Chamber and committees

I have not visited Glasgow Airport during my time as Minister for Transport, however I look forward to meeting with the CEO of AGS Airports on 5 October 2022.

The Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG), are part of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and provide advice to NHS Scotland on the use of new and existing health technologies (excluding medicines). The SHTG made a recommendation in 2021 on the use of HeartFlow: 20210714-heartflow-adaptation-v20.pdf (shtg.scot) . Health boards are required to consider SHTG’s advice.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD), hosted by NHS Golden Jubilee, includes the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme (MPPP). Work to promote HeartFlow technology across Health Boards is a key activity for the MPPP cardiology specialty group.

More information on the Centre for Sustainable Delivery can be found here: CfSD :: NHS Golden Jubilee , with information on the cardiology specialty network available here: Cardiology | Turas | Learn (nhs.scot).

We’re seeing many young people already benefitting from the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme, with well over 20 million journeys having been made since its commencement in January. We have now launched a national marketing campaign to increase awareness and understanding of the scheme and, ultimately, encourage more young people to apply and enjoy the benefits of free bus travel.

Transport Scotland has also provided communications and promotional resources for stakeholders at freebus.scot, and these have been shared with over 300 public, private and third sector organisations who work with young people and families, and within the transport sector.

Transport Scotland does not normally hold this level of detail. Relevant revenue figures will not be available until the annual accounts for ScotRail Trains Ltd. have been audited, verified and published after the end of the financial year 2022-23.

Safety and security on our railways is reserved to UK Government and as such the member may wish to contact British Transport Police in relation to enforcement measures on ScotRail trains.

I met with Orkney Islands Council on 8 th August during my visit to the Northern Isles, where we discussed a range of issues including inter-island connectivity.

The Scottish Government recognises the challenges for local authorities with responsibility for ferries and has provided more than £136m over the last 5 years through the Local Government settlement and Specific Grant. A total of £33.095m has been made available for local authorities in 2022-23, including £13.402m for Orkney, which fully funds the Council to operate inter-island ferry services.

The breakdown of this information by Directorate is not held centrally and to collate this information would be at disproportionate costs. Computers have been defined as any device which has been configured for use on the SCOTS Network. The overall number for Scottish Government over the past 5 years are

The Scottish Government intends to publish the key findings from the 2021 Scottish House Condition Survey in February 2023. This was communicated to users through a ScotStat email and is published on forthcoming publications and Scottish Household Survey webpages on the Scottish Government website.

Any changes to this date will be communicated to users, in line with the code of practice for statistics .

The online public consultation on developing a Scottish Government aviation strategy ran from 18 October 2021 until 21 January 2022. 93 responses were received, 38 from individuals and 55 from a broad range of stakeholder organisations. Officials also ran a series of online stakeholder workshops each of which focused on a particular area of the consultation document, namely international connectivity and airfreight; transition to low and zero-emission aviation; domestic connectivity; and governance arrangements in the Highlands and Islands.

On 6 April we published an independent analysis of the consultation responses, including summaries of the main points from the workshops noted above, and those responses where consent to publish was provided.

Work is ongoing across government to develop the aviation strategy, including in relation to Highlands and Islands connectivity, building on the suggestions from the consultation and relevant Scottish Government strategies and polices. The aviation strategy will also inform the development of the Islands Connectivity Plan.

The Public Health (Restriction of Promotions) Bill will be introduced this parliamentary year.

As set out in Programme for Government 2022-23, as a first legislative step in this session to meeting wider public health commitments, the Bill will include provisions for restricting food and drink promotions to protect public health.