic flows and journey times, environment; safety; economy; integration; accessibility and social inclusion and cost to government. Transport Scotland is aiming to complete this work and publish the evaluation report on Transport Scotland’s website by March 2024.

Full dualling of the A77 was not recommended by the South West Scotland Transport Study (SWSTS), because of the significant cost and environmental impacts when compared with the other transport options for improving travel on this route. In addition, full dualling does not align well with the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy as defined in the second National Transport Strategy.

Only once an intervention is recommended at the Case for Change stage, as the SWSTS represents, would the costs and benefits or disbenefits of not building an option be considered as part of the later stages of the business case process.

The New Deal includes collaborative work on a Fiscal Framework for Local Government, alongside a new Partnership Agreement. Following the First Minister’s introductory meeting with COSLA President, Councillor Morrison, on 31 March, work on the Partnership Agreement has progressed at pace. The Scottish Government has also undertaken intensive collaborative work on a Fiscal Framework for local government and will continue to work with COSLA over the coming months to agree further substantial aspects of a Fiscal Framework alongside the Partnership Agreement.