Chamber and committees

Environmental health officers in local authorities have well-established procedures in place for monitoring risks to health at ports. Ships are subject to regular inspection for infectious and other hazards under the International Health Regulations.

Health Protection Scotland ensures that Scottish risk assessments are informed by international evidence and best practice, for example by liaising with experts in the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Specific issues relating to the unintended importation of mosquitoes which may harbour or could subsequently transmit anthropoid-borne virus such as the Zika virus are kept under constant review. At the current time, the risk of importation and establishment in Scotland of the Aedes mosquitos involved in Zika virus transmission is assessed to be very low. This is due to the low likelihood of mosquito survival in the temperatures inside cargo ships, and also their poor viability in the Scottish climate.

I have recently written to Michael Gove, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, to re-iterate our publicly-expressed opposition to repeal of the Human Rights Act and to make clear that it would be unacceptable for the UK Government to consult on its proposals during the Scottish parliamentary elections.

Beyond a half-hour meeting which I had with Dominic Raab, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice, on 12 November 2015, the UK Government has been notably reluctant to engage in dialogue in relation to its proposals. Very little information has emerged through other routes, despite Mr Gove appearing before House of Lords committees in December 2015 and February 2016. I have therefore also stressed in my letter the necessity of substantive inter-governmental engagement in advance of any public consultation exercise.

The Programme for Government, published on 1 September 2015, committed to spend £195 million pounds over the next three years on a new shared equity scheme to help around 6,500 households buy a new build home. The successor to the existing Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme will focus on the delivery of affordable homes and on-going support for small developers. Eligible buyers will continue to receive an equity contribution towards the purchase of a new build home. A further announcement will be made in January 2016.

The Scottish Government has had no discussions with the European Commission regarding legislating to limit industrial trans fats (TFAs) in food.

We are aware of the European Commission’s recent report to the European Parliament and European Council regarding TFAs in foods and in the overall diet of the union population. We welcome the commission’s report, and the commitment to consider the proportionality of future steps in tackling TFAs in foods. The proposed impact assessment should take into account all the available evidence, including the success of voluntary reformulation, in order to come to a recommendation.

The Scottish Government has no plans to ban TFAs. We are committed to working jointly with industry and retailers to make healthy choices easier for everyone. The food industry has successfully taken voluntary steps to reformulate many products and as a result the average intake of TFAs has been significantly reduced.

The Scottish Government population level dietary goal for TFAs recognises current population intakes of 0.6-0.8% food energy (see the 2014 National Diet and Nutrition Survey Scotland report¹) which is well below the 1% of food energy target.

To address concerns about higher intakes of TFAs in low income sections of the population, the Food Standards Agency in Scotland measured TFAs in take-away foods from the most deprived areas of Glasgow. Average levels of TFA in takeaway foods were found to be insufficient to cause public health concern².

1. See section 5.4.8 of the report at

http://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/sites/default/files/ndns-scotland-full-report.pdf

2. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.food.gov.uk/scotland/news-updates/news/2014/6006/study

The Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) Act (Scotland) 2007 places a number of duties on local education authorities including ensuring that schools are health promoting. This includes promoting physical, social, mental and emotional wellbeing by supporting pupils to make positive lifestyle choices in relation to their health and wellbeing.

All adults who work in schools have a responsibility to support and develop mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing. It is for the local authority and schools to decide how to develop their own approaches to ensure staff have the appropriate skills to implement Curriculum for Excellence, based on local needs and circumstances.

Opportunities should be available through the school year for every young person to have regular conversations about their learning and progress. Good practice would include discussing any stress a young person may be feeling as they prepare for examinations, and support around how this can best be managed. All schools should gather evidence about any issues facing young people and look at steps that can be taken to address concerns.

Every school has a named link person who can contact specialist child and adolescent mental health services to provide ongoing support if they have any mental health concerns about a pupil.

There is no place in Scotland for any sort of discrimination, prejudice or bullying in schools or elsewhere, and this includes Islamophobia.

This government wants every child and young person in Scotland to grow up as respectful, responsible global citizens, free from discrimination, prejudice and bullying. We want young people to develop respectful, responsible and confident relationships. Discrimination prejudice and bullying of any kind is unacceptable and must be tackled quickly, whenever it arises.

This is why all young people in Scotland experience religious and moral education as part of Curriculum for Excellence. Religious and moral education enables children and young people to explore the world’s major religions and approaches to living which are independent of religious belief, and to be challenged by these different beliefs and values. It supports children and young people in developing responsible attitudes to other people, their values and their capacity for moral judgement.

We have also established and funded respectme, our national anti-bullying service, and are working with a range of organisations to refresh our National Approach to Anti-bullying for Scotland’s Children and Young People. We are clear that all children and young people should be able to learn in schools free from discrimination.

The Scottish Government is clear that the starting point for learning is a positive ethos and climate of mutual respect and trust based upon shared values across whole school communities. Schools should be peaceful and safe environments which have a positive influence on children and young people by promoting inclusion and equality and challenging discrimination.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of regular eye examinations to patients’ overall health and the essential role played by optometrists who deliver a quality level of eye care in the community, meeting the needs of a high number of patients and ensuring that sight threatening conditions are detected early.

The Deputy First Minister recently announced the Scottish Government's intention to continue to help family budgets through initiatives such as free regular eye examinations. I am not able to provide any further detail regarding any plans to increase the rate payable to optometrists until a full dissemination of the Scottish Government budget has been conducted following the outcome of the recent spending review.

