Chamber and committees

Consideration of potential improvements to all strategic transport infrastructure across the whole of Scotland continues to be undertaken through the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2). This work is building upon the findings of the South West Scotland Transport Study which set out the Case for Change for transport in the south west and included 23 recommendations, four of which were specifically focussed on the A77 and A75.

STPR2 will create the evidence basis for future transport investment decisions by the Scottish Government for the next 20 years. It will set out how the recommended investments will contribute Net Zero, Inclusive Growth and our vision is for a sustainable, inclusive, safe and accessible transport system helping deliver a healthier, fairer and more prosperous Scotland for communities, businesses and visitors.

At the core of STPR2 is the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy. We will aim first to reduce the need to travel unsustainably, make better use of and enhance existing infrastructure, before investing in new capacity. This hierarchy is also central to Infrastructure Investment Plan.

STPR2 will conclude later this year, with publication of recommendations for investment and an appropriate statutory consultation period.

The Scottish Government has worked with the UK Government on implementation of free ports in Scotland over the past year. This dialogue culminated in development of a new green port model designed specifically to complement the Scottish policy context.

We have been ready to launch an applicant prospectus for green ports since March of this year. However, the UK Government has delayed in committing to a jointly run bidding process. The Scottish Government has pressed regularly for a decision from the UK Government on this matter. Delay in launching a bidding process for Scotland is having a detrimental impact on Scottish stakeholders.

Every effort is being made to investigate possible solutions and trial the most promising of these in the run up to this coming winter. Transport Scotland’s Operating Company, BEAR Scotland, will be undertaking laboratory tests ahead of winter 2021 and on-site trials during winter 2021 of potential solutions. Options currently under consideration to prevent or reduce ice formation include coatings and de-icing compounds applied to the stay cables and towers and cleaning of the stay cables to remove deposited air borne particulates from the external surface of the stay cables. Should a viable solution be found, it will be subject to Peer review and Value for Money assessment before full-scale deployment.

The Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) are required, by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, to produce a transport strategy for their area. The Act sets out what the strategy should cover, including the future needs of the region and what can be achieved taking account of funding and practicability. The Act also requires regional transport strategies to have regard to the National Transport Strategy produced by the Scottish Ministers.

Scotland’s second National Transport Strategy was published in February 2020 and sets out an ambitious vision for or Scotland’s transport system for the next 20 years. The Strategy sets out the Sustainable Investment Hierarchy to inform future investment decisions and ensure transport options that focus on reducing inequalities and the need to travel unsustainably are prioritised. The Strategy also embeds the Sustainable Travel Hierarchy into decision making, by promoting walking, wheeling, cycling, public transport and shared options in preference to single occupancy private car use. We are aware that the RTPs are at varying stages of development in producing new strategies for their region. The regional transport strategies are approved by the Scottish Ministers before they can come into effect.

Regional Transport Partnerships work with Local Authorities and others stakeholders across their areas to input into infrastructure investment plans, for example through Growth Deals. They are also engaged in the Scottish Government’s second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) through Regional Transport Working Groups. They have provided valuable input and evidence to the Review which will to help inform strategic transport investment in Scotland for the next 20 years.

The Scottish Government has not held discussions with port operators about accessing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Government has consistently failed to engage meaningfully with the Devolved Nations on the Fund. It remains unclear how much Scotland will receive or on what basis our allocation will be decided. This is clearly not conducive to a smooth introduction of the Fund in Scotland.

It is extremely disappointing that the UK Government has again decided to use the powers it has given itself in the Internal Market Act to introduce a scheme which bypasses the Scottish Government and stakeholders.

Probation can be completed through either the one year full time Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS) or a flexible route. Probationers entering via a flexible route are not included in this analysis as they are not identified separately in the teacher census. These probationers account for a very small proportion of all probationers.

The following tables show the number of Teacher Induction Scheme teachers who, at the time of the September teacher census following their probationary year were (1) in permanent teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland, (2) in temporary teaching posts in publicly funded schools in Scotland, or (3) not teaching in a publicly funded school in Scotland.

These figures are broken down by the local authority in which the individual carried out their probationer year.

Table 1: Post-induction scheme teachers in permanent posts in the following year’s teacher census (headcount)

As announced in March, the recommendations from the Review will be taken forward by an Implementation Group which I am pleased to announce will be Co-Chaired by Dennis Robertson and a clinical lead that will be confirmed shortly.

I am also pleased to announce today that we are providing £5 million of funding to respond to the recommendations from the Review in this financial year. The majority of this funding will be provided to NHS Boards to support them respond to the increase in eating disorder presentations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is Recommendation 1 from the Review. This funding is being provided from the £120 million Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund.

In addition, in response to Recommendation 6 (Self-help Resources) and Recommendation 13 (Families and Carers) from the Review, we are also providing funding to Beat, the UK’s Eating Disorder Charity, to provide a wide range of support options such as support to families and carers of those with an eating disorder, support for children, young people and adults who are currently waiting to be seen by services and peer support services. We will shortly announce further details of this package of support.

Work on a planned public energy company was halted during the pandemic. As set out in the SNP manifesto, Ministers will now focus government efforts on a new dedicated national public energy agency. This will coordinate and accelerate delivery of heat and energy efficiency work, inform and educate the public on the changes required, provide expert advice to national and local government, and work with public, private and third sector partners to deliver this transformative national project. Further details will be set out to Parliament in due course.

Amey is the operating company with responsibility for the A77. Acting on behalf of Transport Scotland, they are currently undertaking a route assessment of all junctions between Monktonhead and Smithston.

Amey have recommended an approach to identifying short-term future demand by taking information from Transport Assessments prepared to support new development in the area, this is currently being consider by Transport Scotland.

For longer term forecasts, Transport Forecasts 2021 will be published later this year, these are currently in development and are being used in the second Strategic Transport Projects Review.

These will update the published Transport Forecasts 2018, which build in committed development and Local Plan Development allocations from the local authorities, along with committed transport interventions. Since the previous publication, the demand for transport has been considerably impacted by COVID19 leading to unprecedented changes in how we access employment, services, leisure and goods.

I want to thank our health and care staff for their magnificent work to date. The last few months have been enormously challenging, with the expansion of our vaccination programme and the on-going demands of continuing to provide vital services to those requiring care.

While we have made great strides forward in dealing with the challenges that the pandemic has brought, the spread and impact of Covid continues to urge the need for caution in protecting the capacity of the NHS. Case numbers have continued to increase slowly over the last few weeks and our vaccination and Test and Trace resources have had to flex in response to emerging issues. All of this is taking place while our NHS continues to recover and so I want to continue with a measured and consistent approach to remobilising and renewing the vital services that we all rely upon. Additionally, we continue to be mindful of the impact on health and care staff, many of whom have been on the frontline of the Covid response for a considerable period.

It is clear that we need to continue to balance the capacity of the NHS to deal with Covid as well as the demands of emergency, urgent and planned care. With this in mind, I have decided that the NHS will remain on an emergency footing until at least 30 September 2021.