Chamber and committees

As I said in response to S4W-26769, given the relatively low volume of affidavit administration business, the Scottish Government currently has no plans to make arrangements for affidavit administration on islands where there are no resident justices of the peace, no resident notaries public and no Justice of the peace court. However, the Scottish Government is very aware of the many unique challenges facing island communities, which is why the First Minister announced on 1 June 2015 that a public consultation will be launched later this summer on plans for more autonomy for Scotland’s islands. This will include looking at possibilities of providing more power, equality and protection for islands to allow them to build a more prosperous and fairer future for their communities.

The following tables detail the number of sailings cancelled on CalMac Ferries Ltd’s (a) Kennacraig/Islay and (b) Oban/Colonsay routes so far in 2015, broken down by reason for cancellation and compared with the same period in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

Under the terms of the public services contract between Scottish Ministers and CalMac Ferries Limited, performance deductions are imposed when scheduled sailings are cancelled or delayed, when not covered by relief events. Late arrivals and departures, due to adverse weather are classed as relief events.

The Merchant Shipping (Master’s Discretion) Regulations 1997 gives the master of any ship sole responsibility for deciding whether in his or her professional judgement it is safe to sail. It is a criminal offence for the owner, charterer or manager of a ship, i.e. CalMac Ferries Limited, or any other person to prevent or restrict the master from exercising that judgement.

In the last three years there has been one complaint made by a passenger who felt that they had caught food poisoning on board. An investigation by CalMac’s environmental advisor was conducted and it was not confirmed that the source of the food poisoning was from food served on board the vessel.

In the past three years there have been five incidents where more than one passenger or member of CalMac crew have shown symptoms of the winter vomiting virus, also known as noro-virus. These incidents have resulted in one vessel, the MV Lord of the Isles, being taken off scheduled service for two full days, 10 and 11 April 2013, to carry out deep cleaning operations. It has been possible to carry out cleaning on other vessels without impeding the normal service provision. CalMac do, however, undertake precautionary cleaning on board their vessels whenever it is known that the virus is in the communities served by CalMac.

Since 1 April 2015, there have been 216 sailings that have exceeded a capacity figure of 90%, which are effectively classed as full sailings by CalMac. The operated sailings since 1 April 2015 total 1,286, therefore 16.8% can be classed as full and 83.2% as less than full. No information is held by CalMac as to how many were notified to customers, as full, prior to the vessel sailing.

Scottish Natural Heritage has intervened to support coordinated action to control giant hogweed on three occasions in the last 12 months. All of these instances have been dealt with on a voluntary basis, with a Species Control Agreement being put in place in one case. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has not been involved in this way with any giant hogweed control. The Scottish Government does not hold information about interventions by local authorities.

The Rivers and Fisheries Trust of Scotland (RAFTS) Invasive Species and Biosecurity Programme began in 2008 with funding from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) Restoration Fund. Biosecurity Plans have been prepared by 23 of the local Fisheries Trusts with geographic coverage for 90% of Scotland. Coordinated control programmes have been initiated in 11 out of the 13 local Fisheries Trust areas where giant hogweed is widespread. In some areas, such as the Tweed, populations have already been reduced to very low levels. In others, control is at an early stage and concentrated on the upper parts of the catchment. RAFTS is completing an evaluation of effectiveness and lessons learnt from these programmes, which will be shared with SNH and SEPA. The network of Local Biodiversity Action Partnership officers was recently asked to provide details of giant hogweed control carried out by local authorities. The results of this survey suggest that most local authorities control giant hogweed on land that they own or manage, but that they rarely take action on private land. SNH liaises with Network Rail, the Trunk Road Operating Companies and Scottish Water over control of invasive non-native plants. All of these bodies control giant hogweed as part of their annual maintenance regimes.

In some parts of the country regional invasive non-native species groups and forums have been set up to develop strategic plans and encourage information exchange between the various bodies involved. Regional groups with a specific non-native species remit exist in Dumfries and Galloway, Falkirk, Aberdeen-shire and Highland Council areas. In other parts of the country, bodies such as the Tweed Forum and various countryside trusts have taken on a regional coordination role.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are currently working to prioritise non-native species for action through the Scottish Biodiversity Committee’s Non-Native Species Action Group. Giant hogweed is being assessed, alongside a number of other plants, for this purpose. The Group will determine what action should be taken for plants or animals that are deemed to be priorities for management in Scotland. In the meantime, where SNH are made aware that the presence of giant hogweed poses a threat to public health, they will work with the appropriate local authority to ensure that the appropriate action is taken by landowners.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of people injured as a result of exposure to giant hogweed. Data coding for patients who suffer such an injury does not specify the type of plant or environmental hazard which has caused it. Cases are likely to be coded as burns or blistering of the skin.

The new vessels have not been designed to berth at the current facilities at Port Ellen or Port Askaig.

In his announcement of 15 October 2014, the then Minister for Transport and Veterans, Keith Brown MSP, stated that the new ferries would be designed to provide a fully flexible year-round service for Arran and the Uig Triangle (Uig to Tarbert to Lochmaddy).