Chamber and committees

The Best Start North review was commissioned jointly by NHS Grampian, NHS Highland, NHS Shetland, NHS Orkney and NHS Western Isles. NHS Tayside now also participates in this work. The Best Start North review was commissioned jointly by the original five participating NHS Boards and is led by those NHS Boards. The Scottish Government understands that the primary focus of this work is collaboration towards continuous improvement of services in the North, support for the effective implementation of the recommendations in The Best Start and to work together on midwifery workforce and education. This work sits within the existing regional planning partnership, under the sponsorship of NHS Board Chief Executives, and was both established and operates at the regional level. You may therefore wish to direct specific queries regarding the work of the Best Start North group to the Nurse Director at NHS Shetland and Chair of the Best Start North group and the Director of Midwifery at NHS Highland.

Women already move across NHS Board boundaries across Scotland, including from the islands to specialist centres, where this best meets the needs of women and their babies. The Scottish Government understands that, should specific improvement work be identified through the Best Start North group, this would be considered by the group.

The Best Start North review was commissioned jointly by NHS Grampian, NHS Highland, NHS Shetland, NHS Orkney and NHS Western Isles and is led by those NHS Boards. The Scottish Government understands that a group has now been set up with representation from the most senior Midwives from all six Boards in the North of Scotland, now including NHS Tayside.

The Scottish Government understands that the focus of this NHS Board-led work for 2023/24 is on collaboration to improve services in the north, support the effective implementation of the recommendations in The Best Start and to work together to improve midwifery workforce and education, training as well as taking forward joint improvement work. The groups will work within the existing regional planning partnership to shape and implement this work, under the sponsorship of the Board Chief Executives.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to an infrastructure solution to address the A83 Rest and Be Thankful landslip risks. I share the urgency communities and businesses place on maintaining and improving connectivity of this vital route, which is why we are progressing measures for the short, medium and long term in tandem.

Transport Scotland continues to progress design and assessment work on both the medium and long-term solutions at pace. Transport Scotland also continues to explore methods to reduce the timescales to bring forward both the medium-term and long-term improvements as soon as possible, whilst continuing to maximise the availability of the existing A83.

Clearly market conditions have changed in the past few years - the pandemic, Brexit and inflationary pressures have all played their respective parts in changing the procurement and delivery landscape across Government. However, we will continuously review the impact of current inflationary pressures and market conditions on both medium and long-term measures.

A detailed programme for the proposed medium-term improvements to the Old Military Road through Glen Croe is now being developed. It is expected that these works will be carried out on a phased basis starting later this year. I will provide an update on the delivery programme for the medium-term improvements at the next A83 Taskforce meeting which is scheduled to take place in June 2023.

In terms of the long-term solution, we are working towards announcing a preferred route option by this Spring.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to an infrastructure solution to address the A83 Rest and Be Thankful landslip risks. This scheme is technically challenging and the landscape is dynamic so it is vital we understand the terrain we are working in, in order to develop a suitable solution of the correct standard in the correct place.

The necessary engineering and environmental assessment work is progressing at pace and whilst I cannot confirm a precise date for the announcement of the preferred route for the long term solution at this time, I can confirm that it remains our intention to announce the decision this Spring.

The table below presents the total number of fatal casualties on the A9 between Perth (north of Inveralmond Roundabout) and Inverness (south of Longman Roundabout)

The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 provides a clear and cohesive set of criminal offences which are properly aligned with international standards and definitions of trafficking and exploitation which enables the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) to take prosecutorial decision based on the facts and circumstances of each individual case reported to them. This includes the power to commence confiscation proceedings where convictions are achieved in order that perpetrators face a credible risk of being convicted and sentenced proportionally to the seriousness of their crimes.

Scottish prosecutors work with other countries through Joint Investigative Teams to tackle cross border human trafficking cases and, since 2016, COPFS and the prosecution services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have signed a set of commitments with the overarching goal that the prosecuting authorities in the United Kingdom will work closely together and with law enforcement partners to disrupt networks, prosecute traffickers and safeguard victims’ rights.

Supporting the recovery and when ready, the sustainable exit, of those with experience of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) is a key aspect of the recently published principles which will underpin the developing Framework to challenge men’s demand for prostitution, and support those with experience of it.

The Scottish Government funds a range of services aimed to address commercial sexual exploitation and to support those who may be exploited through it. This includes £700,000, over two years, through the Delivering Equally Safe (DES) Fund to projects tackling commercial sexual exploitation, where the support available can include advice on employment and support to exit CSE. The DES fund also supports the CSE Aware project, which aims to improve awareness within the public and third sector of the support needs which those with experience of CSE may have.

In addition, as part of expanding the reach of Fair Start Scotland, Scottish Government’s devolved employability support service, an employability project is being delivered to support women exit CSE by offering tailored and holistic support, identifying and removing barriers.

Through our Victim Centred Approach Fund we are also providing the Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance with £622,000 per annum over a three-year period, to provide support and assistance to women who have been trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation.

Commercial sexual exploitation is recognised as a form of gendered violence within Equally Safe: Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls.

The law in Scotland prohibits many activities associated with prostitution, including: trading in the prostitution of others and running a brothel, procuring for the purposes of prostitution as well as publicly soliciting or loitering for the purpose of purchasing sex. No one can lawfully be forced into sexual activity without their consent. Trading in the prostitution of others and procuring for the purposes of prostitution are still offences whether or not they are committed online. The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 gives police and prosecutors greater powers to detect and bring to justice those responsible for trafficking as well as strengthening protections for survivors.

The Programme for Government includes a commitment to develop a model for Scotland which effectively tackles and challenges men’s demand for prostitution. This is being taken forward through the development of a Framework to challenge men’s demand for prostitution and support those with experience of it.

Principles to underpin the Framework were published in December 2022. It is expected that the principles will inform relevant policy and practice across government and the wider public sector. The principles reinforce that there is no place for the commercial sexual exploitation of any individual in Scotland.