Seòmar agus comataidhean

Graduation is an important moment in a student’s life and a chance to celebrate their achievements and hard work paying off. As autonomous institutions, it is for each university to decide its own policy on graduation fees.

The Scottish Government provided emergency funding of £5m earlier this year to support students across further and higher education, and brought forward access of £11.4m of Higher Education Discretionary Funds. Students facing hardship should apply for discretionary funds administered by their university.

Institutions are best placed to consider the financial position of individual students, taking into account their overall income and expenditure, to decide who, based on need, should receive support from the Discretionary Fund.

Where Health Boards have concerns about cannot attend (CNA) and do not attend (DNA) rates, patients are being contacted and encouraged to attend an appointment when one is offered. Patients are being risk stratified on a continual basis ensuring that those with sight-threatening conditions are prioritised. Health Boards also have strict Health and Safety and infection control measures in place to support patient pathways.

The development of a masterplan for the Cairngorm Estate, of which the funicular railway is an important asset, aims to develop an agreed vision and strategies to support the sustainability of the resort. Alongside this, HIE is reviewing operating and governance models for the Estate and will align this work with the outcome of the masterplan. In the meantime, Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Limited (CMSL) continues to work on managing and reducing costs and improving income where possible. HIE is monitoring this and working closely with CMSL on financial matters.

The Cairngorm Mountain Full Business Case concluded that reinstatement of the funicular is more cost-effective and will provide a service that is less prone to severe weather related disruption than replacement with a gondola service. The funicular will attract greater visitor numbers and therefore have greater local economic impact.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-31712 on 10 September 2020. 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 .

The lease for the Louisa Jordan currently runs until the end of April 2021. If it is necessary to do so, we will negotiate an extension to the lease if the facility is still needed to support our pandemic response. In the meantime we are, perfectly sensibly, putting in place arrangements to allow the facility to be decommissioned when it is eventually no longer needed.

Scottish Government held regular discussions with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) during the development of the Cairngorm Mountain Full Business Case which considered a range of options, including removal of the funicular and replacement with a gondola. Scottish Government was represented at meetings of HIE’s Board and its Risk and Assurance Committee meetings, at which Cairngorm was regularly discussed, as well as meetings of the Board’s sub-group on Cairngorm.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise is confident that, together with a robust care, maintenance and replacement programme, the reinstatement works now underway will secure use of the funicular for many years.

The Scottish Government has no plans to continue using Protect Scotland beyond the current pandemic. Protect Scotland relies on the Google/Apple' Exposure Notification System (ENS) to work. Access to this ENS technology has only been granted for use during the Covid-19 pandemic and will be disabled on a regional basis when it is no longer needed.

As part of the Digital response to the pandemic we will publish a refreshed Digital Health & Care Strategy in 2021. This will build on some of the progress and learning we have seen this year, including on the use of Protect Scotland.

The usage figures for the NHS Louisa Jordan:

September - 2612 attendees

October - 2916 attendees

November to date (19 November) – 2600 attendees