Chamber and committees

An inter-operator, multi-modal smart card system is being made possible. The Scottish Government is promoting one compatible system across all modes, the "ITSO" system. Using one compatible system means integration can be delivered as each transport mode implements its co-ordinated plans.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the vision that all journeys on Scotland’s bus, rail, ferry, subway and tram can be made using a single type of smart ticket, the saltirecard system. Good progress is being made to deliver this vision, which is summarised by transport mode below.

Rail - The entire ScotRail network is now equipped for saltirecard season tickets and Super off-peak tickets between Glasgow and Edinburgh, with more ticket types on saltirecards being launched throughout 2016 and 2017. The smart rail products will also be able to be loaded on to the National Entitlement saltirecard and other bus operators' saltirecards. The Multi-operator city scheme bus tickets will be able to be loaded on to the ScotRail smartcards.

Subway - Smart tickets are already in use on the Glasgow Subway, and it will be possible to use the same smartcards on both the Subway and ScotRail.

Ferries - The Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services Contract that was awarded recently requires that saltirecard smart ticketing will be available for all foot passengers.

Bus – More than 1.3 million smart concessionary travel saltirecards have been issued which are used across bus operators throughout Scotland. The Scottish Government's concessionary travel schemes currently generates 35% of all bus journeys and uses the smart saltirecard.

Through partnership agreement, bus operators have committed to launch city and surrounding area multi-operator saltirecard commercial smart ticketing. Aberdeen and Dundee city schemes were launched this year, with similar schemes in Glasgow and Edinburgh being launched in 2017. Major Scottish bus operators have agreed to work to deliver the vision of compatible smart ticketing across all modes in Scotland with a programme that dovetail’s with ScotRail’s plans. They have also committed to accept a national pay-as-you-go e-Purse carried on the saltirecard, similar to some of the Oyster card functions in London.

The information requested is given in the table entitled Business Pledge – Statistical overview – August 2016, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib number 57653). This material is updated and published on a quarterly basis. There is currently 296 companies listed on the Pledge website.

The Remote Outpatient Care (ROC) scheme has been developed between NHS Highland and third sector organisations, and was trialled in NHS Highland and NHS Tayside areas. Best practice recommendations related to e-health tools are contained within ‘Scotland Leading the Way: a National Blueprint for IBD in Scotland’, published in 2016 by Crohn’s and Colitis UK with support from the Scottish Government. ROC has been highlighted within the Blueprint as an example of an innovative solution which can support people with IBD.

We welcome the publication of ‘Scotland Leading the Way: a National Blueprint for IBD in Scotland’, published in 2016 by Crohn’s and Colitis UK with support from the Scottish Government, which recommends the use of faecal calprotectin testing (FCP) as an option to support clinicians in ensuring timely referral for IBD diagnosis. This recommendation is supported by current clinical evidence of the value of FCP in preventing the need for more invasive investigations for people with a diagnosis of IBS. We will continue to work with C&CUK to engage with NHS boards and encourage improvements as set out in the Blueprint.

The terms and conditions of employment of staff is a matter for individual universities as autonomous institutions. However, the Scottish Government would encourage every university to adhere to the principles of fair work, set out in the Fair Work Framework, published in April 2016. Ministers commitment to this was further highlighted in the Interim Letter of Guidance issued to the Scottish Funding Council on 29 September 2016.

The Scottish Government, through the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), has invested in excess of £4 billion in the higher education sector in the last four years. A further £1 billion is being invested in 2016-17, with core research funding maintained at a level of £232 million in 2016-17, representing a continued key investment in Scotland’s future.

We have also established a Strategic Funding Group, consisting of Principals nominated by Universities Scotland, the SFC and Scottish Government officials to consider how increased excellence and equity can be achieved by the higher education sector in future.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-03664 on 27 October 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government is ambitious about its plans to increase youth employment and in our youth employment strategy we have set a target to reduce youth unemployment by 40% by 2021. Supporting 16 to 19 year olds who are not in education, employment or training to develop the skills needed to get a job is key to achieving that target and remains a priority.

In delivering the Opportunities for All commitment the Scottish Government supports 16 to 19-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training through a range of provision and funding support including:

Activity Agreements;

Education Maintenance Allowance;

College and university courses;

Employability Fund training programmes;

Community Jobs Scotland;

Modern Apprenticeships; and

Scottish Employer Recruitment Incentive (SERI).

Since 2012 we have delivered a reduction of 12,000 in the number of young people not in education, employment or training but we are more ambitious than settling for a return to pre-recession rates. The development of the Participation Measure enables national and local partners to identify young people who are not participating and to support them to take up an Opportunities for All offer of an appropriate place in education or training. The latest Participation Measure Report published in August 2016 shows that, nationally, 90.4% of 16-19 year olds were participating in learning, training or work.

The Scottish Government expects NHS boards to respond to the clinical and mental health needs of their population. To assist in providing effective, evidence-based treatments, the Scottish Government provides funding to NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to host the ‘The Matrix: A Guide to Delivering Evidence-based Psychological Therapies in Scotland’, an evidence-based guide for NHS boards on effective psychological treatments for a range of mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, which people with effects from inflammatory bowel disease may experience.

If there is an absence of strong evidence for the treatment of a particular condition, the Matrix advises that clinical judgment should be used if considering interventions which have been shown to be effective for similar problems in other adult populations.

Crohn’s and Colitis UK’s report ‘Scotland Leading The Way: a National Blueprint for Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Scotland’, launched with the support of the Scottish Government in June 2016, also contains best practice recommendations related to improving psychological support for IBD patients.

The Scottish Government does not itself conduct scientific research. However, the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government funds health research projects directly through a competitive process to assess applications generated by the research community in Scotland. Applications are accepted for research across any health-related discipline or area, including mindfulness cognitive behavioural therapy and inflammatory bowel disease.

CSO also contributes about £10million annually to the Department of Health National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) that allows researchers based in Scotland to apply through a competitive process for funding via the majority of the large NIHR research programmes that together cover a similar wide spectrum of health-related research.