Chamber and committees

NHS Lothian has made significant progress with regards to the BAA recommendations, they have provided sufficient assurance through evidence of significant progress against the plan, improved governance and culture, and sustainable changes that NHS Lothian will be de-escalated to Stage 2 in the first instance with continued support and monitoring from SG.

We continue to monitor the introduction of the £2 fare cap in England, however in Scotland we already provide free bus travel for more of the population compared to the rest of the UK, investing £300 million annually to the benefit of over 2 million people, helping improve access to education, leisure, and work. The network support grant plus was also extended to 31 March 2023 which is conditional on participating operators meeting terms and conditions including in relation to freezing fares to help keep bus travel more affordable.

Additionally, the Scottish Government is progressing the Fair Fares Review to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares that supports the long term viability of our public transport system as we recover from the pandemic. The Review is considering both the cost and availability of services and the range of discounts and concessionary schemes which are available on all modes including bus, rail and ferry.

Transport Scotland continues to collaborate with bus operators through the bus taskforce, to support the industry in addressing the immediate challenges, and improve bus services for people in Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question: S6W-14424 on 10 February 2023. 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 .

Scottish Ministers have no locus in this decision. Transport links across the Corran Narrows are wholly the responsibility of The Highland Council and, as such, any decision to replace ferries or deliver a fixed link (including funding of this) would be a matter for the Local Authority. Therefore, the Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific consultation regarding future transport options for Corran Narrows.

The Scottish Government recently completed a national review of future transport infrastructure. The second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2) was an example of effective collaboration with stakeholders and the public. It included a considerable programme of engagement activities at a national and regional level with participation from local residents and business owners at various points throughout the process, including within the Lochaber area.

The Scottish Government provides the most generous concessionary fare scheme in the UK, investing £300 million annually to provide free bus travel for over 2 million people. Over 2.3 million people, including everyone under 22 and aged 60 and over and eligible disabled people, can benefit from free bus travel.

We introduced free bus travel to everyone under 22 one year ago. In that time almost 45 million journeys have been made through the scheme helping young people and students cut their travel costs and also helping protect our climate. I strongly urge any under 22's, students or not, who have yet to make use of this scheme to do so.

Additionally, the Scottish Government is progressing the Fair Fares Review to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares that supports the long term viability of our public transport system as we recover from the pandemic. The Review is considering both the cost and availability of services and the range of discounts and concessionary schemes which are available on all modes including bus, rail and ferry.

As part of the Fair Fares Review, we have announced a pilot to remove peak-time rail fares on all Scotrail routes for a six month period, during the next financial year, as a way of making rail travel more affordable and attractive to travellers. Further details on both the rail peak-fares pilot and the Fair Fares Review will be announced in due course.

Decisions on fares are a matter for those operators.

I have commissioned an urgent review of the environmental impacts and management of single-use vapes.

Zero Waste Scotland will lead on the review which will examine available evidence, including the environmental impact of incorrect disposal of vapes.

We will consider the evidence and expert advice and bring forward policy options in due course.

The decision to implement a fares freeze until October 2023 will reduce the income received by operators across that period which may require additional subsidy once any final costs are known or increased patronage is considered. This will be reconciled with operators in the normal manner.

Since publication of the Independent External View of Skye, Lochalsh and South-West Ross Report in May 2018 by Sir Lewis Ritchie. Scottish Government officials have been in regular contact with NHS Highland to assess progress.

Sir Lewis Ritchie has made four review visits to Portree (in 2018, 2019 and twice in 2022). He also made an additional virtual meeting assessment of progress in 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Sir Lewis has met (virtually) with a number of clinicians on Skye on two occasions in January 2023. That engagement process continues and Sir Lewis plans to return to Skye, Lochalsh and South-West Ross for further in-person meetings later in 2023.

The SCI-Diabetes eHealth Clinical Lead provides regular updates to the Scottish Diabetes Group and Managed Clinical Networks in order to ensure that the clinical community is aware of the functionality of the dashboard and how they can work together to continuously improve it.

Any individual healthcare professional or clinical team can submit a change request to SCI-Diabetes team. Any change request made to the SCI-Diabetes system must demonstrate how the change will support clinical care and improve patient care more broadly.