Chamber and committees

The Stoma Care Quality and Cost Effectiveness Review, in 2016, and the National Stoma Quality Improvement Short Life Working Group (NSQIG), in 2019 recommended that NHS Boards who currently do not have an established Stoma Forum should consider this. The Scottish Government was not represented on the NSQIG and the recommendation was for NHS Boards to consider.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information and we expect individual NHS Boards to consider and implement this recommendation locally.

These matters are at an early stage and we understand that the UK Government is currently considering next steps. We are aware, however, that MG ALBA is making preparations for a possible media bill and will be meeting the Minister for State at DCMS to discuss these matters soon. We are also aware of what MG ALBA would hope to see included in a bill and the Scottish Government will support MG ALBA with its requests to ensure greater equity between minority indigenous languages across the UK and to defend and strengthen public service broadcasting in Scotland.

This data is not centrally available.

PHS are developing a patient level dataset, Child, Adolescent and Psychological Therapies National Dataset (CAPTND) and the Scottish Government has commissioned Directors of eHealth in NHS Boards, working with others, including PHS , to work to improve the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) digital infrastructure. This will enable the recording and extraction of the full CAMHS and Psychological Therapies (PT) National Dataset (CAPTND), which will allow improved reporting on patient characteristics.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally. While we provide guidance for NHS Boards on the management of maternity and neonatal services during COVID-19 to aid local service planning, NHS Boards are responsible for undertaking local risk assessments to evaluate whether antenatal sessions can take place virtually or in person.

The Scottish Government is committed to understanding the health inequalities faced by people experiencing homelessness, and improving the way health and housing services work together to promote an integrated and holistic model of care.

GP registration is the main way to gain access to the vast majority of NHS healthcare services. The Scottish Government published patient registration guidance in September 2018 clarifying that patients do not require proof of identity or address to register with a general practice. The inability by a patient to provide identification or proof of address is not considered reasonable grounds to refuse or delay registering a patient.

We know that poor health is both a cause and a consequence of homelessness and that is why homelessness must be seen as both a housing and a health matter. In recognition of the need for collective responsibility across public services to prevent homelessness, we are consulting on plans to introduce new homelessness prevention duties, including on public bodies in health and social care, to ask about a person’s housing circumstances and act where a problem is identified.

The audit will provide enhanced information on where empty properties are located to help determine the prospects of bringing them back into use and enable better targeting and design of future interventions. The scoping exercise is currently underway and we anticipate that the audit will complete in early 2023.

A breakdown of the various crime types is provided in the following table, please note that we are unable to separate alcohol offences from drug related offences in some crime groups.

People convicted of offences related to driving under the influence (where main crime), 2015-16 to 2019-20.

The National Referral Mechanism is the UK-wide framework for identifying victims of human
trafficking and exploitation and ensuring they receive appropriate support. The NRM is
operated by the Single Competent Authority and Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority
within the Home Office.

NRM data can be accessed via the Modern Slavery: National Referral Mechanism statistics which
contains records back to 2013.

In terms of police recorded crime statistics, there is no single crime of slavery. However multiple
types of crime involve, or can involve, slavery. A list of these is provided below. Further information
on slavery related activity is also available from the Anti-Slavery Commissioner, within their
Annual Report . The data the Scottish Government receives from Police Scotland is a general count
of the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police, split by local authority. We do not receive
further details on the characteristics of these cases, including the number of victims.

Slavery or forced labour

Human organ offences

Immoral traffic

Procuration (excluding homosexual offences)

Procuration (homosexual offences)

Breach of trafficking and exploitation order

Most of these crime types fall under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015.
This came into effect on 31 May 2016, with the first recorded crimes falling in the 2016-17 recording
year (see Table One below). Prior to this act there were no straightforward means to track crimes of
slavery.

Table 2 shows the number of Immoral traffic and Procuration-based crimes recorded in Scotland since
1999 (both of which are classified as crimes associated with prostitution). It should be noted that the
same crimes are shown in Tables 1 and 2 for Immoral traffic over 2016-17 to 2020-21. This is because
the data we hold does not identify which crimes of Immoral traffic relate to the Human Trafficking and
Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, and which relate to earlier legislation.

Table 1 – Recorded crimes under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015,
Scotland, 2016-17 to 2020-21

The Scottish Government welcomes the focus in the report on the delivery of high quality, accessible homes in sustainable communities and recognition of the broader contribution that housing can play in terms of people's health and well-being.

The current functions of SQA will continue and staff working in those functions will continue to carry out their work, as they currently do. We recognise and appreciate the valuable skills, experience and knowledge held by all staff across SQA, and a primary consideration in the reform process will be in making the most of these attributes in the future. As decisions are made about the roles that are needed in the successor bodies, a process will be taken forward to enable matching of current staff to roles - this process will be designed with the input of staff and trade unions and the underpinning commitment to protecting terms and conditions, and no compulsory redundancies as a direct result of reform, will be in place.

We will continue to work closely with staff, facilitated through existing arrangements including via recognised trade unions, to develop the transitions framework and timeline for implementation and to consider impact on groups of staff and individual posts, including identifying suitable redeployment opportunities if they are needed. TUPE and/or COSOP will apply, and as the activities currently carried out by existing bodies move to new bodies, the staff carrying out those activities who are deemed to be in scope of transfer will transfer.

Further detail on programme structures will be published in spring.