Currently there are 1,014 active Scottish beekeepers with 8,769 colonies registered on BeeBase. All beekeepers in Scotland are encouraged to sign-up to this database to enable effective communications throughout the country.

The Scottish Government is also aware of the difficulties facing beekeepers at this time and is consulting with their stakeholders on the way forward.

The Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008 set strict food and nutrient standards for the provision of school food that, as far as possible, mitigates against the presence of industrially produced trans fatty acids in school meals and food served throughout the school day.

The regulations specify strict criteria and limits in relation to the inclusion of processed foods, including products that are deep fried in the manufacturing process.

The regulations specify that only oils and fat spreads high in polyunsaturated and/or monounsaturated fats can be used in food preparation. Such oils and fats are low in trans fatty acids.

The Scottish Government continues to keep the use of industrial trans fatty acids in Scotland under review, using the latest evidence to inform policy decisions. The member may wish to refer to the answer to question S4W-13972 on 18 April 2013 for further information on this issue.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government continues to keep the use of industrial trans fatty acids in Scotland under review, using the latest evidence to inform policy.

The most recent National Diet and Nutrition Survey shows that consumption of total trans fatty acids is considerably below the maximum level of 2.0% of food energy recommended by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition for all age groups and is currently estimated to be, on average, 0.8%.

With low income consumers in mind, the Food Standards Agency in Scotland (FSAS) is currently investigating whether takeaway foods, purchased in the most deprived areas of Glasgow, contain high levels of trans fatty acids. The survey report is currently under peer review and will be published later this Spring.

<>The most recent update of the University of Sheffield alcohol pricing model was published in January 2012 and can be accessed at: http://www.shef.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.156503!/file/scotlandjan.pdf. This estimated that a total ban on off-trade discounting would result in a decrease in overall consumption of 3%. A total ban is assumed to prohibit all forms of price-based promotion, including straight discounting from list price in addition to quantity discounts.

The ban implemented in the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Act 2010 relates to a quantity discount ban only. Due to unavailability of data, it is not possible for the University of Sheffield to estimate the impact on consumption of the quantity discount ban alone.

The question does not state the source for the 1% figure quoted, however it is possible that this is taken from A Preliminary descriptive analysis of the impact of the quantity discount ban on off-trade alcohol sales in Scotland, published by NHS Health Scotland in June 2012: http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/5923.aspx. In this report 1% is the difference in the fall in sales between Scotland and England & Wales in the 33 weeks following the implementation of the ban. However, the report does not attribute the 1% to be the overall impact of the ban. The authors conclude that a longer time series of data and more detailed analyses are required to provide a robust evaluation of the quantity discount ban’s specific impact on alcohol sales in Scotland.

NHS Health Scotland is due to publish this detailed analysis in the coming months. It should be noted however, that as the Sheffield model estimates the impact of a total discount ban while Health Scotland look at the impact of the discount ban, direct comparisons between estimates remain invalid.

All prisoners with sentences of five months or fewer retain any registration they hold with their community General Practice and are registered as temporary residents with the prison healthcare centre.

 

All prisoners with a sentence of six months or more are registered permanently with the prison health centre and de-registered from their community General Practice. This allows the prisoner’s clinical record to flow in and out of the community as well as the prison estate providing continuity of healthcare, access to any emergency care summary and reduces clinical risk to the prisoner by maintaining a complete, accurate and up to date record of the prisoner’s health. Upon release prisoners are required to re-register with their community General Practice.

 

The process of re-registration is encouraged and assisted by prison healthcare staff and others involved in the prisoner’s liberation and through care planning. Guidance has been issued by Practitioner Services Division, National Services Scotland to General Practices on the re-registration of liberated prisoners.

The regulations on class sizes, which relate to P1, P2 and P3 classes only, include “excepted pupils”’ provisions. The effect of these provisions is that in certain circumstances a child may be admitted to a class but not be counted within the total number of pupils in the class. Details of these provisions are set out in the Schedule to the Education (Lower Primary Class Sizes) (Scotland) Regulations 1999 which can be viewed at:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/1080/schedule/made.

College regionalisation and reform is about delivering education more efficiently and effectively while maintaining student numbers. Thousands of students with learning disabilities are benefitting, and will continue to benefit, from the improved services that our colleges offer. We expect colleges to treat all applicants fairly and to adhere fully to their legal obligations.

We also maintain regular dialogue with the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability to ensure that we are doing all we can to support this group of learners. I have asked the Scottish Funding Council to work with the Consortium, and with ENABLE Scotland, to help colleges deliver programmes in a way that best supports into work students with a learning disability. This will include developing good practice guidance based on lessons learnt from Project Search and on extending the Transitions to Employment project, and will be funded as part of the additional £61 million announced on 6 February 2013.

Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland’s Alcohol Strategy: Second Annual Report, published by NHS Health Scotland in December 2012, includes detailed information on the average price and price distribution of alcohol sold in Scotland. The report is available at:

http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/20107-MESASCombinedReportNov2012.pdf.

A bulletin presenting statistics on crimes and offences, including offences associated with alcohol use, recorded in Scotland from 2002-3 to 2011-12 can be accessed at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/06/1698.

Alcohol-related hospital discharge statistics are published annually by Information Services Division (ISD) of NHS National Services Scotland. The latest figures can be found at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Drugs-and-Alcohol-Misuse/Publications/2012-05-29/2012-05-29-AlcoholHospitalStats2012-Report.pdf and include data covering the last five years (data covering earlier years is also available on the ISD website). It should be noted that ISD do not hold separate admission and discharge datasets. As further diagnostic information may become available during the course of a hospital stay, the use of discharge data provides a more complete and accurate picture of a patient’s condition.

There are currently no plans in Scotland to implement the pupil premium available to service families in England. The Scottish Government has a strong legislative and policy framework to address the wide ranging causes of educational disadvantage.

The principle of additional support needs which underpins the system for supporting children and young people in their school education in Scotland is much broader than the focus on special educational needs in place in England. The current legislation and updated Code of Practice supporting children's learning recognises that children or young people may require additional support, long or short term, for a variety of reasons including if they have experienced a bereavement, have interrupted learning (for example if their family is subject to regular moves).

This fund is available across the UK.