Chamber and committees

I wrote to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on 25 June 2024 to confirm that a market testing exercise for Glasgow Prestwick Airport was underway. Scottish Ministers’ longstanding position is that the airport should be returned to the private sector at the appropriate time and opportunity. This must be to an organisation with the commitment and capability to operate businesses directly relevant to GPA.

Any decision to sell GPA must represent value for money for taxpayers and be informed by what is right for the long-term success of the business and its contribution to the local and Scottish economy.

The process is ongoing and I will update Parliament when a significant development has been made.

I wrote to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on 25 June 2024 to confirm that a market testing exercise for Glasgow Prestwick Airport was underway. Scottish Ministers’ longstanding position is that the airport should be returned to the private sector at the appropriate time and opportunity. This must be to an organisation with the commitment and capability to operate businesses directly relevant to GPA.

Any decision to sell GPA must represent value for money for taxpayers and be informed by what is right for the long-term success of the business and its contribution to the local and Scottish economy.

The process is ongoing and I will update Parliament when a significant development has been made.

Public Health Scotland publishes annual data on NHS eye examination on their website at: https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/ophthalmic-workload-statistics/ophthalmic-workload-statistics-statistics-as-at-year-ending-31-march-2024/

Tables 6.1 and 6.2 provide data at Scotland, Health Board and Health and Social Care Partnership level outlining that, apart from the COVID-19 impacted years, increasing numbers of people are having a free NHS-funded eye examination.

In addition, the NHS Inform and Eyes.NHS.Scot websites have content relevant to the provision of NHS funded eye examinations in Scotland.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport operates on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government and Ministers do not intervene in operational matters.

We have committed to the development of a new National Pharmaceutical Agency (NPhA), to improve links between the life sciences industry and the NHS, and ultimately improve patient care.

Initial scoping work has taken place, with further scoping work required to inform any planning for the future establishment of a NPhA. This work has been paused due to resource constraints.

The Scottish Government is pleased to note that The latest published statistics show that there are higher uptake rates for breast, bowel and cervical screening within health boards which have a higher proportion of rural or island populations. Nonetheless, we recognise the particular challenges people living in those communities may face in accessing preventative health services, and we are working hard to overcome these.

Initiatives supporting access to preventative health services in rural and island areas include:

• a dedicated financial support scheme to cover travel costs for eligible patients and their authorised escorts, which focuses on those on low incomes or living in the highlands and islands. In addition, Health Boards also have the discretion to reimburse patient travel expenses where it is viewed to be an extension of treatment costs and deemed to be clinically necessary. This allows flexibility within the schemes for Boards to provide support to those who need it but would not otherwise qualify.
• Funding for Scottish Ambulance Service mobile vaccination units. These are available to every Health Board across all vaccination programmes and can be used to reach those in rural areas.
• 21 mobile screening units deployed in the breast screening programme across Scotland to minimise travel for all patients.
• Targeted outreach through Detect Cancer Early roadshows, which visited communities right across Scotland, including those in rural areas, in March 2024 to reinforce key preventative messages.

In addition, the National Equity in Screening Strategy, which was published in June 2023, is designed to address inequalities and ensure equitable access for all eligible screening participants. The Scottish Government is also looking to improve our understanding of the experience of people with cancer living in rural and island communities. Examples include an independent evaluation of their access to cancer care services, and a research programme on rural healthcare funded by the Chief Scientist Office.

Please find below, the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) number of social media managers currently employed within the Communications division and the associated cost.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-26921 on 29 April 2024. 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

I wrote to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on 25 June 2024 to confirm that a market testing exercise for Glasgow Prestwick Airport was underway. Scottish Ministers’ longstanding position is that the airport should be returned to the private sector at the appropriate time and opportunity. This must be to an organisation with the commitment and capability to operate businesses directly relevant to GPA.

Any decision to sell GPA must represent value for money for taxpayers and be informed by what is right for the long-term success of the business and its contribution to the local and Scottish economy.

The process is ongoing and I will update Parliament when a significant development has been made.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport operates on a commercial basis and at arm’s length from the Scottish Government and Ministers do not intervene in operational matters.