Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31682 on 9 December 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

The additional mobile endoscopy units have supported patients to be clinically prioritised for endoscopy, ensuring that a range of conditions, including Inflammatory Bowel Disease, are diagnosed and managed timeously.

To provide further support for timeous diagnosis, the Scottish Government commissioned Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) will shortly publish a newly developed Inflammatory Bowel Disease pathway to support earlier identification and management of the disease.

This is all part of our programme to drive up productivity and tackle waiting lists, supported by the CfSD. Together, our actions will further enable NHS Scotland to maximise capacity, build greater resilience, reduce variation and deliver reductions in the number of patients who have waited too long for diagnosis and treatment.

The Scottish Government notes the report commissioned by ASLEF and its findings. Every worker should be able to work with dignity and this includes having an access to toilet facilities. The report findings are for train operating companies, as employers to consider.

There will be no ticket office closures or job losses further to the adjustments to the ticket office opening hours proposed by ScotRail and Scottish Rail Holdings.

The purpose of these adjustments is to enable ScotRail to provide assistance to passengers, where it is most required, thus enhancing passenger experience.

The Scottish Government’s acceptance to these proposals is predicated on some conditions, including that the arrangements for disabled passengers will not be affected.

Scottish Government regularly reviews the Scottish Ambulance Service - Special Operations Response Team (SORT) arrangements as part of an agreed Service Level Agreement. This ensures delivery of SORT capabilities are maintained across Scotland.

The number of treatments (including enhanced examinations) is compiled on the basis of claims made to Practitioner Services for payment within agreed working schedules and monthly activity is therefore not always presented on a directly comparable basis. For example, the September payment schedule period contained 20 working days which is lower than the average schedule period (c.24 working days), resulting in a small reduction to prior months’ claims.

Practitioners Services will periodically close the schedules to allow other payments to be made to dentists, such as quarterly allowance payments.

The maintenance costs for MV Caledonian Isles for the past three years are included within the following table:

The Scottish Government do not hold this information. It is a matter for UK shipyards to come to commercial agreements on guarantees with financial institutions as stipulated in shipbuilding procurements.

Jayam Dalal is a Public Appointments Adviser appointed by the Ethical Standards Commissioner for Scotland (ESC) at the commencement of regulated Ministerial appointment rounds. The Scottish Government does not retain the information requested, however, we have asked the ESC for the information who has confirmed that in the last ten years Ms Dalal has participated in 30 appointment rounds. Of those, she was a full selection panel member for sixteen rounds. For the remaining fourteen rounds, Ms Dalal provided oversight and advice at the planning phase but was not part of the selection panel.

Scottish Ministers have been clear on the need to improve delivery of the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS), to ensure the requirements of our ferry dependent communities are met. No immediate decisions are being made on the subject of reform of the ferries sector, including whether any proposals would be subject to public consultation. At present, the focus is on bringing in new vessels and putting arrangements in place for the direct award of the new CHFS contract next year.