Chamber and committees

An applicant is expected to undertake pre application consultation prior to submission of an Electricity Act application for construction of a battery storage development. Such pre application allows local communities to have their say at an early stage, and the Scottish Ministers expect that a submitted application includes a report on how communities’ views have been taken into account through this process.

An application submitted for consideration by the Scottish Ministers must provide assessment of the potential impacts on the receiving environment and on local amenity and infrastructure. A public consultation is held, and members of the public are invited to make representations on the submitted application. Community councils in the vicinity of the proposal are consulted for their views on the potential impacts.

The application information, consultation responses and representations from members of the public are considered carefully before any decision is made on an application.

Decisions on applications for section 36 consent are made on a case-by-case basis, weighing consideration of the benefits and impacts of the proposal, relevant policy, and all other material considerations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20927 on 19 September 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The appointment of Women’s Health Leads is an important cross cutting action in the Women’s Health Plan. It is for NHS Boards to identify their women’s health leads according to local need and priority and with reference to the aims set out in the Plan.

A short update paper has recently been provided to the Women’s Health Plan Implementation Programme Board. The ‘Women’s Health Plan: Interim Progress Update’ describes further progress made since the Report on Progress, which was published in January 2023.

The report can be accessed here: Women's Health Plan: Interim Progress Update 2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Additionally, Women’s Health Champion Professor Anna Glasier publishes a quarterly blog on her progress which can be found here:

Health and Social Care Women's Health Champion Archives - Health and Social Care (blogs.gov.scot)

The Women’s Health Plan Implementation Programme Board is the decision making body responsible for the delivery of the Women’s Health Plan programme. The Board provides strategic oversight of the programme and ensures that the actions outlined in the Plan are implemented across the country.

The appointment of a Women’s Health Lead in every NHS Board is important to driving change and ensuring women’s health is appropriately prioritised.

On 22 June 2023, the Scottish Government published the Agriculture Bill - Analysis of Consultation Responses which details the findings of this extended engagement.

On 22 June 2023, the Scottish Government published the Agriculture Bill - Analysis of Consultation Responses which details the findings of this extended engagement and total number that attend the events.

A consultation on the Bill’s proposals ran from 29 August 2022 to 5 December 22, where a wide range of views were received. On 22 June 2023, the Scottish Government published the Agriculture Bill - Analysis of Consultation Responses which details the findings of this extended engagement.

As is convention, following consultation on proposed legislation, Ministers are considering the views received to inform a new Agriculture Bill which will be introduced in 2023. In turn, Parliament will consider the proposals and provide further comment on draft proposals, accordingly.

Details of the upcoming summit have been confirmed with the Education, Children and Young People Committee.

In order to provide opportunity for sufficient depth of discussion across core topics, a multi-stage approach is planned, with the first taking place on 5th September. This will be followed by further stages in October and November 2023. This events follow the Head Teacher’s taskforce, which convened in June to focus on the issues surrounding school exclusion.

The approach as outlined will allow for progress to be informed by the most up-to-date data following the publication of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools research in autumn.