Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02179 on
‎ 1 September 2021. 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 .

We remain committed to financial transparency. Transactions are reported to Audit Scotland and disclosed in the Scottish Government’s annual accounts. Ministers also keep Parliament and Committees informed at appropriate junctures. This transparency is balanced against the need for commercial confidentiality where required to protect commercial interests.

To improve our approach when providing support we have strengthened our internal commercial capacity and are making updates to the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

The Permanent Secretary wrote to the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee on 19 February 2021 on how the Scottish Government is strengthening its approach to providing support and managing its on-going interests in businesses. Please find a link to the letter here .

The process to return Glasgow Prestwick Airport to the private sector continues and decisions have still to be taken in relation to the prospective sale of the business. We have committed to updating Parliament on the sale process at the appropriate stage and to protect the integrity of the process we will not be making any further comment at this time.

The loan was impaired on the basis of the risk of an Expected Credit Loss as we are required to do in accordance with IFRS 9. The loan has been impaired in the accounts but it has not been written off and legally the full value and its accrued interest remains repayable.

Information relating to complaints associated with specific medical treatments such as CPR is not collected centrally.

If an individual wishes to raise a complaint about NHS treatment or care this should be addressed at a local level through the NHS Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP). The Patient Rights (Scotland) Act 2011 and supporting legislation, provides a specific right for people to make complaints, raise concerns, make comments and give feedback to NHS Boards. The Act also places a duty on NHS Boards to thoroughly investigate and respond to any concerns raised, to take improvement actions where appropriate and to share learning from the views they receive. Where an individual remains dissatisfied with the outcome of the CHP investigation, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is the second and final stage in the complaints process.

The Scottish Government does not centrally collect information or data relating to the use of Do Not Attempt Cardiovascular Resuscitation (DNACPR) forms.

As with all other clinical treatments, decisions about CPR should be based on the individual clinical circumstances and wishes of the patient, recorded appropriately and updated when medical circumstances change. This recording is done in hard copy on a DNACPR form, the existence of which is then recorded on an individual’s Key Information Summary. Such information is only shared for the purposes of direct care and is therefore not centrally collected.

The Scottish Government Do Not Attempt Cardiovascular Resuscitation (DNACPR) guidance makes clear that the overall responsibility for making an advance decision about CPR rests with the senior clinician who has clinical responsibility for the patient during that episode of care.

This guidance also makes clear that we expect healthcare professionals to discuss treatment options openly and honestly with patients, their families and guardians - where appropriate, to help ensure that they get the care that is right for them given their specific medical circumstances.

For convenience the guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/decisions-cardiopulmonary-resuscitation-integrated-adult-policy/.

In April 2020 we announced that a prioritisation of legislation was required owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. A decision was taken not to introduce the Good Food Nation Bill in the last Parliamentary session owing to the need to focus on critical legislation.

We look forward to introducing the Good Food Nation Bill as soon as is possible in this Parliamentary term.

As set out on page 63 of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), we do not anticipate online retailers being adversely impacted by our DRS. The BRIA is available here:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/deposit-return-scheme-scotland-full-business-regulatory-impact-assessment-2/documents/ .

It is vital to the success and fairness of our DRS that online retailers charge the deposit and provide a service to allow it to be redeemed and the container returned.

The impact assessments for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) published on 16 March 2020 recognised that a single scheme administrator would likely be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the scheme, in line with the Scottish Government’s preferred scheme design. We therefore have no plans to update any of these impact assessments in light of the approval of Circularity Scotland Ltd as scheme administrator of DRS.