Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government works closely with categorised responders, who are responsible under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 for assessing the risk of an emergency occurring, maintaining plans to ensure they can continue to perform their functions in case of an emergency, and considering whether an assessment makes it necessary or expedient to add or modify plans. Scottish Government are not however responsible for, or the owners of, any of these plans.

To support categorised responders with their duties, the Scottish Government contributes to the UK’s National Security Risk Assessment and produces the Scottish Risk Assessment to supplement this with Scotland specific analysis. These national level risk assessments consider the most serious emergencies that the UK and Scotland may face in the near future, and contain specific risk assessments for both severe storms and wildfires.

The Scottish Wildfire Forum, which is chaired by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, includes Local Authorities, Regional Resilience Partnerships and other Agencies as members to assess wildfire risks and consider what mitigating actions might be taken.

The aim of the forum is to develop and communicate strategic wildfire protection and prevention initiatives to stakeholders and the wider community. Alongside the Forum, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service continue to work closely with land managers and local communities prevent wildfires occurring. Scottish Forestry also actively seeks to promote awareness of wildfire management practice through working with partners on the Forum.

Scottish Forestry also led the 2023 review of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) (2023) - the Government’s reference standard for sustainable forest management. The UKFS Practice Guide Building Wildfire Resilience into Forest Management Planning (Practice Guide 22) focusses on reducing the likelihood of wildfires occurring, reducing the severity of damage and impacts on people and the environment if they do occur, and assisting with fire suppression activities.

The Scottish Wildfire Information Note supports forest owners, planners, and managers in Scotland to implement Practice Guide 22 in a Scottish context, to understand the wildfire risk to the forests they manage, and how to reduce this risk through good practice in forest design and planning.

Work is also ongoing within the National Parks to address the risk and impact of wildfires. Following a consultation the Cairngorms Park Authority board agreed on in June 2024 to develop a seasonal fire management byelaw, which would last from 1 April to 30 September each year to reduce the risk of ignition of wildfires.

Both the CNPA and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) also engage with key stakeholders through Visit Scotland’s Visitor Management Strategy Group Visitor Management: Scotland's Plan & Objectives | VisitScotland.org to develop messaging around visitor related fires.

The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 introduced new legislation including a new licensing scheme which will require that all practitioners of muirburn need to have completed appropriate training. Poorly managed muirburn can increase the risk of uncontrolled wildfire. However, undertaken properly, muirburn can be an important tool in managing fuel loads and so reducing the risk and intensity of wildfires. NatureScot, who are implementing these new measures, are currently consulting with relevant stakeholders, including land management organisations.

With regards to funding, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s (SFRS) wildfire strategy was launched in 2023 and is supported by a planned spend of around £1.6 million over the course of three years. The strategy considers the increased risk of wildfire and changing climate in Scotland; the latest developments in wildfire management, training, and operational procedures; and the advances in technology that have been made in PPE and equipment. The Scottish Government does not hold details of relevant spending by the CNPA, LLTNPA, or local authorities.

I wrote to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on 25 June 2024 to confirm that a market testing exercise for Glasgow Prestwick Airport was underway. Scottish Ministers’ longstanding position is that the airport should be returned to the private sector at the appropriate time and opportunity. This must be to an organisation with the commitment and capability to operate businesses directly relevant to GPA.

Any decision to sell GPA must represent value for money for taxpayers and be informed by what is right for the long-term success of the business and its contribution to the local and Scottish economy.

The process is ongoing and I will update Parliament when a significant development has been made.

Medicines reach community pharmacies, hospitals, GP practices through a supply chain that is privately operated on a UK-wide basis, from manufacturers in the UK and overseas to wholesale warehouses and distributors. The NHS itself does not have a significant logistical role in the supply chain for medicines.

The supply of medicines, including medicines shortages, is a reserved matter and therefore the responsibility of the UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care. The Scottish Government works closely with the UK Government on all related medicines supply issues and there are well-established and robust processes in place to communicate, address and mitigate any risks to patients as result of any medicines supply issues that occur.

The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland National Procurement have regular engagement with key stakeholders including Health Boards and Community Pharmacy Scotland on any medicines supply related issues to ensure the provision of medicines for patients in both primary and secondary care settings across Scotland.

We will continue to expand NHS Pharmacy First Scotland so that a wider range of health conditions are covered. This will further transfer the care of common clinical conditions to community pharmacy, removing the need for visits to GPs, Out of Hours services or Emergency Departments for everyday self-limiting conditions. In doing so, we will consult NHS24 and health boards to identify the priority conditions the service could cover in all community pharmacies in Scotland.

Through the Pharmacy First Plus element of the service, pharmacists who are qualified independent prescribers (IPs) can already go a step further than standard Pharmacy First, going beyond the approved list of products and the Patient Group Directions (PGDs) in place, to prescribe a wider range of products in response to patients' symptoms and conditions.

The Scottish Government has plans to raise awareness about community optometry services, but is unable to take this forward at the present time due to financial constraints. In addition, the NHS Inform and Eyes. NHS.Scot websites have content relevant to the provision of NHS funded eye examinations in Scotland.

The Strategy for Seafood was developed in discussion with key stakeholders across the seafood sector. This was primarily via meetings with producer organisations, regional fisheries groups, representatives of the processing industry and a number of further organisations with an interest. This engagement highlighted a number of ongoing issues which the sector was experiencing. This included access to sustainable funding support; approaches to marine spatial planning; support with technical trade issues; simplified access to support; labour shortages; coordinated marketing support; and coherent and collaborative marine management.

The Strategy was also informed via wider industry engagement relating to seafood trade that was ongoing during its development. This included a questionnaire issued to key industry stakeholders in 2021 which sought to understand barriers to seafood trade and any support required.

The requested information is detailed in the following table:

Marine and aerial taskings are determined by a rigorous risk assessment process, using live data and intelligence to prioritise the areas where assets are directed.

In 2024 our three patrol ships carried out 866 patrol days, and our two-surveillance aircraft undertook 165 flights, it is therefore not possible to describe the routes taken other than to state they include Rockall, Shetland, the West Coast and North Sea.

A copy of a document detailing heat maps showing patrol areas for each year has been provided to the Scottish Parliaments Information Centre (Bib number is 65620)

The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of engaging with under represented groups across the fishing industry. Where research is conducted, this is designed with the aim of trying to include those who are less well engaged.