Chamber and committees

Each local authority is responsible for determining the tendering process they use for bus services. The Accounts Commission are the custodians of Best Value and Audit Scotland is responsible for carrying out best value audits of local authorities. Scottish Councils are autonomous bodies, independent of central government and as long as they act legally the Scottish Government would not become involved.

The Transport Bill, which we want to introduce during the current Parliament, will aim to strengthen the range of options available to local authorities to improve bus services in their areas, such as through better partnership working with bus operators, setting up their own bus operations or introducing local franchises, in which operators would compete for the right to operate services under contract. These options will be sufficiently flexible to be customised to meet the needs of both rural and urban areas. We will consult on these measures.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07773 on 16 March 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

Information on the number of specialist nurses who are responsible for the delivery of cancer care and urology oncology is published by ISD Scotland and is available at the following link:-

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Workforce/Publications/2016-12-06/Clinical_Nurse_Specialists_S2016.xls

The Scottish Government has committed to invest an extra £2.5 million of recurring funding in specialist nursing and care from 2015-16 onwards.

NHSScotland Boards are expected to ensure that patients with specialist conditions have appropriate access to a range of professionals, including specialist nurses, to ensure optimum management of their condition.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-07773 on 16 March 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

In addition, the Scottish Government has committed to invest an extra £2.5 million recurring funding in specialist nursing and care from 2015-16 onwards.

We expect that anyone who living with or after cancer has access to the services appropriate to their clinical needs. The Scottish Government’s cancer strategy ‘Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action’ and the accompanying £100 million investment over the coming years serve as a blueprint for the future of cancer services in Scotland, improving the prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and aftercare for people who may be suspected to have, or who have a confirmed diagnosis of cancer of any type.

It is the responsibility of NHS to plan and provide services to meet the needs of their resident populations, in line with relevant national strategies/frameworks, within their annual funding allocations. To assist health Boards in making these decisions, plans are in place to introduce a national and regional workforce planning system across the NHS in Scotland to help deliver the vision set out in the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan, the National Clinical Strategy and the Cancer Strategy.

The Scottish Government’s Ferries Plan 2013-2022, published in December 2012, was clear that introducing Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) at that time or in the next few years would mean an increase on a range of available fares. Therefore the Ferries Plan stated that the intention was to phase in RET to the Northern Isles over a much longer time-frame, beyond the term of the 2011-2016 Parliament.

This Government was elected in 2016 with a clear manifesto commitment to take action to reduce ferry fares to the Northern Isles.

Shortly after taking up post I visited Orkney and Shetland and met with elected members, local authorities and other stakeholders to hear their views. I also commissioned a public consultation which took place at the end of 2016.

Consideration is currently being given to the views expressed as part of that consultation. Decisions on future fare levels will be taken in due course.

In the meantime ferry fares to the Northern Isles were frozen for 2017, the second consecutive year that prices have been kept on hold.

Following a commitment made in the Ferries Plan 2013-2022, Transport Scotland, under guidance of a working group of key stakeholders, is currently conducting a comprehensive review of ferry freight fares. The aim of the review is to develop an overarching policy for freight fares across Scotland’s entire ferry network, including the Northern Isles Ferry Services.

A substantial amount of work has taken place and a potential preferred option for setting freight fares has now been identified. I have asked Transport Scotland officials to undertake further detailed analysis in order to fully understand the impact of implementing this option.

We have always been clear that the exact timing of the introduction of a new freight fares structure will be decided only after careful consideration of all relevant factors. It is important that this work is done properly and thoroughly. I hope to be in a position to provide more information on timing following the conclusion of the detailed analysis of the preferred option.

The term "in house operator" is a reference to a “controlled person” within the meaning of regulation 13 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

The review will produce for publication a report on its recommendations for the future of ferry procurement in Scotland, together with relevant supporting information. Commercially sensitive material and detailed legal advice will not be shared, as per usual precedents.