Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is currently developing options to deliver on the conclusions of the Low Vision Services Review. As part of this work Scottish Government officials will meet with colleagues from the Welsh national low vision service (Low Vision Service Wales) on 15 February 2019 to understand how that service has successfully delivered a safe and high quality national service for visually impaired people.

The Scottish Government continues to support the Community Eyecare Services Review recommendation for dispensing opticians, who are key members of the community eyecare services workforce, to be nationally listed for the provision of some NHS eyecare services. The Government is currently exploring all options to find the most effective way of delivering this.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone working in our tourism sector has the skills to provide a high-quality and memorable experience for each one of our many visitors, including those who do not speak English as a first language. We have not, as yet, had any specific discussions with consulates on this issue. Skills Development Scotland and the Centre for Work Based Learning are currently conducting research to identify skills gaps across the sector, including foreign language skills. This research will help inform the work of our Tourism Skills Group and will complement the work being undertaken in line with Skills Development Scotland’s Tourism Skills Investment Plan.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of language skills to the tourism sector, particularly in light of the high proportion of European and other international staff employed and the potential impact of Brexit on those people and skills. It engages regularly with its agencies and the sector on skills issues, including language skills, through the Tourism Skills Group, overseen by Skills Development Scotland. The Scottish Tour Guides Association is a member of the Group.

The Scottish Government announced a wide package of measures in the budget to support town centres including maintaining a competitive business rates package which caps the increase in rate poundage below inflation; ensures that 90% of properties in Scotland pay a lower poundage than other parts of the UK; and supports small businesses through the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) which lifts small businesses out of rates altogether. Over 1,100 businesses in Inverclyde received up to 100% rates relief through the SBBS this year, an increase of more than 500 businesses over the last 10 years.

The Scottish Government also announced a new £50m Town Centre Fund to drive local economic activity and support town centres to become more thriving and sustainable places. This fund will enable local authorities to stimulate and support a wide range of investments which encourage town centres to diversify and flourish. The Scottish Government will work in partnership with COSLA and local authorities to deliver this fund including developing proposals on how this fund will be distributed and allocated.

The Draft Budget announcement proposes an increase of £70 million to the funding available for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in 2019-20 - bringing the total to £826 million. These additional funds will help support partners to meet the Scottish Government’s ambitious target to deliver at least 50,000 affordable homes across Scotland by 2021 by enabling the delivery of more social and affordable homes, including in the Inverclyde local authority area which covers the Greenock and Inverclyde constituency.

This increase builds on the longer-term certainty the Scottish Government has already given councils and housing associations by allocating resource planning assumptions to March 2021. Over this and the next two years to 2021 over £30 million will be made available to the Inverclyde local authority area to deliver affordable housing.

As part of their bid to operate the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services, CalMac Ferries Ltd made a number of commitments covering a wide range of activities during the lifetime of the contract. By the end of contract year 1 the company reported that 282 (82%) of these commitments as being completed or were track to be completed by the planned dates, of this number around 109 are recurring. All of CalMac’s commitments are reviewed on a regular basis by Transport Scotland and CalMac.

The Gourock Dunoon Ferry Service tender was cancelled today. This decision follows careful consideration of Audit Scotland’s Report on Transport Scotland’s Ferry Services, published on 19 October 2017, which recommended that Transport Scotland should consider the value for money of providing financial support for the route. The decision also reflects recent policy developments aimed at the increased use of public transport, the promotion of active travel and a reduction in vehicle emissions.

Responsibility for the future provision of the ferry service will now transfer to CalMac Ferries Limited with effect from 21 January 2019, when the current contract with Argyll Ferries Limited comes to an end. Thereafter, CalMac will provide a passenger-only service under the terms of the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract. This will not include the transport of vehicles, in line with the State aid rules and the European Commission’s Decision of 28 October 2009 on Subsidies to CalMac and NorthLink for maritime transport services in Scotland.

Following the transfer of responsibility to CalMac, further consideration will be given to future vessel and service requirements. Consideration will also be given to improved harbour-side facilities for passengers in future. We will also work with Argyll and Bute Council and Inverclyde Council to identify opportunities to develop the ferry service for active travel purposes, to encourage more foot and cycle traffic to the benefit of the local areas. Discussions will also be held with key stakeholders on the introduction of electric vehicle hubs at both ferry terminals. All this will ensure that the ferry service is best placed to deliver a safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable passenger service into the future.

I will write to key stakeholders later today explaining the reasons for this decision and our plans for the future provision of a passenger-only ferry service on the town-centre harbour route.

Both Ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet with the leadership of NHS Boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde. I last met with the Chief Executive of NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde on 19 September.

The health and education of our young people is a top priority for the Scottish Government. We work very closely across Government departments, and with our partners in education and health delivery to ensure that learning meets the needs of children and young people.

Under Curriculum for Excellence, education authorities and individual schools have the flexibility to decide whether they wish to provide defibrillators and cardiopulmonary resuscitation learning opportunities. I am aware that a number of local authorities have already committed to championing and promoting the learning of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in their schools.