Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s Community Land Team has provided detailed advice and guidance to the East Lochaber and Laggan Community Trust (ELLCT) regarding a possible community right to buy application over the land asset owned by the GFG Alliance. However the possible acquisition of private land by another party remains a matter of business between those two parties.

Scottish Water sets out its plans for investment each year in its Delivery Plan. Its Delivery Plan for 2021-22 and 2022-23 is currently being prepared and will be published when it is finalised in April 2021.

The Final Determination of charges for 2021-22 to 2026-27 by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland set out that over that period it would enable Scottish Water to invest £4.5bn (in 2017-18 prices). As referred to in the answer to S5W-36064 on 18 March 2021, Scottish Water’s Delivery Plan will include its forecast range of investment.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government is aware of some early work by the University of Dundee and Ninewells Hospital to treat a very small number of essential tremor patients through the use of a Transcranial Magnetic Resonance Guided Focused Ultrasound scanner (MRgFUS) on a trial basis.

The Dundee team have had frequent contact with The National Tremor Foundation (Scotland) and also carried out talks with local patient groups regarding the treatment.

It is imperative that before any new procedure is adopted into the NHS, it is first subject to rigorous clinical assessment to establish patient safety and efficacy. A robust evidence base will be key to any future application for national service designation through NHS National Services Scotland’s NSSC (National Specialist Services Committee) and NPPPRG (National Professional Patient and Public Reference Group) committees. These groups advise the Scottish Government on the establishment of national and specialist services.

In the meantime, NHS National Services Division are engaging with both the clinicians in Dundee and with commissioning colleagues in NHS England on how the treatment might be made available to eligible Scottish patients through a cross border referral process from April when it becomes available in England.

The Scottish Government has not carried out a condition-specific assessment on the impact of essential tremor. However, the Scottish Government recognises the importance of understanding and improving the lives of people with neurological conditions such as essential tremor.

While it is not condition specific, we have made our Neurological Framework for Care and Support a Programme for Government priority, with a vision to ensure that everyone with a neurological condition can access the care and support they need to live well, on their own terms. We are investing £4.5 million over five years to implement the Framework’s seventeen commitments. The commitments include improving the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support, developing sustainable workforce models and ensuring high standards of person-centred care.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35537 on 12 March 2021. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35537 on 12 March 2021 All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Vaccination of prison staff and prisoners will be consistent with the wider community and in line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation clinical guidance, which advises that an age-based approach continues to be the best way to protect those most at risk.

Prison staff and prisoners are eligible for a vaccination at the same time as those in the community who fall into the same JCVI priority group. We anticipate reaching everyone on the JCVI priority list by mid-April, subject to supply.

In relation to sums paid out by Police Scotland in relation to (a) compensation payments and (b) legal expenses, no authorisation was sought from the Scottish Government. As the Chief Constable reported during an evidence session at the Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee on 11 February 2021 ( Official Report c.23 ) and in supplementary information provided to the Committee, these payments were within his delegated financial limits in terms of litigation.

The Scottish Police Authority has not requested any additional funding from Scottish Government for these payments therefore no additional funding has been set aside or allocated for them. Payments have been made from the revenue budget provided to the SPA.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring continuity of access to the Argyll and Bute region. We have committed to progressing a long term solution to landslide risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful and an announcement on a preferred corridor is due later this month.

As part of the £87M invested in maintaining the A83 since 2007, we have spent over £15M in landslide measures at the Rest and Be Thankful. This has helped to keep the A83 open for an estimated 48 days, when it would otherwise have closed.

As a result of landslide events over the recent autumn/winter period, further landslide mitigation measures have been installed including debris netting, bunds and improvements to drainage. The measures have also included the construction of a new £1M, 175m long, 6m high debris bund above the Old Military Road.

Together, the protection afforded by these other measures has meant that the A83 trunk road and the Old Military Road local diversion have been able to remain in operation for all but eight occasions (5 partial or whole nights and 3 partial or whole days) over the past 2 months, meaning traffic did not have to use the longer diversion via Inveraray and Crianlarich.

This is despite significant and well-publicised weather challenges, including formal Met Office weather warnings, significant snow-melt and storm-level rainfall totals (including an instance of 120mm over 48 hours).

Further measures to bolster the resilience of access via the Rest and Be Thankful have been progressed in recent weeks, including works to secure boulders on the A83 upslope.

As discussed at stakeholder meetings in December, we are also considering further mitigation measures for this area and the intention is to share this information with stakeholders in the coming weeks.