Chamber and committees

The Scottish National Investment Bank published its Annual Accounts ( Annual Report and Accounts 2023 | Scottish National Investment Bank (thebank.scot) ) on 27 September 2023 and disclosed a loss before tax of £20.1 million.

Page 128 shows the Statement of Comprehensive Income and identifies the main driver for the loss was the ‘Net unrealised (losses) on revaluation of investments’. The revaluation is on a ‘fair value’ basis and considers how much the investments are currently worth – it is not a verdict on the long-term prospects of the investments.

The Bank was set up less than three years ago and is expected to address market failure and compliment, not compete, with other investors. In the Bank’s early years, as the portfolio is being built, unrealised gains and losses are expected. As stated in the Annual Report and Accounts, the current position is in line with industry and development finance expectations.

We take the threat from fraud very seriously and, through the NHS counter-fraud standards, continue to work with NHS Boards to combat fraud against our NHS to ensure that health funding is used where it is needed most – treating patients.

Procurement by NHS Boards is administered independently of Scottish Ministers and it is for NHS Boards to ensure that tendering exercises are in accordance with relevant rules and guidance to ensure that all bidders are treated appropriately and best use of public funds.

My previous reply to question S6W-21311 set out that home exchanges are within scope of short-term let licensing legislation. This is because the host is benefitting from exchanging their accommodation, whether this is by gaining 'points' for letting their accommodation that they can save up and use to secure holiday accommodation for themselves at a future time or through a reciprocal exchange of accommodation with another host (that may or may not be simultaneous). Further explanatory information about the inclusion of 'benefits in kind' as part of commercial consideration is set out in the Policy Note published alongside The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 (legislation.gov.uk) .

Where an individual has asked another individual to house or pet-sit and the arrangement does not involve payment for the accommodation or a benefit in kind, this is an ‘informal arrangement’ between individuals and is out of scope of short-term let licensing.

Where the host is offering the accommodation for the principal purpose of facilitating the provision of work or services by the guest, this is also exempt from the requirement for a short-term let licence.

Scottish Government will be releasing information on outcomes, achievements and costs associated with this trip before the end of the year. This will include the information you have requested.

Scottish Ministers' stated objective remains to return Glasgow Prestwick Airport to private ownership when the time and circumstances are right to do so and when a sale will provide the best possible return on our investment in this strategic asset.

Glasgow Prestwick Airport is not being marketed proactively for sale currently.

I wrote to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on 14 September 2023, providing details of an Expression of Interest in purchasing Glasgow Prestwick Airport that would not be taken forward.

The Scottish Government has not spent any money advertising the sale of Prestwick Airport. Previous purchase opportunities were promoted through press releases and notices published on the Official Journal of the European Union and Public Contracts Scotland. This did not incur a cost.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21589 on 5 October 2023, which contains data from Public Health Scotland on the number of inpatient and day case admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of dog attack (bite or strike) was recorded, from 2010 to 2022, in Scotland. Public Health Scotland do not collect that data broken down by dog breed type.

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 Scottish Government strongly condemns hoax calls to our emergency services. We continue to fully support the action taken by the Scottish Ambulance Service to report malicious or nuisance callers, when appropriate, to the police who will investigate and act accordingly.

A co-ordinated approach is needed from all services including local councils, support services and the statutory emergency services to work to reduce these calls.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for protecting Scotland’s water environment.

On Monday 11 September, SEPA responded to reports it received of large dead fish along a section of the River Spey. SEPA has conducted a range of additional water quality and ecology monitoring of the River Spey along with investigating local regulated activities. However, no water quality issues have been identified, no impact on other aquatic species and smaller fish has been observed, and the cause of the incident has not yet been identified. This would not be expected from a major pollution incident where there would be mortalities in all aquatic species and fish populations.

A multi-agency group has met in response to the incident to consider all potential causes of the incident. SEPA is continuing to work closely with partners, including the Fish Health Inspectorate who lead on fish mortalities. The group is assessing all reports in an effort to identify any possible factors responsible for the fish mortalities.

NHS Grampian and Moray Council are also part of the group providing support on human health aspects. Members of the public who feel acutely unwell after being in contact with the river are being advised to seek medical advice.

We take reports of this kind very seriously and encourage anyone who finds dead fish on or near any watercourse to contact SEPA via our Pollution Hotline 0800 80 70 60 or online at www.sepa.org.uk/report .

(a) Data provided by National Records of Scotland confirms that there have been three deaths in Scotland since 2010 where the underlying cause of death is being ‘bitten or struck by dog’.

(b) The information requested on the number of non-fatal dog attacks on humans is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. However the following table provided by Public Health Scotland shows the number of inpatient and day case admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of dog attack (bite or strike) was recorded, from 2010 to 2022, in Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises that being physically active is one of the very best things we can do for our physical and mental wellbeing.

It is an effective treatment in the management and prevention of many long-term conditions and reduces the risk of overall mortality. Strong evidence shows that even small increases in activity can have benefits to our health. Evidence also shows that well-informed conversations with healthcare professionals can help to encourage people to be more active. Referral by a health care professional to opportunities to participate in physical activity and sport is a recognised structured approach to health improvement and is an important strand in our overall approach.

Our funding for sport is founded on a recognition of the important role which participation plays in supporting our health and wellbeing. The Golf on Prescription initiative is one amongst a wide range of such referral programmes across the country which involve different sports as well as activities such as walking, jogging, dance and many others. We encourage sports governing bodies as well as local leisure service providers to engage with Health Boards to explore the potential for referral programmes and we are aware of many successful initiatives.

Public Health Scotland published new Physical Activity Referral Standards in February 2022 to provide guidance which aims to reduce variability, enhance the quality of services and build further evidence of what works in relation to such initiatives. This includes the need for a focus on engaging with and delivering services to excluded, marginalised, or otherwise vulnerable population groups. Services therefore must be flexible to ensure that they are able to accommodate issues relating to equality and diversity in local populations which might otherwise act as barriers to participation.