Homecoming Helpline For Volcanic Ash Disruption

19th April 2010

Scottish Government advice service for travellers and families went live today Tuesday 20th april 2010

The Scottish Government will launch a helpline tomorrow to offer advice to travellers and their families affected by the disruption to air travel caused by the volcanic ash cloud.

The service will be available to travellers stranded overseas, and to concerned relatives calling from this country and will complement the FCO helpline which will remain the main point of contact for travellers needing specific assistance while overseas.

The Scottish Government helpline will offer general advice that may be helpful to stranded travellers and their families, such as contact details for airlines and travel operators and a digest of the latest information issued by travel operators including any additional transport capacity that can help both in Scotland and the rest of the UK. The service will also provide general advice on related issues such as how relatives may transmit money to travellers abroad.

The helpline development comes immediately after the window of opportunity for flights announced this afternoon, beginning in airspace above Scotland, Northern Ireland, and parts of northern England from 7.00am on Tuesday morning.

First Minister Alex Salmond said:"It is vital that people who have been affected by the severe travel disruption have access to quick and relevant information about the various issues they may be facing as they or their relatives try to get back to Scotland.

"It is good news that we have a window of opportunity for flights from early on Tuesday morning in Scotland, and it is vital that we make maximum use of it - not least for people who need to get home - because we cannot know how long it will last.

"Our homecoming helpline will provide a first point of contact for people who have questions about their situation, or that of their relatives stranded abroad. It will point them to the right course of action and give them up to date information about the extra capacity being provided by rail, coach and ferry operators, and the developing air traffic situation."

Also today, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said she had been reassured that contingency arrangements were in place where required, to maintain essential medical services.

Ms Sturgeon said:"NHS Scotland has plans for dealing with emergencies and the island boards, in particular, have tried and tested contingency arrangements for dealing with disruption to air services.

"These boards are making full use of ferry services to maintain essential supplies such as blood and chemotherapy materials.

"Individual NHS Boards and the three main pharmacy wholesalers in Scotland have also confirmed that they have no concerns in relation to the availability of medicines as a result of the prohibition on flying. In the main, pharmaceuticals tend to be brought into the UK by sea.

"The impact on nursing and medical staff across the NHS is minimal and where staff have been stranded overseas, arrangements have been put in place to ensure that service delivery is not affected."

Alternative travel arrangements for visiting clinicians have been put in place to allow clinics to continue. This covers five scheduled specialist clinics in the Western Isles and an elective paediatric clinic in Shetland.

Meanwhile, the Air Ambulance Service, supported by the MoD and coastguard, continues to ensure that emergency missions are carried out despite the general flight restrictions in place.

The Helpline will went live at 9:00am (Tuesday 20th April). The number to call is 0800 027 0504 or from overseas +44 800 027 0504

The latest information on the volcanic ash situation is available here: www.scotland.gov.uk/volcanicash


Health Issues
Ongoing analysis of dust samples by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) demonstrates no risk at present to human health - health experts advise those with respiratory conditions, such as asthma, to keep medication to hand when outdoors.

Continuous environmental monitoring will be ongoing, using information from the network of 75 air monitoring sites and 25 radioactivity monitoring sites across Scotland.

Further information, including links to key agencies, is available on the Scottish Government website (http://www.scotland.gov.uk).

Further information on health advice is available on the Health Protection Scotland website: http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk

The Scottish Air Quality Database contains the most up-to-date continuous ambient monitoring information across Scotland. Members of the public can access this information at www.scottishairquality.co.uk. All concentrations have remained low at all monitoring sites across Scotland.

Other Issues
"The Scottish Government is making sure that extra capacity is provided on the road, rail and ferry networks across the country with additional rolling stock on rail services between Scotland and London and extra cross border bus services.

"We have also see expanded capacity on the ferry between Rosyth and Zeebrugge and we are actively investigating the possibility of an additional sailing to Scandinavia which can be deployed if required.

"Samples of rainwater collected yesterday will be analysed today but tests continue to show that dust from the volcanic ash cloud presents no risk at present to public health, agriculture or the wider environment, and latest monitoring by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) shows good air quality across Scotland.

"The Scottish Government has been in contact with all 17 local authorities whose schools returned from their Easter break today. It is a tribute to the contingency planning, hard work and efforts of staff, in both schools and headquarters that there have been no indications yet of any schools being unable to open as a result of the staff absences.

"The Scottish Government is also in close contact with the Scottish Qualifications Authority, given that National Examinations are due to begin on the 28th of April, and we know the SQA are working to ensure that any necessary contingency plans are in place so that no candidates are disadvantaged."