Chamber and committees

Within the wider policies set out by the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland is expected to deliver services that provide high-quality care that is safe, effective, accessible and person centred. It is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for service delivery, including antenatal classes, to meet the needs of their local population and service users.

Our expectation is that NHS antenatal classes will include information for parents on bonding with their baby, which supports the mental health of both parents and babies. The precise content of antenatal classes is likely to vary between NHS Boards and antenatal class groups, to better respond to the particular needs of local service users.

Midwives discuss mental health and general wellbeing with all women during antenatal and postnatal care appointments, ensuring that all women have access to advice and support throughout their pregnancy journey. These discussions may include the management of pre-existing mental health issues; the identification and management of emergent mental health issues during the antenatal and/ or immediate postnatal period, and possible postnatal changes which women may experience, such as “baby blues”. Following birth, these conversations continue with families during each contact with Health Visitors and Family Nurses.

All pregnant women are also provided with a copy of Ready, Steady, Baby! , a guide to pregnancy, birth and early parenthood up to one year, as part of their routine antenatal care. This includes information on mental health and wellbeing to help provide information for families, as well as signposting to further sources of support. The information in Ready, Steady, Baby! is available in translation and alternative formats, including an Easy Read resource, to ensure the information is accessible for women and families across Scotland.

Sections 9 and 10 of the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018 are not in force because the requisite court rules are not in place. Civil court rules govern the procedure to be followed in cases heard in the Court of Session and in civil cases in the sheriff courts to ensure a fair, efficient, and accessible legal system in Scotland.

Commencing legislative provisions without court rules in place would be irresponsible - potentially creating problems for court users and placing added pressures on our court system.

Responsibility for drafting court rules lies with the Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC), a statutory body chaired by the Lord President. The Council prepares an annual report on its activities along with an annual plan setting out its objectives and priorities each year and lays a copy before the Scottish Parliament. The rules required for sections 9 and 10 are currently in the SCJC work plan and are listed as a priority.

Implementing emergency measures to allow the court system to function during the pandemic and the subsequent work to manage recovery has had a significant impact on the delivery of the Council’s business, and its available resources. However, the SCJC have advised that drafting of the new rules is progressing well.

Scottish Government officials are continuing to engage with the SCJC and stand ready to commence the remaining sections of the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Act 2018 as soon as court rules are finalised.

The Scottish Government consulted on proposals to licence animal care services, including commercial dog walking services from 4 July 2023 to 26 September 2023. The analysis of responses to this consultation was published on 16 February 2024 and is available at Licensing of activities involving animals: consultation response analysis - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Consideration of the views expressed in response to the consultation is ongoing. The Scottish Government will confirm its proposed next steps, including how it intends to proceed in respect to commercial dog walking activities, in due course.

We are clear in our expectations that all women, at all times, receive high-quality and person-centred maternity care tailored to their needs, with quality and safety for mothers and babies central to decision-making. To understand the quality and safety of maternity care and identify where improvement should be made, we are closely following data published by Public Health Scotland (PHS). Occurrences of third- and fourth-degree perineal tears (also referred to as obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI)), a leading cause of faecal incontinence following childbirth are recorded by PHS as part of its Maternity Inpatient and Day Case - Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR02) dataset and can be viewed via its Scottish Pregnancy, Births and Neonatal Dashboard .

We are also aware of the research and evidence endorsed by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives on obstetric anal sphincter injury and recognise that further work is required to improve care for women who experience incontinence including follow-up care and specialist care. Obstetric anal sphincter injury is on the agenda at various meetings bringing together senior leaders in Scotland’s maternity care.

The Scottish Government carefully considered a wide range of issues and concerns as part of the recently concluded review into the arrangements for the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS). Decisions on this took account of an intention to provide for consistency of treatment for taxpayers in various circumstances, and operational considerations.

Following the review, The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Order 2024 will, if approved by the Scottish Parliament, introduce a number of legislative changes to the arrangements in place for the ADS. There are no plans to introduce further reliefs or exemptions at this time, including in circumstances where a home is purchase for a disabled relative.

The Scottish Government will continue to keep the arrangements for LBTT under review.

Officials intend to present a paper to the Scottish Executive Nurse Directors (SEND) outlining the results of the information gathering exercise, with a view to providing an update on the outcomes of the group's consideration of the paper by the summer.

The Scottish Government is committed to continuous improvement in maternity safety across Scotland, in partnership with NHS Boards and clinicians and service users, to deliver the best and safest person-centred care for mothers and babies. We are aware of the evidence around implementing care which aims to reduce risk of developing stress incontinence. We regularly facilitate meetings and events bringing together senior leaders in maternity services to discuss evidence aimed at improving services and provide learning opportunities.

All pregnant women are also provided with a copy of Ready, Steady, Baby! , a guide to pregnancy, birth and early parenthood up to one year, by their midwife as part of their routine antenatal care. Ready, Steady, Baby! includes information on and signposting to additional materials regarding stress incontinence and pelvic floor muscle exercise for women, both during pregnancy and following birth, which can help to reduce the risk of stress incontinence following childbirth.

Information on pelvic health is also available on the Women’s Health Platform on NHS Inform. This includes information on urinary incontinence in women and is publicly available to both service users and healthcare professionals.

£648,000.

At the time of its announcement we indicated that the Mesh Fund would have an upper ceiling of £1 million, we have therefore ensured that the remainder of those funds have been invested in other mesh-related initiatives, including the Reimbursement Scheme, in line with calls made in the mesh campaigners’ Charter.

At the 2024-25 Scottish Budget, the Scottish Government announced that it will work with our partners in COSLA and local government, and other stakeholders, during 2024-25 to examine how further policy measures – regulatory and fiscal – can support existing policies and interventions to improve a wide range of land management outcomes, including the restoration of peatlands and the creation of more woodlands. This will also include consideration of a proposal for a Carbon Emissions Land Tax, as has been suggested by the John Muir Trust.

The Scottish Government will provide an update on its progress against this commitment before the end of the 2024-25 financial year.

In December 2021, our Response to Scotland’s Climate Assembly: Recommendations for Action included the commitment to investigate opportunities for whole life emission reporting.

Following this commitment we engaged with Zero Waste Scotland and some of the UK’s leading embodied carbon experts to scope research which produced the report Regulating Embodied Carbon in Scotland’s Buildings .

National Planning Framework 4 makes clear that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a cross-cutting outcome of development and includes policy that requires a minimisation of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and the use of materials with the lowest forms of embodied emissions, such as recycled and natural construction materials.

We are currently engaging with key organisations and UK counterparts to understand the viability of such action and benefit that can be derived from a requirement to report on the broader environmental impact of new development, including the assertion that this could be addressed through building regulations.