- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 10 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-13502 by Humza Yousaf on 26 January 2023, how much it has spent on those areas in each year since 2007.
Answer
The health and social care staff wellbeing programme started in 2020 – 21. Prior to this, it did not have a dedicated budget.
In 2020 – 21 we spent £5 million. In 2021 – 22 we spent £12 million. The 2021- 22 spend was much higher due to additional Covid consequentials funding that is no longer available.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 10 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting NHS Highland to provide 24/7 urgent care at Portree Hospital.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what representations it has received from local residents and business owners on future transport options for the Corran Narrows, including the possibility of a fixed link.
Answer
The Scottish Government has received representations from local residents and MSPs regarding transport options for the Corran Narrows, however, Scottish Ministers have no locus in this decision.
Transport links across the Corran Narrows is wholly the responsibility of The Highland Council and as such, any decision to replace ferries or deliver a fixed link and funding of this, would be a matter for the Local Authority.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered providing support to any other commercial ferry operators as a result of Transport Scotland’s decision to freeze fares for CalMac and Serco NorthLink Ferries.
Answer
Decisions on fares are a matter for those operators.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 10 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the environmental impact of the improper disposal of vapes.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government on what date CalMac was advised that there would be a delay to the time that the Isle of Mull ferry would have to spend in dry dock, which led to the necessity of introducing an emergency timetable for the Oban-Craignure route in January 2023.
Answer
CalMac Ferries informed Transport Scotland on 16 December 2022 of risk MV Isle Mull overhaul would be delayed. This resulted in CalMac Ferries introducing an amended single vessel service on the Oban-Craignure route from 26 December 2022 to 18 January 2023.
- Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the viability of a fixed link across the Corran Narrows.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not undertaken any assessments regarding the viability of a fixed link across the Corran Narrows.
The Scottish Government is aware of work carried out by HITRANS on behalf of The Highland Council to consider a range of options for the Corran Narrows. As any decision to deliver a fixed link would be a matter for the Local Authority, it would not be for the Scottish Government to undertake an assessment of viability.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 10 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what it has done to ensure that healthcare professionals, SCI-Diabetes and e-health teams work collaboratively to ensure that changes implemented in SCI-Diabetes support clinical care and drive improvement in diabetes care.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether any airports will be forced to close as a result of the Public and Commercial Services Union industrial action, on 1 February 2023, and, if so, which ones.
Answer
No airports were forced to close.
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 February 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce a fare cap on Scottish train travel now that ScotRail is under public ownership.
Answer
As a result of the pressures that household budgets are under the Scottish Government confirmed last year that there would be no change to rail fares before March 2023. Any change to rail fares this year will be confirmed in due course but Scottish Ministers are very clear that they will not rise by an amount equivalent to the July Retail Price Index rate of 12.3 per cent.
As part of the Scottish Government’s fair fares review Transport Scotland will take forward the pilot to evaluate the removal of peak rail fares. The pilot will apply to the whole network for the six-month period, commencing in the next financial year. Work on the precise methodology, design and evaluation is ongoing with Transport Scotland officials working closely with Scottish Rail Holdings and ScotRail Trains Ltd to derive maximum benefit for this scheme.
Further details on the peak fares pilot will be confirmed over the coming weeks.