Chamber and committees

The estimate of loan funding of £39.6m up to 2021-22 was made in a business plan produced in May 2014. Following that forecast, Ryanair decided to operate more services from competitor airports and reduced its presence at Glasgow Prestwick. Our current forecast is that total loan funding of £39.5m may be required up to March 2018.

We have been clear since we bought the airport just over 3 years ago that turning the business around will require a sustained effort over a number of years. I am pleased that the company is actively pursuing new commercial opportunities – for example a deal was recently struck with Chevron which provides a new blue chip tenant for the airport and brings new jobs to the area. The future success of Prestwick is not based only on passenger services and the management team are pursuing a range of opportunities across all parts of the business. We are happy to support these efforts so the company can have a positive long term future.

Ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet with representatives of all Health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

There is no excuse for any form of hate crime; it is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. The definition of anti-Semitism designated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance will be considered by the Scottish Government. Officials will also meet with the Scottish Council for Jewish Communities in early 2017 to discuss the definition.

www.scottishmedicines.org.uk.

The Scottish Government does not require schools to operate a cashless catering system to deliver free school meals to P1-P3 pupils, which is a universal provision for all children in those year groups and has been fully funded by this Government. The P1-P3 policy is designed to ensure that our youngest pupils are offered a balanced and nutritious lunch each school day. This is what was agreed with local government and we expect all education authorities to take necessary steps to ensure that this happens. The opportunity to substitute a lunch for an alternative offering was not part of that agreement.

All food and drink served in schools must meet strict nutritional standards set out in the school food Regulations. In particular these standards prevent confectionary being offered at any time of the day and do not allow savoury snacks such as crisps to be provided at lunchtime. Compliance with the Regulations is monitored by Education Health and Nutrition Inspectors.

If a caller in England or Wales dials 111, they will be automatically be connected to the local English 111 service, based on the caller's location at the time of the call. If it is determined they are calling for a relative / friend resident in Scotland, the caller will be transferred to NHS 24 using a pre-set telephony process. NHS 24 then capture the patients details and manage the call in the normal way. Once the call is completed, NHS 24 will attempt to contact the Scottish patient if contact details are available.

In life-threatening emergency situations, if a caller called 111 from anywhere in the UK on behalf of someone in Scotland, they would get appropriate assistance from the local Ambulance Service who would pass their call to colleagues in Scotland.

Callers from outside the UK or from Northern Ireland do not have direct access to 111 – any call would have to be made through a third party living in Scotland.

It is not routinely possible for a Scottish resident outwith Scotland to contact NHS 24 as the caller protocols are set to only accept calls from within Scotland. If the Scottish patient requires urgent care in England or Wales, they would call 111 and be triaged by the local NHS trust.

If it is a life-threatening emergency, the call would be transferred from the 111 service to the appropriate ambulance service.

If the Scottish patient is abroad or in Northern Ireland and in need or urgent care, they would need to contact the local health service. If the patient is only looking for advice, they can visit NHS Inform at www.nhsinform.scot.

Creative Scotland, our national arts body, and the City of Edinburgh Council have held detailed and regular discussions with the Mela Board for several months and have sought assurances on governance issues. The Council and CreativeScotland are longstanding supporters of the Edinburgh Mela and the cultural benefits the event brings. The Scottish Government have been fully appraised of matters relating to the Mela and are confident and supportive of the Council and Creative Scotland’s approach. We hope the Mela’s current challenges can be addressed.

Under the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, the Care Inspectorate has a statutory duty to improve the quality of care services. It does this by undertaking a variety of scrutiny and improvement activities, including inspections.

During an inspection, the care service is given the opportunity to provide all of the evidence required for the inspection team to carry out its evaluation. Upon completion of the draft inspection report, it is shared with the provider which is invited to comment on, and to identify, any factual inaccuracies. Any comments or queries the provider may have are then carefully considered by the Care Inspectorate before a final report is published.

This process allows both parties an opportunity to raise any concerns within the inspection report in advance of publication. It does not however extend to the grade awarded as to do so could undermine the inspection process and ultimately the inspectorate’s statutory requirement to evaluate the effectiveness of the provision of care services under inspection.

The Care Inspectorate plans to review and refine the current scrutiny model during 2017-2018 to support the implementation of the forthcoming National Health and Social Care Standards. This review will include a focus upon the continuous improvement of engagement and dialogue with service providers.

The Scottish Public Bodies Ombudsman (SPSO) reports directly to the Scottish Parliament therefore this is not a matter for the Scottish Government. The member might wish to write to the SPSO directly on this issue.