Chamber and committees

Lord Advocate’s guidelines to Police Scotland on the use of Recorded Police Warnings have been in place for a number of years. My statement to the Scottish Parliament on 22 September 2021 was reflected in a corresponding amendment to the guidelines.

The current guidelines permit a police officer to issue a Recorded Police Warning in relation to an offence involving simple possession of all classes of controlled drug.

This is an operational matter for Category 1 responders, therefore the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

As one of our 100 Days Commitments we launched the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB), which will develop new proposals for sustainable farming support by considering the Climate Change Plan Update and the Farmer-led Groups recommendations, helping Scottish agriculture become more economically and environmentally sustainable.

ARIOB meets regularly and its current priority is helping develop the National Test Programme, which begins this Spring and, over the next three years will deliver Scottish Government investment of up to £51 million. It is based on and informed by the work and recommendations of the Farmer-led Groups, particularly to ensure we are beginning to tackle the most urgent needs and creating a base upon which to build a whole-farm low carbon approach. An outline of the National Test Programme has already been published: https://www.gov.scot/news/ambitious-future-for-rural-scotland/

ARIOB acts in an advisory capacity to the Scottish Government and have no current plans to formally report. It is for the Scottish Government to co-develop and publish agricultural policy based on this type of a collaborative approach. The Scottish Government is wholly committed to supporting farmers and crofters to start our collective journey towards becoming global leaders in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

The Scottish Government recognises the negative impacts of stigma, both on individuals and on wider efforts to prevent blood borne viruses. Over the next year, the Scottish government will focus on progressing the commitment to eliminate Hepatitis C by 2024; developing a plan to eliminate HIV transmission by 2030; and re-invigorating the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses Framework. In all these strands, we will consider a range of actions to tackle the stigma around blood borne viruses in order to improve outcomes for individuals and encourage testing and earlier diagnosis.

Officials have engaged throughout the legislative process with the Association of British Insurers, who have advised that ABI member firms are aware of the changes to legislation and are unlikely to invalidate anyone’s policies.

This matter is for local authorities who hold the requested information. This information is not held centrally by Scottish Government.

The UK National Screening Committee, an independent scientific body that advises all four UK nations on screening, currently recommends that women between the ages of 50 and 70 are invited for three yearly breast screening. Therefore, while programme capacity remains challenging due to COVID-19, the pause on self-referrals allows appointments to be prioritised for the recommended screening population, for whom evidence shows clear benefits.

The organisations that oversee screening in Scotland, including the Scottish Screening Committee (SSC), National Screening Oversight (NSO) and the Breast Screening Programme Board (BSPB) agreed that self-referrals for women aged 71 and over should resume once capacity allows. However, in recognition of the anxiety the pause is causing, officials are exploring if there are options to accelerate the restart that would not unduly impact appointment times for the eligible screening population. Any decision will be informed by clinical advice and the on-going pandemic.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government continues to stress that if anyone, of any age, is concerned they may have symptoms of breast cancer, they should immediately make an appointment with their GP Practice.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05885 on 7 February 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

Up to 930,000 young people will be eligible to travel for free under the scheme and we are absolutely determined to ensure that everyone who is eligible for and wants a free bus pass gets one. I appreciate that we still have a long way to go to reach all 930,000 eligible young people but now that covid restrictions are easing, we are encouraging all young people and parents to apply for their cards. To assist with take up, we plan to launch an extensive marketing campaign in the coming weeks.

We welcome the 4 key recommendations in the report from Endometriosis UK and work is already underway to implement each of these.

Diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis must improve and that is why the Scottish Government has made it a priority in the Women’s Health Plan. We are committed to improving access for women to appropriate support, diagnosis and the best treatment for endometriosis.

The first meeting of the Women’s Health Plan Implementation Programme Board took place on the 25 January and will ensure progress of the Women’s Health Plan is achieved at pace and implemented effectively. The Scottish Government will also publish a Women’s Health implementation plan by Spring this year, which will set out more detail around how the actions will be implemented. The report from Endometriosis UK will help inform our implementation plan.