Chamber and committees

Current vessel deployment considerations mean that it is not possible to introduce a summer Lochboisdale to Mallaig ferry service at this stage, as this would impact on existing services elsewhere on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services network. The winter pilot service will be evaluated over the full three year pilot period before decisions about the way forward are taken. The evaluation will take into account the severe weather disruptions experienced on the route.

Costs to operate a year round Lochboisdale to Mallaig ferry service have not therefore been considered.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-24070 on 28 January 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Details of the number of Lochboisdale to Mallaig a) scheduled and b) cancelled sailings each month since November 2013 to date, and the reason for the cancellation are set out in the following table:

*Ship out of position

Scottish Mental Health First Aid courses are run by partners from across public services on behalf of NHS Health Scotland. The number of courses ran during 2012–13 and 2013–14 classed in each health board is as follows:

The total number of attendees for mental health first training in 2012-13 and 2013-14 is broken down as follows:

The number of Scottish mental health first aid courses that took place are as follows:

Since Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid was introduced, 484 people have undertaken the instructor training. There are currently 322 trainers on NHS Health Scotland’s database.

In the years of its operation, this valuable support has helped enable the construction of over 900 new croft houses and the improvement of a further 200 existing croft houses.

The Scottish Government has held informal discussions with a number of crofting stakeholders and these have informed the terms of a review of the croft house grant scheme launched on 7 January 2015. The Scottish Government’s proposals include a significant increase in the level of support to be offered.

Public consultation on a review of the croft house grant scheme was launched on 6 January 2015. The consultation period will conclude on 31 March 2015 and we would encourage as many contributions as possible.

The primary responsibility for ensuring bus and train services are accessible rests with the operators of such services.

Legislation governing technical standards for buses and the obligations of bus operators in relation to disability is reserved to the UK Parliament. The Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR) require new vehicles to have low floor boarding devices and state that any regulated public service vehicle shall be fitted with no less than one wheelchair space. All buses carrying more than 22 passengers and used on local services are required to be fully PSVAR compliant by 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Local authorities have powers to support bus services to meet local needs where the market is not doing so on a commercial basis and are also primarily responsible for the provision of infrastructure such as bus stops and bus stations. Funding for this comes from their general funding settlement.

Similarly, there is a requirement for all mainline trains to be accessible by 2020.