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Since October 2022, Scottish Government has funded the third sector organisation RNID to deliver its ‘Near You’ scheme in partnership with the NHS. The service provides hearing aid maintenance and support, access to information and advice as well as early detection and prevention. The scheme is currently operational across 5 hub areas – Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scottish Borders, Shetland, Lothians and Fife and is facilitated by locally recruited staff and trained volunteers.

Partnerships provide domiciliary care in care homes as well as forging links with other third sector organisations to maximise attendance and support provided. Regular monitoring of this service is undertaken to assess demand and savings including in clinical hours and patient travel.

Requests for staff training are approved by senior management based on business need and value for money. Whilst total expenditure on staff training is recorded, we do not have a breakdown of spend only related to staff involved with social media management.

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 provides the legislative framework for resilience activity in Scotland.

Category 1 responders, including Local Authorities, are obliged under the Act to maintain arrangements to warn the public, and to provide information and advice to the public, if an emergency is likely to occur or has occurred. This includes emergencies such as severe weather and wildfires.

In addition, the Scottish Government has a longstanding commitment to providing the public with advice on preparing for and responding to a range of emergencies through its Ready Scotland channels.

The Ready Scotland website (ready.scot) provides information on how the public can prepare their home, their family and their businesses for severe weather and other emergencies. It also provides information on how to respond, keep safe, and help others in the community when emergencies do occur.

When areas are at risk from severe weather or severe wildfires, the Scottish Government, responder organisations and other resilience partners all work closely to share public safety advice through a variety of channels.

I wrote to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on 25 June 2024 to confirm that a market testing exercise for Glasgow Prestwick Airport was underway. Scottish Ministers’ longstanding position is that the airport should be returned to the private sector at the appropriate time and opportunity. This must be to an organisation with the commitment and capability to operate businesses directly relevant to GPA.

Any decision to sell GPA must represent value for money for taxpayers and be informed by what is right for the long-term success of the business and its contribution to the local and Scottish economy.

The process is ongoing and I will update Parliament when a significant development has been made.

Funding for Community Eyecare (formerly General Ophthalmic Services) is published annually in the Scottish Budget and supports the expansion of community optometry services. Figures for the last five years, including annual movements are summarised in the following table.

The Scottish Wildfire Forum, which is chaired by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, includes Local Authorities, Regional Resilience Partnerships and other Agencies as members to assess wildfire risks and consider what mitigating actions might be taken.

The aim of the forum is to develop and communicate strategic wildfire protection and prevention initiatives to stakeholders and the wider community. Alongside the Forum, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service continue to work closely with land managers and local communities prevent wildfires occurring. Scottish Forestry also actively seeks to promote awareness of wildfire management practice through working with partners on the Forum.

Scottish Forestry also led the 2023 review of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) (2023) - the Government’s reference standard for sustainable forest management. The UKFS Practice Guide Building Wildfire Resilience into Forest Management Planning (Practice Guide 22) focusses on reducing the likelihood of wildfires occurring, reducing the severity of damage and impacts on people and the environment if they do occur, and assisting with fire suppression activities.

The Scottish Wildfire Information Note supports forest owners, planners, and managers in Scotland to implement Practice Guide 22 in a Scottish context, to understand the wildfire risk to the forests they manage, and how to reduce this risk through good practice in forest design and planning.

Work is also ongoing within the National Parks to address the risk and impact of wildfires. Following a consultation the Cairngorms Park Authority board agreed on in June 2024 to develop a seasonal fire management byelaw, which would last from 1 April to 30 September each year to reduce the risk of ignition of wildfires.

Both the CNPA and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) also engage with key stakeholders through Visit Scotland’s Visitor Management Strategy Group Visitor Management: Scotland's Plan & Objectives | VisitScotland.org to develop messaging around visitor related fires.

The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 introduced new legislation including a new licensing scheme which will require that all practitioners of muirburn need to have completed appropriate training. Poorly managed muirburn can increase the risk of uncontrolled wildfire. However, undertaken properly, muirburn can be an important tool in managing fuel loads and so reducing the risk and intensity of wildfires. NatureScot, who are implementing these new measures, are currently consulting with relevant stakeholders, including land management organisations.

With regards to funding, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s (SFRS) wildfire strategy was launched in 2023 and is supported by a planned spend of around £1.6 million over the course of three years. The strategy considers the increased risk of wildfire and changing climate in Scotland; the latest developments in wildfire management, training, and operational procedures; and the advances in technology that have been made in PPE and equipment. The Scottish Government does not hold details of relevant spending by the CNPA, LLTNPA, or local authorities.

We will continue to expand NHS Pharmacy First Scotland so that a wider range of health conditions are covered. This will further transfer the care of common clinical conditions to community pharmacy, removing the need for visits to GPs, Out of Hours services or Emergency Departments for everyday self-limiting conditions. In doing so, we will consult NHS24 and health boards to identify the priority conditions the service could cover in all community pharmacies in Scotland.

Through the Pharmacy First Plus element of the service, pharmacists who are qualified independent prescribers (IPs) can already go a step further than standard Pharmacy First, going beyond the approved list of products and the Patient Group Directions (PGDs) in place, to prescribe a wider range of products in response to patients' symptoms and conditions.

I wrote to the Economy and Fair Work Committee on 25 June 2024 to confirm that a market testing exercise for Glasgow Prestwick Airport was underway. Scottish Ministers’ longstanding position is that the airport should be returned to the private sector at the appropriate time and opportunity. This must be to an organisation with the commitment and capability to operate businesses directly relevant to GPA.

Any decision to sell GPA must represent value for money for taxpayers and be informed by what is right for the long-term success of the business and its contribution to the local and Scottish economy.

The process is ongoing and I will update Parliament when a significant development has been made.

The Scottish Government has plans to raise awareness about community optometry services, but is unable to take this forward at the present time due to financial constraints. In addition, the NHS Inform and Eyes. NHS.Scot websites have content relevant to the provision of NHS funded eye examinations in Scotland.

Myself and the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity have not met formally with Scottish Environment Link whilst the fishing industry were present as part of the discussion, since we were appointed to our roles in May 2024.