Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-32583 on 14 January 2025. 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

Consultation for railway electrification projects with affected communities is undertaken by Network Rail as the infrastructure owner and operator, and by ScotRail as the provider of services.

The Scottish Government welcomes IBD UK’s latest report, Crohn’s and Colitis Care in Scotland: A Vision for Change and is grateful for their work in this area.

We are committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

Scottish Government workforce planning guidance requires NHS Boards to take a demand-led approach by determining future staffing requirements in line with healthcare needs within their locality.

We expect Boards to follow best practice and adhere to current guidelines and standards when providing psychological and nutritional support for people with IBD.

Driving testing is a fully reserved matter to the UK Government but it is clear the consequences of years of delays and backlogs have been acutely experienced in Scotland. The previous UK Government undertook a consultation in early 2023 proposing changes, which have taken until December 2024 to implement.

On 18 December 2024, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) announced a 7-point plan to reduce driving test waiting times, which includes recruiting 450 driving examiners in Great Britain. As this is a reserved matter, the Scottish Government has had no input into the development of this plan. The DVSA did agree to meet with Transport Scotland officials in November 2024 but then cancelled these meetings.

Transport Scotland officials are currently seeking a meeting with DVSA to discuss the plan and to understand what implications there may be for Scotland.

The Scottish Government has long recognised the importance of developing strong ties with Norway to fully realise our shared ambitions in devolved areas such as culture, education, energy and climate. The First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs, and Culture both met with the Norwegian Ambassador to the UK when he last visited Scotland for the Nordic Music Days festival. Additionally, the Minister for Climate Action recently visited Stavanger, where he led engagement with the Scottish and Norwegian port sectors. Scottish Government officials, both here in Scotland and overseas in our Nordic office, will continue to engage regularly with Norwegian partners.

Officials continue to develop a public consultation on Section 8 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. However, it is important that any proposed secondary legislation is in line with the UK Government’s Parking Code of Practice, which sets standards for the private parking industry around parking charges and debt recovery fees. This Code of Practice was temporarily withdrawn in 2022 and an amended version has yet to be instated. Transport Scotland Officials are working closely with the Department for Transport, who have confirmed that further consultation will be required before it can be reinstated, but due to the change in the Westminster Government, they do not have a timescale for this to be undertaken.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.

The information requested on how many NHS staff have been employed in chronic pain services in each NHS board in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board is not centrally available. This information is held by each board.

The budget for the Scottish Government’s International Development Fund was set in the Budget (Scotland) Act 2024 at £11.5 million for financial year 2024-25. The settlement of £12.8 million, as published on 4 December in the Scottish Budget, relates to the next financial year 2025-26.

Over the course of 2024, we have continued to launch new programming following a series of competitive calls for proposals, as well as continuing to fund some existing long-term initiatives:

In Inclusive Education, we are funding: scholarships for women and girls in Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda, and Pakistan; and a programme which aims to remove barriers to quality education for out-of-school children with disabilities and additional support needs in Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda. See our webpages for more detail: Inclusive education - International development - gov.scot

In Health, our projects focus on tackling non-communicable diseases – the world’s leading cause of death – by building stronger health systems in Malawi, Zambia, and Rwanda. See our webpages for more detail: Global health - International development - gov.scot,

In Equalities, in March we launched our Women and Girls Fund which will support the advancement of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in our partner countries. We have additionally continued our support for the Police Scotland Peer-to-Peer Partnership Programme with the Police Services of Malawi and Zambia. See our webpages for more detail: Equalities - International development - gov.scot.

We continue to support the work of four networking organisations as part of our support for global citizenship in Scotland: the Malawi Scotland Partnership, and their sister organisation the Scotland Malawi Partnership, Scotland’s International Development Alliance, and the Scottish Fair Trade Forum. See our webpages for more detail: Global solidarity and citizenship - International development - gov.scot.

Through the Humanitarian Emergency Fund, we have provided provide lifesaving assistance to vulnerable communities in the Middle East, Sudan and neighbouring countries, Kenya, Southern Africa, Libya, as well as in our partner countries of Malawi and Zambia. See our webpages for more detail: Humanitarian response - International development - gov.scot.

Finally, the Scottish Government’s Global Renewables Centre has continued to drive innovation in renewables across Scotland and our African partner countries. See our webpages for more detail: Renewable energy - International development - gov.scot.

Please also see the Scottish Government Contribution to international development 2021 to 2023, which provides a holistic look at a wide cross-section of our international development activity during calendar years 2021-23, as well as providing (c11) details of our future programmes from 2024 onwards.

SEPA are responsible for flood forecasting and warning in Scotland and continually develop this service. They work in partnership with the Met Office to forecast for flooding and operate Floodline in Scotland to warn emergency responders, and the public, when flooding is likely.

The Scottish Government collaborates with and funds academics and research institutions through its Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Strategic Research Programme (SRP) 2022-2027. There are mechanisms within the programme used specifically for work on flood resilience. For example, the CREW Centre of Expertise for Waters provides the Scottish Government and its agencies access to water related (including flooding) expertise from Scottish Higher Education Institutes and Research Institutes. Recent CREW research commissions include work on is on improving flood forecasting in catchments influenced by reservoirs. The SRP also funds longer term strategic research including a five year research project on nature-based solutions at the James Hutton Institute.