Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is aware of European Union Directive 2002/44/EC. The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 were introduced to clearly set out the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from vibration. They impose duties on employers to protect employees who may be exposed to risk from exposure to vibration at work, including health surveillance in certain circumstances where vibration at work may be a risk to health. These are in addition to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

In relation to maritime industries, the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Control of Vibration at Work) Regulations 2007 and the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Health and Safety at Work) Regulations 1997 provide protection for seafarers on UK ships parallel to the Health and Safety Executive regulations for workers in the UK. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is responsible for enforcement of the merchant shipping regulations on ships.

There is no NHS monitoring of workforce exposure in the maritime industry.

The Scottish Government does not collect data on expenditure at school level. Argyll and Bute Council receives an extra £1.97 million from the Special Islands Needs Allowance which recognises that it costs more to provide services to island communities as well as an extra £15.566 million over and above their formula share of funding as a result of the main funding floor which protects councils from significant year-on-year reductions in funding.

Harbour dues are a matter for the harbour authorities, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) and Argyll and Bute Council. Harbour authorities have a statutory duty to charge reasonable harbour charges for the operation, improvement and maintenance of the facilities they control. The Scottish Government has however agreed to engage with CMAL on the level of harbour dues at Gourock for the next tendered contract. The Scottish Government will also engage with Argyll and Bute Council on the level of harbour charges at Dunoon. The outputs will be fed into the invitation to tender for the next Gourock-Dunoon town centre ferry service contract.

In 2015-16 Argyll and Bute Council lose £89,000 in grant aided expenditure (GAE) provision as a result of the reallocation of GAE to recognise teacher remoteness and distant islands allowances. They also lose a further £58,000 from the secondary school teaching staff secondary indicator. Only the three wholly Island authorities gain from these reallocations.

Argyll and Bute Council does however gain £3.293 million from the reallocation of primary school teaching staff secondary indicator that recognises the percentage of pupils in small schools.

Argyll and Bute Council also receives an extra £1.970 million from the special islands needs allowance which recognises that it costs more to provide services to island communities as well as an extra £15.566 million over and above their formula share of funding as a result of the main funding floor which protects councils from significant year-on-year reductions in funding.

A prior information notice issued on 16 December 2015 setting out our intention to undertake a public procurement process to appoint a service operator to provide a subsidised passenger ferry service between Gourock and Dunoon town centres from 30 June 2017. We will also encourage potential participants to provide an unsubsidised vehicle-carrying service at their own commercial risk.

A meeting of the Gourock Dunoon Ferry Service Steering Group will take place on 19 January 2016 to discuss details of our approach to the procurement process and the timeline leading up to the award of the contract. The Gourock-Dunoon ferry service contract will be awarded in good time, ensuring it is in place and operational on 30 June 2017.

The public services contract between Argyll Ferries Limited and the Scottish Ministers does include a requirement for to meet the harbour charges from Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) for the use of Gourock harbour. It should be noted that Gourock harbour is a complex facility and has enjoyed a disproportionate level of expenditure in recent years compared to its activity levels. The contract can be found at the attached link:

http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/water/ferries/gourock-dunoon

On the level of harbour charges, I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-29093 on 6 January 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.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

It has been confirmed by CMAL that the current level of income generated by Gourock does not match the past, present or future improvements needed and as such the Gourock harbour is cross-subsidised by CMAL from the dues collected at other ports in their network.

The distribution formula which allocates funding to all local authorities on a fair and equitable basis is kept under constant review by the joint Scottish Government and COSLA settlement and distribution group. This is an officer led group that makes recommendations to both central and local government politicians. Any proposal to review the distribution formula which provides support in recognition of the additional costs of island education proposed by COSLA on behalf of local government would be carefully considered.

The Scottish Government's position in relation to harbours dues will be reflected in the invitation to tender for the Gourock-Dunoon town centre ferry service when it is issued to qualifying participants.

Cross-subsidisation within networks is an appropriate way of supporting island and remote communities as it helps ensure fair access to and affordability of services to those communities. The Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract operated by CalMac Ferries Ltd is an example of this. The current structure of Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd’s (CMAL) harbour charges is based on the principle role of its harbour network in supporting these essential ferry services. The Gourock-Dunoon service is provided under a separate public service contract. The Scottish Government will engage with CMAL and Argyll and Bute Council on the level of harbour dues at Gourock and Dunoon for the next tendered contract. It has been confirmed by CMAL that the current level of income generated by Gourock does not match the past, present or future improvements needed and as such the Gourock harbour is cross-subsidised by CMAL from the dues collected at other ports in their network.

As such the remarks attributed to Mr Docherty are consistent with the Scottish Government’s continued support of island and remote mainland communities. The Scottish Government's position on harbour charges will be reflected in the invitation to tender for the Gourock-Dunoon town centre ferry service when it is issued to qualifying participants.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work with partners to implement the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. The Act promotes actions that work with nature at a catchment scale as part of a more sustainable approach to flood risk management.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, working closely in partnership with local authorities, Scottish Water and other stakeholders, has just completed Scotland’s first flood risk management strategies. These promote a nationally consistent, risk-based, plan led approach to flood risk management. Nationally the strategies identify more than 20 specific natural flood management studies and four ground works for delivery between 2016 and 2021. These actions will be predominantly led by local authorities but will involve co-operation and collaboration with a wide range of other organisations and stakeholders including landowners and managers, Forestry Commission Scotland, Scottish National Heritage, National Parks and local environmental partnerships.

To further support natural flood management we are funding research to better understand how actions such as wetland creation, re-meandering and woodland planting can contribute to slowing and storing flood waters and help alleviate flooding to communities downstream.