Chamber and committees

As I said in my answer to S5W-10420, it is intended that the South of Scotland Enterprise Agency will be an executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) with a statutory board. Appointments will therefore be made via a process regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland and supported by the Scottish Government’s Public Appointments Team. Whilst appointments cannot be made until legislation has passed stage one of its parliamentary process, our aim is to have a Chair in place before the Agency comes into effect. The process to appoint board members to the new public body will follow the code of practice set out by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland. The criteria for appointing board members will be determined by the selection panel and agreed with Ministers prior to the appointments being publicised. The primary legislation which is required to create a public body will set out a minimum and maximum number of board members required. The selection panel and Ministers will then agree how many board members should be appointed during the first appointment round.

In advance, we want to ensure that the South of Scotland benefits from a new approach and are working with stakeholders and the Implementation Board, established to drive forward early elements of the review, to develop the interim arrangements which we intend to put in place later this year.

Lochside Dental Clinic is a Public Dental Service (PDS) facility. The main role of the PDS is to provide NHS dental services for people with complex care needs and those who are referred by high street dentists for specific treatment.

In view of the increasing numbers of 'high-street' dentists providing NHS GDS in the area, it is appropriate for the Board to consider how to deliver NHS GDS services to people in need of routine dental care. We understand there are 9 practices within the Dumfries (Nithsdale Locality) area accepting NHS Patients.

There will be no change in the type of NHS care service available to a patient previously seen by the PDS and now being treated by a 'high-street' dentist.

The Scottish Government recognises the important role that energy storage technologies will play in Scotland’s transition to a low carbon future.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise have a number of initiatives to support the promotion of smart, flexible energy systems such as energy storage. These include the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme, Scottish Enterprise's Research and Development grant programme, SMART: SCOTLAND and the CAN DO Innovation Challenge Fund. Funds from these schemes are available to eligible projects right across Scotland, including in the South of Scotland parliamentary region. This is in addition to existing commercial development, such as the recently consented Glenmuckloch pumped storage hydro scheme (400mw) which was consented in 2016.

A smarter model of local energy provision - where companies and communities are encouraged to develop local solutions to meet local needs and find innovative ways of generating, distributing and storing energy - is a key theme of the Scottish Government's draft Energy Strategy.

As part of planning for introduction of the new FIT test an Implementation Board, with representation from various organisations including NHS Boards, has been established. This group will oversee delivery of the changes and give careful consideration to any impact from the changes on the current bowel screening programme or NHS Boards.

The test has the potential to lead to an increase of around 760 colonoscopies per year. NHS Boards are aware of the projected increase and are planning for the change.

To ensure professionals are aware of the introduction of FIT, the NHS Health Scotland/ bowel screening programme professional briefing toolkit will be updated to reflect the new test. This will be distributed to a wide range of stakeholders including Screening Board Co-ordinators, NHS 24 Call Handlers, Call Recall Offices, Primary care leads, Primary care cancer leads, GP Practice Managers, Clinical Directors and Clinicians. It will also be uploaded to the NHS Health Scotland’s website.

NHS Health Scotland, has also developed a suite of national information materials to provide high quality information to the public to support the introduction of this new screening test. The information materials will be available in a range of accessible formats and languages to improve reach to those most at risk of poor health outcomes. Screening information will also be available on NHS Inform.

Discussions about the budget to support the new South of Scotland Enterprise Agency will continue as part of the implementation stage. We will ensure that investment and budgets to support economic growth in the south of Scotland are strongly aligned to deliver maximum impact. Consideration of the funding requirements for the new agency will be undertaken alongside all other budget requirements across the Scottish Government as part of the Draft Budget process.

In line with the commitment given in the Scottish Government’s Enterprise and Skills Review, the Government intends to establish a new public body, the South of Scotland Enterprise Agency. We are planning for the new agency to become effective from 1 April 2020 and decisions on the bill timetable will be taken in the context of the Government’s overall legislative programme. In advance, we want to ensure that the South of Scotland benefits from a new approach and are working with stakeholders to put interim arrangements into place.

Business engagement is vital to the success of the new agency and we expect organisations such as Chambers of Commerce to play an active part in discussions to shape it. Our engagement with businesses throughout Phase 2 of the Enterprise and Skills Review demonstrated their support for the proposed agency and the opportunity it can bring for the south of Scotland. Going forward, we will continue to engage with Chambers of Commerce to ensure business perspectives are taken into account.

It is intended that the South of Scotland Enterprise Agency will be an executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) with a statutory board. Appointments will therefore be made via a process regulated by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland and supported by the Scottish Government’s Public Appointments Team. Whilst appointments cannot be made until legislation has passed stage one of its parliamentary process, our aim is to have a Chair in place before the Agency comes into effect.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-10420 on 9 August 2017. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.