Chamber and committees

The First Minister has written once to the new Prime Minister. The letter, dated 6 September 2022 and focusing on the cost crisis, was published on the Scottish Government website and a link is provided below.

Cost crisis: letter to new Prime Minister - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Prior to 29 September 2022, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) did not recommend screening for lung cancer. Therefore, there is currently no lung screening programme in Scotland or indeed data on the number of people who have been screened for lung cancer in Scotland.

No plans were made for the First Minister, or any other Minister, to attend the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

The Minister for Environment and Land Reform represented Scotland at the Under 2 Coalition General Assembly, held during the recent 'Climate Week NYC'. Further details of this engagement will be reported to Parliament shortly.

While the Scottish Government has not been made aware of fair work concerns by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in relation to Reach PLC, it is keen to ensure fair work practices are adopted across the news publishing industry.

The Scottish Government is pleased that the pay negotiations between the NUJ and Reach resulted in a revised pay offer being accepted by NUJ members at Reach on 26 September.

Employment legislation is reserved to the UK Government, however, the Scottish Government will continue to use its Fair Work policy to improve workers’ rights and protections.

We are clear that all employees must be paid fairly for the work they do. That is why the Scottish Government continues to support payment of, at least, the real Living Wage to build a more resilient economy, a more equal labour market, and to foster inclusive growth.

There are no plans to extend the Air Discount Scheme to cover travel by apprentices. Where employers and learning providers are unable to fund travel and subsistence costs for apprentices attending off job formal learning opportunities, Skills Development Scotland will reimburse the costs for residents of Shetland and other Highlands and Islands areas. This would include the full cost of air fares where no public transport alternative is available.

The Scottish Government has not carried out any analysis on the number of lung cancer cases that could be diagnosed sooner with a national screening programme, but has kept up to date with emerging evidence that led to the UK National Screening Committee’s recent recommendation to move towards the implementation of targeted screening programme for lung cancer in adults aged 55–74 with a history smoking.

Overseas visits undertaken by Scottish Ministers help protect and enhance Scotland’s interests, improve global networks, unlock new economic and trading opportunities and create domestic opportunities and benefits for the people of Scotland. For security reasons we do not comment on the future travel plans of the First Minister.

As I noted in my answer to S6W-10242, we are considering publication of average apartment rental charges and grant calculations as part of the current review of the Home Owners Support Fund, which is expected to conclude by Spring 2023. If the decision is taken to publish the figures, this will include historical calculations.

Given the range of symptoms which can be presented by Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), we know there’s no ‘one-size fits all’ response. Our approach is to support people with ME/CFS to access care and support in a setting that is appropriate and as close to their home as practicable.

We are working to support and develop Scotland’s multi-disciplinary primary care workforce, and have increased the Primary Care Improvement Fund to recruit multi-disciplinary teams from £155 million in 2021-22 to £170 million in 2022-23. This will help towards giving people living with ME/CFS access to a wider range of healthcare professionals through their local practice.

In July 2022, we published a Scottish stakeholder review of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on ME/CFS. This review involved engaging with stakeholders to discuss how we implement the NICE guidance in Scotland and identify priorities for service improvement in ME/CFS care.

In June 2022 the National Clinical Director wrote to health boards , including primary care and AHP leads, and integration authorities to highlight:

• that the finalised NICE guideline on ME/CFS had been published
• key changes in recommended practice regarding Graded Exercise Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• key points from the NICE Implementation Support Statement.

Officials are partially updating the Scottish Good Practice Statement on ME/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to incorporate the key changes in practice from the NICE guideline and are currently working to publish this on the Scottish Government’s website.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10989 on 3 October 2022. 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 .