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The financial position of Charteris is not relevant to the overall effectiveness of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s IT Systems. The reason for this is that this company is just one of a number of IT service providers that are engaged to support a range of systems (alongside permanent internal ICT professionals in Greater Glasgow and Clyde). In light of recommendations from the review of the recent incident, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has put in place additional arrangements (including commercial contracts) that reduces its dependency on Charteris.

The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (as amended) confers a duty to participate in community planning on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), and sets out at Section 41J(2)(c) that this duty must be delegated to the designated Local Senior Officer for each local authority area.

Section 41E of the Act sets out the content and process for preparing local fire and rescue plans. Local plans for each of Scotland’s 32 local authorities are currently open for public consultation and can be accessed through the SFRS website .

In addition, the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2013 sets out priorities and objectives for SFRS to have regard to in the carrying out of its functions, as detailed in Section 40 of the Act. The Fire Framework has a strong focus on the strengthened connection between SFRS and local communities.

Property Estate - Strategic Intent is a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) paper which was considered at its board meeting on 26 September 2013. Decisions in relation to the SFRS’s property estate requirements for specified support functions are for the SFRS board. The minutes of the board meeting recording the decisions made can be found on the SFRS website.

The Scottish Government has regular meetings with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). Decisions on the allocation of its resources, including the number and location of control rooms, is a matter for the SFRS board.

Decisions on the allocation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) resources, including the number and location of control rooms, are matters for the SFRS board.

Scottish Ministers set out priorities and objectives for SFRS to have regard to in the carrying out of its functions, in the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland, as detailed in Section 40 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (as amended). In addition, Scottish Ministers have powers to direct SFRS, as detailed in section 42a of the Act.

My letter to the chair of NHS Highland of 10 September 2013 recorded my agreement with a view expressed at the NHS Highland Area Clinical Forum that there was a need for a rural recruitment strategy. As the letter also recorded, this followed discussions with the Forum about sustaining services in NHS Highland and with associated recruitment and retention challenges.

The Scottish Government is working closely with NHS boards to ensure that this vision becomes a reality for all communities, including remote and rural communities, so that everyone in Scotland receives safe, consistent, reliable and sustainable health care services, delivered to the highest standards.

In addition, we have given NHS Highland extra funding to develop and test a range of innovative ways of delivering healthcare in rural areas. On 28 January 2013 I announced that a pilot scheme by NHS Highland to develop models of healthcare delivery suitable for remote and rural areas was to be set up. The scheme, subsequently launched on 28 August 2013 in Campbeltown by the Minister for Public Health, is providing £1.5 million covering the three years 2013-14 – 2015-16 to test new ways of working and explore approaches to building sustainable health and care services. The scheme aims to develop and test new models of healthcare which contribute to a sustainable rural health care system, and to find ways to attract more GPs to rural areas.

With regard to recruitment and retention challenges across NHS Scotland, Everyone Matters, the 2020 Workforce Vision for NHS Scotland, identifies a number of areas for developing a more sustainable workforce, including supporting new and emerging service delivery models; ensuring high quality regional and local workforce data; and developing a Scottish investment plan to set the strategic direction for investing in the healthcare workforce now and in the future.

The Scottish Government employs a Chief Health Professions Officer (CHPO) who provides policy and professional advice on all allied health professions, including speech and language therapy. The CHPO works closely with a network of national leads (two of whom are speech and language therapists), Allied Health Professions (AHP) Directors in NHS boards and with the Allied Health Professions Federation which represents all AHP professional bodies including the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Speech and language therapists work closely with individuals and their parents, families and carers where appropriate to ensure that the support, advice or intervention offered is appropriate to the needs of the individual, this can include supporting the individual to self-manage.

The Scottish Government’s 20:20 Workforce Vision: Everyone Matters recognises the key role the workforce will play in responding to the challenges that NHS Scotland is facing, however it is for NHS boards to assess and plan to meet the needs of their local population, including planning for the appropriate workforce to be in place.

In addition, the Chief Health Professions Officer commissioned NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to undertake a workforce review to scope workforce intelligence about a number of allied health professions (AHP). Initial reports covering speech and language therapy and occupational therapy have now been completed and will shortly be presented to the AHP strategic workforce group.

A system can be designed and implemented in a manner deemed fit for purpose and resilient, and yet still suffer from an unforeseen incident.