Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not conducted any region specific analysis, however we do not expect a significant increase in traffic numbers in any area.

Transport Scotland meets with Scotland’s Railway delivery partners on a regular basis to discuss works to maintain, renew and enhance rail infrastructure across the Scottish rail network including the mainland of the Highland and Islands region. Details of such works are Published in Network Rail’s Scotland Control Period 7 Strategic Business Plan (2024-2029) and Network Rail’s Scotland Enhancements Delivery Plan.

Transport Scotland, in partnership with VisitScotland and Scottish Development International, works to help Scotland’s airports secure new routes that are essential for inbound tourism, business connectivity and the economy as a whole. This includes work to grow our international connectivity to the US and Canada given the importance of these links for business, exports and tourism.

In 2023 we helped secure new services to Atlanta with Delta Air Lines, and to Calgary with WestJet. Further developments in 2024 will see JetBlue serve Scotland for the first time with their service to New York JFK, and WestJet resume their services to Toronto and Halifax. We continue to work with these airlines to help make these routes a success.

We also have regular engagement with airlines to discuss future opportunities to further develop our connectivity to North America. These discussions are commercially sensitive and I am unable to share specific details.

Connectivity to Scotland is also part of the North America joint business planning of the Scottish Government offices in Washington DC and Ottawa, and they support the work of Transport Scotland on the development of both existing routes and new connectivity through their in-country activities.

Furthermore, the Scottish Government is supportive of Edinburgh Airport in its ambition to establish preclearance for outbound flights to the US. Preclearance would help to ensure the ongoing success of established US routes and encourage the development of new ones.

In February 2023, the Scottish Government published its Draft Agricultural Reform List of Measures outlining the intention to develop future agricultural support conditionality options, which could recognise appropriate uptake of methane suppressing feed products by farmers. We are continuing to work with industry to establish options for recognising use of these products and other practices which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Transport Scotland, working on behalf of Scottish Ministers, have no B roads, single track roads or unclassified roads in the Highlands and Islands region under its responsibility.

The local road network is the responsibility of local authorities and they will allocate resources on the basis of local priorities. The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

There are no reimbursement schemes available to patients who enter into a private arrangement with a dentist for treatment, and the Scottish Government has no locus for intervention.

NHS dental services will continue to be available to patients, and some patients may wish to travel outwith their local area to access NHS dental services. Patients who are not registered with a dentist are able to access emergency and urgent dental care through their local Board’s Public Dental Service clinic.

As set out in this year’s Programme for Government and Scotland’s International Strategy, the Scottish Government intends to host an international food summit including a focus on promoting the sector and overall food security. Further detail will be announced in due course.

CalMac Ferries Ltd have recently provided detail in relation to cancelled and additional sailings beyond 16 May 2023. This will now be reviewed by Transport Scotland. Once reviewed and agreed it will be for CalMac as the operator to publish this information. As a matter of course Transport Scotland would not normally publish this information.

As part of the expected monthly reporting, we have not received carrying figures. Transport Scotland would not normally publish such information.

CalMac Ferries Ltd publish indicative performance figures for all the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service (CHFS) routes, and we would expect that the verified Contractual Performance figures from May 2023 will be published in due course and can be located on CalMac website: CalMac Performance Data Browser | CalMac Ferries .

Non-binding international agreements such as memoranda of understanding help support international collaboration between Scotland and our international partners across a range of policy areas. Sharing best practice with like-minded partners helps ensure that we develop and deliver effective policy at home. Details of active agreements with national and sub-national partners such as Ireland and Flanders can be found on the Scottish Government’s website. Any future agreements will be in line with the themes and objectives of our new international Strategy.

The Scottish Government is committed to working collaboratively with partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to reduce the significant harm caused by the illicit drugs trade to communities across Scotland.

We are also rolling out the Medication Assisted Treatment standards, which is a key component of our National Mission to reduce drug deaths and harm. These set out what people should expect from services, improvements to accessing services, choices of treatment options and wrap-around support for the people most at risk from drug harm and drug-related death.