Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government continues to work with partners, including Skills Development Scotland (SDS), Local Government and the UK Government, to ensure that access to quality data helps to improve our understanding of the employment and training activities undertaken by young people in Scotland.

A key development is the access of Universal Credit data for 16-24 year olds. Since September 2021 this data has been regularly shared by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and is used by SDS and the Scottish Government to monitor activities young people are currently participating in. As a result, employability support work to young people has been better targeted at those who most need it. In addition, SDS have been able to extend the age range of the published snapshot participation measure to 16 – 19 year olds having originally covered 16 – 17 year olds.

However, this analysis could be enhanced with access to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) data which would improve our understanding of the destinations of young people and enable services to maximise the number of young people they support to enter employment, education or training. We will continue to work with SDS to look to establish a data sharing agreement with HMRC.

The Kickstart scheme is a UK Government programme and is operated by the DWP. We will continue to work closely with DWP, who are evaluating the programme, to ensure that this evaluation takes account of how the programme has worked in Scotland and specifically, how it aligned with the Young Person’s Guarantee and existing employability provision. This analysis will be fundamental in future programme design and in improving the accessibility of services for young people and employers.

Data on nationality is not collected as part of the COVID vaccination programme.

We commenced the collection of ethnicity data as part of the vaccination programme in November 2021. This is to help tackle racialised health inequalities. Once this data becomes available it will help us to better design and tailor services to improve people’s health outcomes. This data is collected following a recommendation from the Expert Reference Group on COVID and Ethnicity (ERG).

The ethnicity question is a mandatory field, and so everyone should complete this field, though there is an option for people to select the option ‘prefer not to say/don’t know’. The ethnicity question used is taken from Census 2022 Question 23.

Full information on what personal information we process , including ethnicity, and how we use your data as part of the COVID-19 vaccination programme can be found on NHS Inform under Data, Privacy and Ethics.

Public Health Scotland already publishes information about equality of vaccination uptake. The most recent data can be found at COVID-19 Statistical Report - 1 December 2021 - COVID-19 statistical report - Publications - Public Health Scotland . The report contains information about the data sources used.

Scottish Government and some agencies publish all public consultations on the consultation hub. Respondents can decide whether they would like their response to be published on the consultation hub after the closing date. Thereafter, published responses will be visible to the public.

The Scottish Government can confirm the numbers of local authorities who responded to the consultations listed below.

a) the Heat in Buildings Strategy - 20 local authorities

b) Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - 8 local authorities

c) Climate Change - Net Zero Nation: draft public engagement strategy - 9 local authorities

d) Establishing a Scottish Nitrogen Balance Sheet - 1 local authority

e) Investing in and paying for your water services from 2021 - 10 local authorities*

f) the Local Energy Policy Statement - 6 local authorities

g) Scottish Low Emission Zones: Consultation on Regulations and Guidance - 9 local authorities

* A later consultation 'Investing in and paying for you water services from 2021: final consultation' was responded to by an additional 2 local authorities.

The Scottish Government unequivocally condemns any form of racism hatred or prejudice, in sport and wider society. There is no excuse – it is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Scotland is a diverse, multi-cultural society and this diversity strengthens us as a nation. That is why we work with sport scotland and a range of organisations throughout the country to tackle all forms of hatred and prejudice in sport.

Any reports of racism must be investigated swiftly. Most recently after allegations of racism in cricket in Scotland, sport scotland, announced that it is taking immediate steps to appoint a team of independent experts to carry out a full a review of racism within Scottish cricket.

In addition, in June 2021, sport scotland, with the other Home Country Sports Councils responsible for funding sport and physical activity across the UK, published the outcomes of a joint review into Tackling Racism and Racial Inequality in Sport (TRARIIS). sport scotland has begun identifying TRARIIS work for each of its three Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strands (People, System and New Ideas) in order to embed this into the organisation’s business planning and use to inform future Equality Impact Assessments. A full update is available on the sport scotland website.

Ethnically diverse communities are a priority group for sport scotland’s 2021-25 Equality Outcomes published earlier this year.

We need to eradicate any forms of racism in sport and we will continue to work with partners to achieve this.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05156 on 10 January 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

The Scottish Government remains committed to transparency on this important issue. Since the last update to Parliament on 15 September, I can confirm that:

• As was the case in September, no invasive cervical cancer has been detected in any individuals who were written to over the summer on this issue and who have subsequently attended either for screening or gynaecological exam.
• Work in reviewing exclusions has continued to be prioritise based on risk, and in early autumn, an audit of all records where an obstetric hysterectomy has been performed was carried out. All individuals identified as either having been or likely to have been wrongfully excluded have now been contacted and re-instated in the screening programme or invited for examination as required.
• Work is ongoing to review the remaining exclusions; the NHS is committed to completing this as quickly as possible, and I will update Parliament on progress in due course.
• Dr Karin Denton is a consultant pathologist with North Bristol NHS Trust and leads the laboratory service for Cervical Screening in the South West of England. She has been appointed to chair the Healthcare Improvement Scotland review of the systems and processes of exclusions in the cervical screening programme. It is anticipated that the review findings will be published in autumn 2022.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04154 on 17 November 2021.

In relation to other technologies that could reduce pressure on the pharmacy sector, community pharmacies have had access to NHS Near Me since 2020. This offers an additional communication tool for use with healthcare professionals and patients. Pharmacists also have access to the Emergency Care Summary and we are working with Health Boards to ensure pharmacists have appropriate access to patient information through the Clinical Portal. The ePharmacy Programme continues to oversee and develop technology used in community pharmacies to support the provision of NHS pharmaceutical care 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.

Regulation of the pharmacy profession is applied on a UK basis. However, people arriving in Scotland with pharmacy qualifications from other countries are able to contact NES Pharmacy to explore additional training needs to enable them to practice in Scotland. NES would be able to assist with training gaps, or help to put forward a case to the GPhC.

The Schools of Pharmacy in Scotland have no plans to reintroduce the OSPAP scheme for overseas students.

Since 2015 the Save a Life for Scotland (SALFS) partnership has equipped over 640,000 people in Scotland with the skills to perform CPR. The refreshed strategy seeks to increase this to 1 million people by 2026. This will be achieved through continued partnership working to raise awareness, and the delivery of CPR training across Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05156 on 10 January 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