Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is determined to play our part in eradicating racism, inequality and injustice – and in building a better, fairer world.

On the recommendation of the Anti-Racism Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racism Infrastructure (AIGG), a public procurement process has commenced to identify a host organisation for the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland (AROS). The tender process closed on the 2nd September and tenders are currently being evaluated. The contract award is scheduled to take place at the end of October and the contract will commence in January 2025.

AROS will support the development of a detailed workplan to track and measure progress being made with the Scottish Government’s antiracism commitments, including relevant Key Performance Indicators. Working in partnership with partners, including third sector organisations and communities, AROS will develop robust governance and accountability mechanisms to ensure effective oversight of the workplan and strategic objectives that will drive anti-racism change.

The Scottish Government has not conducted research on the screening of non-FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) stroke symptoms since the publication of the 2023 National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with the UK Government and Petroineos. Most recently the Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Net Zero convened a trilateral discussion with the UK Government and Petroineos on 2 September. The Scottish Government has used these engagements to consistently convey to the business that refining must continue at Grangemouth for as long as practicable.

The Grangemouth Future Industry Board continues to meet regularly with the last meeting of the programme board taking place on 19 August. At the invitation of the Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Net Zero, the leadership forum will now be co-chaired by the UK Government Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The Scottish Government has not conducted research to discover the rate of ‘false negatives’ after the application of the FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) test.

Public Health Scotland are best placed to advise on research they have undertaken. Public Health Scotland can be contacted at: General enquiries - Contact us - Public Health Scotland

The Scottish Government recognises that online platforms, including social media, can have a positive and negative impact on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing and that it is important to support people to use social media in a healthy and balanced way. We have provided over £400,000 to children and young people’s organisations since 2020, to fund a range of initiatives including the Young Scot ‘Aye Feel’ online hub and the ‘Mind Yer Time’ resource, with some of the work focusing on addressing social media usage amongst children and young to help them navigate online spaces and use screen time in a healthy and positive way. Additionally, our national resource for parents - Parent Club - has a range of information and advice to support parents to manage their child’s screen time, and to have informed conversations with their children on screen time, social media and internet use.

Keeping children and young people safe online is a priority for the Scottish Government and while we recognise that regulation of the internet remains a reserved matter, we have successfully engaged with the UK Government to strengthen protections for children in its Online Safety Act. We continue to press for stronger protections for our children and young people online, in cooperation with the new UK Government and the online safety regulator, Ofcom. The Minister for Victims and Community Safety and I will be meeting with Ofcom in August to discuss their strategy for online safety in Scotland.

In addition, the Scottish Government has recently published guidance for schools on the issue of mobile phones in schools, which supports education authorities and schools in their consideration of limiting access to mobile phones in schools. This approach will reduce distraction and support increased engagement in learning. 

The Scottish Government has not provided any funding to the Stroke Association in the last five years.

The Scottish Government commissioned research to evaluate the current public awareness of Face, Arms, Speech, Time (FAST), stroke symptoms and risk factors, which has now been completed. The results of this research are informing our plans for future work.

Scottish Government, Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland and Stroke Association all support the continue used of FAST. The current evidence base does not support a move to the use of BE FAST, but we will regularly review this position based on the best available evidence.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care asked the Specialty Adviser to the Chief Medical Officer for Stroke to review stroke recognition education for clinical staff. This review has informed the development of an education package, funded by the Scottish Government, to be delivered to staff in GP practices, Emergency Departments and the Scottish Ambulance Service. Although focusing on FAST, this education will also cover the less common presentations of stroke.

The Scottish Government has provided the following funding to Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland:

2020-21 financial year - £952,444

2021-22 financial year - £218,996

2022-23 financial year - £379,685

2023-24 financial year – No funding provided in this financial year.

2024-25 financial year - £62,639

As confirmed by the then Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy in December 2023, the Scottish Government will share with the Economy and Fair Work Committee its assessment of the economic contribution of the Grangemouth refinery. This assessment will be published shortly.