Chamber and committees

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice has regular discussions with the Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to discuss a range of prison policy and operational matters.

The Scottish Government consults regularly on the modernisation of civil law, often as a consequence of the law reform work carried out by the Scottish Law Commission in this area.

By way of example in the past year we have or are consulting on: Judicial Factors (August 2019); the law of Succession (May 2019); Defamation in Scots Law (April 2019); Success Fee Arrangements in Scotland (January 2019); The future of civil partnerships in Scotland (December 2018); and Review of Part 1 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and creation of family justice modernisation strategy (September 2018).

I have not visited the site in question, nor met with any representatives from the Newtonhill community to discuss the appeal at Park Place, Newtonhill (Case ref no. PPA-110-2372). The appeal in question was a delegated appeal and therefore Ministers played no part in the decision making process. Ministers become directly involved in only a very small minority of cases. This is in line with Ministers' proportionate approach in the handling of planning matters. It would not be appropriate to discuss the merits of an appeal either during the course of that appeal or after the decision has been made. The decision of a reporter is final subject to review by the Court of Session. The appeal in question remains subject to challenge until 24 September 2019.

The Scottish Government proactively publishes Ministerial engagement data on the Scottish Government website and may be accessed using the URL https://beta.gov.scot/publications/?term=Ministerial&publicationTypes=transparency_data .

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Information regarding clinical equipment should be directed to individual NHS Boards.

In the Programme for Government 2018-19, the Scottish Government committed to taking steps to allow animals taken into the protection of the Scottish SPCA or local authorities to be rehomed much more quickly and efficiently than at present.

A public consultation was run between 1 February 2019 and 26 April 2019 on a number of proposed amendments to the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, including proposals to speed up the process for making permanent arrangements for seized animals. The analysis of responses to this consultation was published on 17 July 2019.

We expect to announce shortly our plans to take forward legislation to increase the penalties for cruelty offences and to allow animals seized to protect their welfare to be quickly rehomed.

Transport Scotland meets regularly with North-East of Scotland Transport Partnership (NESTRANS) who represent the views of the local communities, local authorities and other key regional stakeholders.

In the first instance, promoters of new schemes should discuss their proposals with the relevant Regional Transport Partnership who consider the proposal and determine whether it fits with regional transport priorities.

NESTRANS were successful in the latest round of the Local Rail Development Fund (LRDF) and will be taking forward an appraisal in respect of cross-Aberdeen rail travel which includes consideration of new stations South of Aberdeen, including Cove.

The Scottish Government and partners are committed to delivering new railway stations at Kintore and Dalcross. In addition, NESTRANS has recently been successful in securing a share of the Scottish Government’s £2 million Local Rail Development Fund. This funding will allow NESTRANS to carry out a multi-modal transport appraisal to look at opportunities to improve connectivity across Aberdeen.

Transport Scotland meets regularly with North-East of Scotland Transport Partnership (NESTRANS) who represent the views of the local communities, local authorities and other key regional stakeholders.

In the first instance, promoters of new schemes should discuss their proposals with the relevant Regional Transport Partnership who consider the proposal and determine whether it fits with regional transport priorities.

NESTRANS were successful in the latest round of the Local Rail Development Fund (LRDF) and will be taking forward an appraisal in respect of cross-Aberdeen rail travel which includes consideration of new stations South of Aberdeen.

Due to the nature of the Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) contract the cost of snagging works cannot be disaggregated from the construction cost of the project. All snagging costs will be borne by the AWPR/Balmedie to Tipperty contractor.

The procurement process for Montrose is now complete, and the formal papers are due for submission for funding agreement with Transport Scotland week beginning 26 August.

Works are due to commence in the Autumn, with a 12 week delivery programme leading to completion of the works by early 2020.