The meeting on the 21 September was an introductory meeting with the Gambling Commission. It discussed the role of the Gambling Commission and the consultations that they were leading on as part of the White Paper.

The meeting also discussed the role of evidence and the developments by the Gambling Commission to improve the evidence base across the UK. There was a commitment to build links between officials to support the development of gambling policy in Scotland.

During the first trimester, all mainland NHS Boards within Scotland are able to offer surgical abortions, although access to surgical abortion is limited in some Health Board areas.

Currently no Health Board in Scotland is able to provide second trimester surgical abortions; if a patient is unable to access a medical abortion locally in the second trimester (over 20 weeks’ gestation), their Health Board will refer them to a service in England for treatment.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W- 22039 on 30 October 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on all NHS services to an extent, including abortion services.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving access to abortion services and the Women’s Health Plan includes a range of measures which aim to achieve this. Several abortion-related actions within the Women’s Health Plan have been progressed, including:

• making telemedicine consultations a permanent option for patients,
• continuing to allow women under 12 weeks’ gestation to take mifepristone and misoprostol at home where that is clinically appropriate and also now allowing women to take mifepristone at home at later gestations in certain circumstances,
• ensuring patients are offered the progestogen-only pill with their abortion medications, and
• working with stakeholders and Gillian Mackay MSP to introduce the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill into the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Government commissioned NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) to develop a specification to deliver a national service for abortions between 20 to 24 weeks gestation within Scotland. NSS has been discussing its specification with NHS Boards and is also exploring other delivery options for the service. We anticipate that the long-term action within the Plan to review the provision of abortion services in Scotland will be considered as part of the forthcoming review of abortion law.

The priorities for any future Women’s Health Plan are not yet determined. Future aims and priorities will be developed in collaboration with women and girls, including our lived experience stakeholder group, clinical experts and relevant stakeholders alongside the most up-to-date evidence base.

The whole systems approach in Glasgow to mitigate the impact of gambling harm is led by a Multi-Agency Group chaired by Glasgow City Council. It reports into the Glasgow City Council Wellbeing, Equalities, Communities, Culture and Engagement City Policy Committee (WECCE).

A report on progress was taken to the WECCE in August 2023. It is available from Committee Information - View Committee Document (glasgow.gov.uk) .

The Avian Influenza and Influenza of Avian Origin in Mammals (Scotland) Order 2006 prohibits the release of gamebirds in any Protection, Surveillance or Low Pathogenic Restricted Zones, established around an Infected Premises. This Order also provides Ministers with the powers to prohibit the release of game birds in Temporary Control Zones and Temporary Movement Restriction Zones (where disease is yet to be confirmed) based on a risk assessment of the specific disease situation and premises particulars. When kept there is also a legal requirement to report suspicion of notifiable avian disease in game birds.

The Avian Influenza (H5N1 in Wild Birds) (Scotland) Order 2007 prohibits the release of game birds in a Wild Bird Control Area or a Wild Bird Monitoring Area. Furthermore, Licencing requirements dictate that where Special Protected Area (SPA) or Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) are designated for vulnerable species, consent from NatureScot is required for the release of pheasants. One of the factors considered in this licensing assessment is control of Notifiable Avian Diseases (NADs).

As set out in our current guidance “Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1: Promoting and Managing School Attendance,” Local Authorities are expected to have robust processes and guidance for children who do not attend school, from the first day they are absent until they are re-engaged with education. I have expressed concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on attendance and in order to inform our policy response, I have asked Education Scotland to undertake work to better understand the current barriers and challenges experienced by schools, children and young people and their families which influence school attendance. I expect to receive the findings of Education Scotland’s work later this year. This work will provide examples of effective strategies that are supporting improved attendance, and clarity on what further support or intervention is required in areas where attendance is not improving.

The findings from our forthcoming Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research, which will be published in November, will also provide important information on the extent to which pupils are disengaging from learning, which we will consider alongside the Education Scotland work.

The Scottish Government did not provide any direct funding to Relationships Scotland Tayside & Fife in 2022.

Relationships Scotland operate a network of 21 Member Services across Scotland, including Relationships Scotland Tayside & Fife.

In 2022, the Scottish Government provided Relationships Scotland with core funding via the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning & Empowering Communities third sector fund; and with grant funding to provide child contact services.

Professor Anna Glasier is Scotland’s independent Women’s Health Champion, and her remit encompasses all of the aims of the Women’s Health Plan.

There are many other issues and conditions that are important to women and their health, and there is a range of work under way to help women affected by dementia.

This includes the Scottish Government’s New Dementia Strategy, published in May 2023. The Scottish Government is also working together with COSLA and a lived experience panel, which includes women with a diagnosis of dementia, to agree priorities for the first delivery plan for the strategy, which will be published in January 2024.

The priorities for any future Women’s Health Plan are not yet determined. Consideration for future areas of focus and priorities will be informed by evidence and developed in collaboration with women and girls, a women’s health lived experience group, clinical experts and relevant stakeholders.