Chamber and committees

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has not yet made a recommendation on the use of self-sampling in the national cervical screening programme. However the UK NSC continues to gather and evaluate evidence on the matter. Scotland is playing an active part in evaluating the benefits of self-sampling, through a study in NHS Dumfries and Galloway. We are taking the necessary steps to ensure that we can roll it out as soon as possible once a recommendation is made. Patient safety is our top priority and we will not act until we are assured it is safe to do so.

The Scottish Government recognises and supports the Safe and Together model as a positive approach in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children living with domestic abuse. The principles of this model are central to the priorities of Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls. That is why, from October 2021, through the Delivering Equally Safe Fund, the Scottish Government funded 12 organisations and joint organisation partnerships approximately £2m to deliver the Safe and Together model and training across 11 local authority areas.

On 2 September 2021, the Scottish Government published revised National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland. This non-statutory guidance describes the responsibilities and expectations of everyone who works with, or comes into contact with, children and young people, families and carers in Scotland.

The National Guidance includes a strengthened section on domestic abuse, providing detailed support for practitioners working with families affected by domestic abuse. This includes guidance on the Safe and Together model which highlights aspects of domestic abuse-informed practice in the protection of children.

Anonymous Voter Registration is available to anyone meeting certain statutory requirements where, if their name or address were listed on the electoral register, their safety would be at risk (or where the safety of other people at the same address as them would be at risk).

An anonymously registered elector has the same options for voting at an election as other electors. They can vote in person at a polling station or they can apply to vote by post or by proxy.

If they choose to vote in person, they will receive a poll card before the election. The poll card will be sent in a covering envelope. An anonymously registered elector must take this poll card to the polling station and will not be able to vote without it.

If the elector wants to vote by post or by proxy, they can ask the Electoral Registration Officer who will provide them with an application form which can also be downloaded from electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter

Further information on anonymous registration can be found in the following guidance which was produced in partnership between the Electoral Commission and Scottish Women’s Aid: ‘Anonymous registration: Supporting survivors of domestic abuse to register to vote’

The Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to ensuring that victims of domestic abuse feel supported throughout the justice system, including court proceedings. A number of measures are in place to support survivors of domestic violence during court proceedings. For example, the court can take extra steps, called 'special measures', to help vulnerable witnesses give the best evidence they can. In criminal courts, deemed vulnerable witnesses (including those in domestic abuse cases) are automatically entitled to special measures including a screen in the courtroom; a TV link to somewhere outside the courtroom; and a supporter who can sit with the witness while they give evidence.

The Scottish Government recognises the key role that advocacy services play in helping victims come forward and engage with the justice process. As such, in the first 100 days of this Government we allocated an additional £5m to fourteen specialist support organisations including Scottish Women’s Aid to bolster the vital services they provide and help ensure those who need support are able to access it.

A number of measures are in place to ensure child witnesses are protected within our justice system. For example, the court can take extra steps, called 'special measures', to help children and young people under 18 give the best evidence they can. Children who are witnesses in criminal courts are automatically entitled to special measures including a screen in the courtroom; a TV link to somewhere outside the courtroom; and a supporter who can sit with the witness while they give evidence. Other measures are available on application to the court. Further information on the support available to witnesses can be found at Help and support - mygov.scot . All criminal justice cases with child witnesses are referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service. VIA can provide information about the criminal justice system and key developments in the case affecting the witness, discuss any additional support that the witness may require to give evidence and help them make contact with appropriate support organisations.

In addition, from January 2020 Regulations have been in place to ensure that any child witness under the age of 18 giving evidence in the most serious criminal cases in the High Court, will be allowed to have it pre-recorded, sparing them the trauma of giving evidence during a trial, unless it is shown that this would significantly prejudice the interests of justice in the individual case. Last year, the Scottish Government also funded the commencement of the national roll out of a ground-breaking approach to interviews for vulnerable child victims and witnesses in criminal cases. The new Scottish Child Interview Model for Joint Investigative Interviews, conducted by highly trained police officers and social work staff, will deliver an interview process that secures the child’s best evidence at the earliest opportunity and minimises the risk of further traumatisation.

SIGN guidelines are produced by Health Improvement Scotland’s (HIS) evidence directory. The Scottish Government does not commission the production of SIGN guidelines and are not aware of plans from HIS to publish a SIGN guideline for adults with Cerebral Palsy (CP).

The member may find it helpful to view the documents contained on this evidence page of HIS’s website, which provides information and guidance on how requests are assessed, and how and evidence-based decisions are made.

The Clinical Priorities Team met with representatives from the third sector organisation, Cerebral Palsy Scotland on 8 December 2021 to discuss the ongoing development of care services for people with CP.

The Scottish Government put in place and agreed a three year financial package in 2019-20 which sees an annual a fixed percentage uplift of 2.5% to the global sum each year of the current remuneration package. This ensures funding for continuous expansion in the quality and number of services that can be offered by community pharmacy contractors to local communities.

The Scottish Government have also invested £10 million over the course of the 3 year financial settlement in NHS Pharmacy First Scotland, seeing it increase the range of common clinical conditions which are able to be treated by the community pharmacist without the need to see a GP. We have also put in place a National Foundation Programme and Independent Prescriber Career Pathway. This pathway aims to maximise pharmacists’ expertise in medicines and, with the introduction of the new NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service, the opportunity for pharmacists to enhance patient care will further increase. Increasing the number of Independent Prescribers and establishing the core use of the IP qualification in the community setting will enhance the pharmacy networks’ role in the clinical pathway of patients.

The Scottish Government Health and Social Care Integrated Workforce Plan commits to increasing Pharmacy pre-registration training places by 120 over the next 4 years and we are currently increasing training places available for pharmacy technician training. Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to ensure not only the stability of the network but also that the balance of high quality pharmaceutical care is maintained across the whole pharmacy workforce in all sectors.

The Scottish Government does not agree that Scotland’s performance in relation to training pharmacists is declining. In fact, since 2020-21 there has been an increase in the overall numbers of students studying pharmacy.

There are approximately 240 students each year who graduate from the two Schools of Pharmacy in Scotland. In 2018 to support the pipeline of new pharmacists we extended the number of NHS pre-registration pharmacists places we funded nationally from 170 to 200. In 2019 we committed to increasing pharmacy pre-registration places again in the Integrated Health and Social Care Workforce Plan. Therefore, by 2024/25 there will be a further 120 pharmacist trainees over 5 years staying in Scotland to complete their pre-registration training.

The Scottish Government continues to work with NHS National Education for Scotland (NES) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in developing a joint programme to encourage more students, and not just school leavers, to consider careers in pharmacy, including ensuring the output reaches deprived and remote and rural communities.

In addition, both Schools of Pharmacy work towards the widening access targets set by the Commission on Widening Access for universities to drive forward the delivery of equal access in Scotland.

There are also wider initiatives such as The Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP). The partnership develops access programmes for adults returning to education, and targets adults who reside in the most disadvantaged areas of Scotland and particularly those who have no, few or out of date qualifications. This can help support people with few suitable qualifications to progress to degree level Pharmacy studies.