Chamber and committees

The Reaching 100% (R100) programme is ensuring that all homes and businesses can access superfast broadband. This is being delivered through three strands of activity – the £600 million R100 contracts (North, Central and South), our R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) and commercial coverage.

As of 31 May 2023 the Reaching 100% contracts have delivered to 24,194 premises. Of those premises, 20,666 were in rural and remote areas.

As of 01 July 2023 the R100 SBVS has delivered to 3,288 premises. Of those vouchers, 2,807 vouchers in remote and rural areas.

Information regarding superfast broadband coverage in Scotland can be accessed on Ofcom’s website. Ofcom’s most recent figures, published in May 2023 , show that as of January 2023 the percentage of residential and commercial premises able to access superfast broadband (30 Megabits per second or above) in each local authority area in the Highlands and Islands region was as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19557 on 26 July 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 Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland. NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally have responsibility for both service delivery and people’s care.

The 2023-24 Scottish Budget delivers record funding of £19 billion including increases in funding for community and primary care health services such as GP practices where the vast majority of people with chronic pain seek support. Detail on how funding has been used specifically for the assessment and treatment of chronic pain would require to be requested from NHS Boards.

In August 2021, the Scottish Government published Reset and Rebuild, a recovery plan for sexual health and blood borne virus (SHBBV) services. This plan was co-produced with NHS and third sector partners, to take stock of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on SHBBV services and people that use them.

The Scottish Government’s SHBBV plan for 2023-2026, which is due to be published towards the end of summer 2023, will include a focus on improving access to SHBBV services across Scotland.

In addition, as noted in response to S6W-19566 on 26 July 2023, work is on-going to understand and put in place the necessary governance and infrastructure to support a national online testing service for sexually transmitted infections and bloodborne viruses.

The Scottish Government has also provided funding to support the development of an ePrEP pilot and a national publicity campaign to address HIV stigma to be developed by a multi-agency partnership.

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 Scottish Government’s Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus plan for 2023 to 2026 is scheduled for publication towards the end of summer 2023. As part of this approach, there will be a focus on improving access to testing for STIs and blood borne viruses.

Recommendations made within the HIV Transmission Elimination Proposal are currently being considered, and prioritisation of those to be taken forward in 2023-24 is likely to be announced before the end of summer 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19568 on 26 July 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/questions-and-answers .

As indicated in response to S6W-19566 on 26 July 2023, a national project to develop an online sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing pilot has been underway since 2021 and is hosted by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, with development work being undertaken across a number of Board areas.

Scottish Government officials are currently working closely with Public Health Scotland and NHS Boards to understand the scope of what is needed in terms of timescales, necessary governance and infrastructure to support a national service.

The upcoming Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus plan, due be published towards the end of summer 2023, will also have a focus on improving access to STI and blood borne virus testing across Scotland.

The Scottish Government recently invited funding bids from across Scotland for projects aimed at contributing to the priorities set out in the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Strategy, including improving the accessibility of testing services.

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 HIV Transmission Elimination Proposal, commissioned by the Scottish Government and published on World AIDS Day in 2022, sets out 22 recommendations to ensure progress is made to meet our goal of zero HIV infection transmissions in Scotland by 2030.

An HIV Transmission Elimination Proposal Scoping Group met between March and June 2023 to review the proposal, and to identify key actions to be taken forward in 2023-24. The recommendations from this group are currently being considered and prioritised.

In addition, the Scottish Government has provided funding to support the development of an e-PrEP pilot and a national publicity campaign to address HIV stigma, to be developed by a multi-agency partnership.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting integration of former Hong Kong residents into our communities. We have published a dedicated British National (Overseas) welcome pack, in both English and Cantonese, on our website.

We continue to provide significant levels of funding to a range of organisations supporting the integration of migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum. This includes supporting organisations, such as COSLA, the Scottish Refugee Council and British Red Cross. We aim to ensure that all arrivals to Scotland are welcomed and supported to integrate into Scottish society from day one of arrival. This work will continue.

The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities currently provides funding to a number of national organisations to provide support to people arriving from Hong Kong across the UK, including Scotland. For 2023-2024 this includes:

Hongkongers in Britain Limited £300,000

Barnardo’s £300,000

Good Neighbour Church £300,000

Welcoming Committee for Hong Kongers £170,921

The UK Government set up a network of ‘Hong Kong Welcome Hubs’ across the UK. These are hosted by existing ‘Strategic Migration Partnerships’ (SMPs). There are 12 SMPs across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland . SMPs have a coordinating and supporting role in delivering key national priorities on migration across the UK and play an integral role in the delivery of the Hong Kong UK Welcome Programme and VCSE projects. The Welcome Hub in Scotland is operated by COSLA, and is directly funded by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities.