Chamber and committees

The specification in the Franchise Agreement requires a minimum of two cycle spaces be provided on each service. This minimum requirement is currently met by all ScotRail passenger services.

If the Parliament indicates its support for the general principles of the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1, then, as I set out to the Finance and Constitution Committee, I will be very happy to engage with the Parliament to explore the framework within which decisions about how the power in section 1 of that Bill to make regulations corresponding to EU law might be used. I expect that such a framework will be the product of agreement with the Parliament, and would be happy that as part of that agreement we seek the views of others.

St Kilda is one of six World Heritage Sites in Scotland and the only site which has mixed status as being of both natural and cultural value.

The islands of St Kilda are owned by the National Trust for Scotland, which has overall responsibility for management of the archipelago. The current Management Plan for St Kilda was developed, agreed and signed by the National Trust for Scotland and four other key partners who have a role in the management of the site (namely, Historic Scotland (now Historic Environment Scotland), Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot), Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and the Ministry of Defence).

This question is therefore a matter for the National Trust for Scotland and other signatories, who will be better placed to advise on the Plan’s interaction with the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.

The long term trend for woodland birds in Scotland is increasing, in contrast to the situation across the whole of the United Kingdom. The Index of Abundance for Scottish Terrestrial Breeding Birds, 1994 to 2018 (an Official Statistic for Scotland, accessible via the following link: https://www.nature.scot/information-hub/official-statistics/
official-statistics-terrestrial-breeding-birds ) shows that while there is a large amount of inter-annual variation, with sometimes abrupt decreases and increases between individual years, the woodland bird index trend increased by 58% from the start of the time series in 1994 to the most recent estimate in 2018.

The Environmental Protection (Restrictions on Use of Lead Shot) (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2004 prohibit the use of lead shot with a shot gun on or over wetlands in Scotland, in order to prevent the ingestion of lead shot by wildfowl and other wading birds.

The Scottish Government has published a number of pieces of guidance to planning authorities and others regarding the operation of the system during the pandemic.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Planner and I jointly issued letters on 3 April and 29 May indicating the importance of the continued function of the planning system during the pandemic and acknowledging the challenges for the various parties involved.

These letters highlight the importance of continued public engagement, and point to the use of online information and virtual meetings, and to the need for parties to adopt new engagement techniques and to take a pragmatic approach generally. The letter of 29 May includes a link to the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ guidance mentioned in the answer to S5W-31355 on 31 August 2020. The letters are available on the Scottish Government website (3 April: https://www.gov.scot/publications/planning-procedures-and-covid-19/ ; and 29 May: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19---planning-procedures---chief-planner-letter-may-2020/ ).

There is specific guidance on conducting pre-application consultation (PAC) on national and major developments during the pandemic, which is available on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-
planning-guidance-on-pre-application-consultations-for-public-events/ .

Advice is also available on development planning consultation and engagement during the pandemic. Again this can be viewed on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-
development-planning-consultation-and-engagement-advice---may-2020/.

We have also published examples of digital engagement and digital options regarding tools for consulting with the public. These can be viewed on the Scottish Government website: https://www.transformingplanning.scot/digital-planning/digital-engagement/ .

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 has been liaising with COSLA, Community Council Liaison Officers and the Improvement Service to better understand how community council activities have been affected nationally during the Covid-19 pandemic, including their ability to respond to planning consultations.

Tenants’ and residents’ associations are not subject to specific statutory consultation requirements in the planning application and development planning processes; though we recognise that they may be involved in, for example, early engagement on development plans, responding to plan consultations, pre-application consultation, or responding to consultations on individual applications.

It would be for a planning authority to consider in the individual circumstances of a case whether there was a reason to delay or suspend processing of an application. Where a planning authority does not process a validly made planning application for national or major development in accordance with statutory timescales, the applicant has a right of appeal to the Scottish Ministers on the grounds of non-determination.

The Scottish Government has published advice about the operation of the planning system during COVID-19 via a series of Chief Planner letters ( https://www.gov.scot/collections/chief-planner-letters/ ) and in the form of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ (available on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-
development-management---frequently-asked-questions/ ).

The advice encourages planning authorities to continue to process applications as far as possible during the pandemic, whilst stressing the need to ensure there are opportunities for public engagement, and that parties should develop pragmatic approaches to such engagement and to the extension of consultation timescales when necessary.

A final version of Tayside’s Mental Health Action Plan was published on 6 August. I am pleased that even while facing Covid, taking action to improve mental health services has rightly remained a priority for Tayside.

In keeping with the announcement of a package of Scottish Government support in January, this Government remains committed to continuing to support NHS Tayside and its partners to address the findings of the Strang report. It is imperative that they do so. I wrote to Tayside’s Executive partners earlier this month to thank them for the action plan and to arrange a meeting to discuss it further, which is scheduled for next month. In particular, I will be looking for assurance that the Tayside partnership are continuing to ensure that transparency and accountability remain key priorities; and asking how they are ensuring that those with lived experience are authentically included, engaged and involved in Tayside’s mental health change programme.

I am sure that we are all looking to Tayside to demonstrate early progress and to work with partners to effect long–lasting change. This will require strong leadership and effective scrutiny at a local level.

Since January, we have offered a range of support to NHS Tayside to address service provision, clinical practice, organisational development and community led services. At our request, the Chair of the Independent Inquiry into mental health services in Tayside, Dr David Strang, has agreed to undertake an independent assessment of progress early next year. We have recently strengthened this commission, enabling Tayside to benefit from Dr Strang’s perspective as a ‘critical friend’ throughout the year.

We now look to Tayside to translate its plan into the tangible change and excellent mental health services that the people of Tayside deserve.