Chamber and committees

Keep Scotland Beautiful has delivered a range of initiatives on the Scottish Government's behalf and has been allocated the following funding since 2016 to enable it to do so:

2016-17: £11,147,463

2017-18: £11,152,455

2018-19: £11,131,472

2019-20: £8,642,939

2020-21: £10,054,598

2021-22: £1,227,428

2022-23: £609,000

The reduction in funding to KSB from 2021 is due to the Climate Challenge Fund coming to an end. KSB delivered the fund on the Scottish Government’s behalf until their contract ended in June 2021. The previously reported funding for 21-22 of £1,555,145 reduced due to underspend linked to the CCF being returned to the Scottish Government.

Pay negotiations are held in a confidential space through the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee and it would not be appropriate for the Government to publish correspondence between Ministers and individual parties. The full scope of the agreement, containing detail on the wider review of Agenda for Change, has been published on the Scottish Government website ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhs-agenda-for-change-review-scope/ ).

There are approximately 1.5 million new trees planted alongside the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. No further tree planting is planned other than replacement planting which may be required in future where insufficient numbers of trees have become established to satisfy the environmental objectives and the Indicative Landscape Design.

Scottish Government officials have met with the following groups and organisations on the minimum age of marriage and related matters:

AMINA- Muslim Women’s Resource Centre

Article 12 in Scotland

Association of Registrars of Scotland

Caledonian Humanist Association

Evangelical Alliance

Hemat Gryffe Women’s Aid

Humanist Society Scotland

IKWRO Women’s Rights Organisation

Independent Humanist Ceremonies

JustRight Scotland

Karma Nirvana

Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project

Scottish Council of Jewish Communities

Saheliya

Scottish Women’s Aid

Shakti Women’s Aid

Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights)

UNICEF UK

They have also met with some Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament and with two Scottish family law academics.

I intend for these meetings to continue. My officials are planning to meet representatives of the following bodies, some of which will have received invitations to discuss the issues.

The Baptist Union of Scotland

The Church of Scotland

The Free Church of Scotland

The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland

Glasgow Central Mosque

Hindu Forum of Britain

The Methodist Church

The Muslim Council of Scotland

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers in Scotland)

The Roman Catholic Church (The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland)

The Salvation Army

The Scottish Association of Mosques

The Scottish Episcopal Church

Sikhs in Scotland

The Scottish Unitarian Association

The Synod of Scotland of the United Reformed Church

The United Free Church of Scotland

The member is welcome to write to me with details of other interested groups who want to be involved.

The working capital loan made available to Ferguson Marine is expected to be used to ensure that Ferguson Marine has the necessary cashflow to make payments in relation to salaries and VAT as required while they await repayment from BAE Systems for services rendered in line with the terms of the contract.

Scottish Government has followed Scottish Public Finance Manual procedure with regards to the interest rate and is satisfied that the loan will be repaid, should the facility be drawn upon. The loan follows standard practice for working capital requests from a public body.

The rate of interest and repayment date are not disclosed due to commercial sensitivity.

NHS Scotland does not currently hold information on prescriptions based on patients’ ethnicity.

Through the Women’s Health Plan, we are determined to ensure that all women are able to access the care and support they need for menopause, be that through primary or specialist care. A range of treatments to manage menopause symptoms, including Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT), are available on the NHS in Scotland free of charge.

The right to health is a fundamental human right and means the right of everyone to have the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

Menopause care and support is a top priority in the Women’s Health Plan, through which, we are working to improve access to menopause care and treatment for all women in Scotland.

The Women’s Health Plan is underpinned by an intersectional approach which recognises that minority ethnic women and girls can face multiple and often overlapping disadvantages and barriers to accessing good healthcare, including menopause care.

As set out in the Women’s Health Plan, it is important that all health and social care professionals approach people from all cultures with openness and without judgement and are responsive to the individual needs of their patients and community.

Menopause is an important transition in women’s lives, but one that many know little about. It is important that all women are able to make informed choices about their health. The menopause resource on the NHS Inform Women’s Health Platform has been translated into five languages, BSL and easy read.

In addition to the work of the Women’s Health Plan, there is a Scottish Government Racialised Health Inequalities in Health & Social Care in Scotland Steering Group developing an action plan to address racism and racialised health inequalities in health and social care.

Public Health Scotland does not hold the information requested to answer this question.

Any future iterations of the Women’s Health Plan will be evidence-based with aims and priorities developed in collaboration with women and girls, our lived experience group, clinical experts and relevant stakeholders.

The Scottish Government has provided £80,000 of funding to Talk Lipoedema over the financial years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. The funding assisted the development of the Scoping Report on Lipoedema Care in Scotland, providing a welcome insight into Lipoedema services, and has supported Talk Lipoedema to enhance their important work supporting people across Scotland.

We have now launched the new resource on lipoedema on the NHS Inform Women’s Health Platform. The new resource includes information on the symptoms, self-management and treatment options for lipoedema as well as sign posting to organisations like ‘Talk Lipoedema’ for more help, advice and peer support.

The LEZ Retrofit fund has recently closed for new applications in financial year 2022-23.

As we review budgets for 2023-24, we ask that taxi owners who are interested in applying for future funding should register their interest via the Energy Saving Trust website.