I travelled to Canada and the USA from 8 to 14 November 2015, where I undertook a series of meetings with key retailers, importers and government ministers primarily focussed on the promotion of Scotland’s food and drink.

The visit was designed to support the Scottish Government’s commitment to internationalise its activities (in line with the strategic objectives set out in Scotland’s International Framework) and raise Scotland’s profile in key countries overseas. It also followed on the First Minister’s visit to the USA in June 2015, and the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Europe and External Affairs’ visit to the USA during Scotland Week in April 2015 by helping to build on the relationships that were generated as part of those trips.

I spent time in Montreal and Quebec City in Canada, and New York, Washington DC and Baltimore in the USA.

I was accompanied by Jim McLaren, Chair of Quality Meat Scotland, James Macsween of Macsweens of Edinburgh, Rob Livesey, Vice-President of National Farmers’ Union Scotland and George Milne from the National Sheep Association at different engagements relevant to their respective interests.

Whilst in Montreal I met with the CEO of Tree of Life Canada, a speciality food provider, and Metro, a key Canadian retailer, to explore ways of expanding the portfolio of Scottish products into Canada and encourage the sale of more Scottish products across stores. Both meetings were encouraging in terms of new opportunities for Scottish products. I also had a meeting with representatives of Quebec’s liquor control board to discuss enhancing Scotland’s offering in Canada with particular opportunities identified in craft beer and craft distilling.

To help foster stronger governmental links between Scotland and Canada, I met with Mr David Heurtel, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change. We had particularly productive discussions on the lessons to be learnt from each country’s efforts to combat climate change and on Quebec’s deposit return scheme, which I was able to see operating in practice.

My final engagement in Montreal was to speak at a Scottish showcase dinner with key influencers and decision makers from Quebec’s food and drink industry. The dinner had Scotch lamb served as the main course – to great acclaim – and included a themed discussion on how to increase the Scottish offering in Montreal, with a particular focus on Scotch lamb and beef.

A day in Quebec City allowed time for further high level government to government meetings. I met with Mr Jean D’Amour, Quebec’s Minister of Transport and the Implementation of the Maritime Strategy Engage to promote and share expertise around Scotland’s National Marine Plan and the Quebec Maritime Strategy. I also met with Mr Germain Chevarie, Member of the National Assembly for the Magdalen Islands and Delegate of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to promote and share expertise around aquaculture, and food policies. My final meeting in Quebec City was with Mr Jacques Chagnon, President of Quebec’s National Assembly. I was able to visit the National Assembly to engage with the Quebecois Parliamentarians, and foster stronger governmental and parliamentary links between Scotland and Canada. I was particularly struck by the standing ovation afforded the Scottish delegation and the number of parliamentarians anxious to express warm support for Scotland.

In New York City I met with the CEO of the Brooklyn Brewery, one of America’s largest craft breweries with a significant global foot print, to discuss possible collaboration opportunities with Scottish breweries and explore potential areas for Scotland’s craft brewers looking to enter the US market. I noted not only the fact that the brewery sourced raw materials from Alloa but also the role played in the firm by graduates of the Heriot Watt brewing school.

I met with Paul Ross, CEO and President, The Edrington Group, USA, to discuss how the Scottish Government and the whisky industry can work in closer collaboration and encourage deeper and more strategic engagement with Scottish Enterprise/Scottish Development International. This discussion followed up on Fiona Hyslop’s meeting with Paul Ross during Scotland Week 2015, and I was able to present Paul with a letter from the First Minister formally welcoming him into the GlobalScot network.

I also had a high level meeting with Atalanta, the largest private food importer in the USA, to promote Scotland’s dairy industry and discuss opportunities for growing sales of Scottish products already in the market and the potential for introducing new Scottish food products into the market. Again, the discussions identified significant trade opportunities.

In Washington DC I firstly met with representatives from the Meat Import Council, successfully garnering support for the lifting of the US ban on Scotch lamb.

I met with senior officials from the National Park Service to discuss opportunities to contribute to their centenary celebrations in 2016 linking in the role played by John Muir. I met with the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States for a wide ranging discussion with representatives, journalists and writers in the Scotch whisky industry.

The Washington leg was concluded with two high level meetings with the US Department of Agriculture at political level (Under Secretary Mensah) and with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, who played a prominent role in the lifting of the ban on EU beef and will play a similar role in respect of lamb. These meetings successfully secured a commitment on a clear timeline for the approval process for the importation of Scotch lamb, with an undertaking that the relevant rules will be published in 2016, opening up the prospect of exports of lamb – and haggis – to the US in 2017. I also had productive discussions with Under Secretary Mensah about renewable energy and rural broadband.

The final day of the trip was spent in Baltimore where I met with senior representatives from Under Armour and gained an insight into their plans for encouraging business start-ups, including a new distillery. This was followed by a series of meetings including a formal welcome from Maryland Commerce security and with the Deputy Mayor of Baltimore. I also met with a number of leading business executives to explore opportunities for sharing expertise on renewable energy, technology and food and drink distribution.

My strongest overall impression was the warmth of the welcome given to the Scottish delegation and, in particular, the undoubted strength of the Scottish food and drink brand and the power of the Team Scotland approach. Every importer, retailer, chef or journalist we met was enthusiastic about our products, in terms of both quality and provenance. Given the scale of the North American market, focused activity with a small number of importers and retailers will pay significant dividends to the Scottish industry. We are pursuing the leads established to that end.

The timing of this trip was particularly good. This was in part because of steps we have taken ourselves, with the recent appointment of in-market food and drink specialists in Canada and the US and the launch in Anuga of the Scottish dairy brand. It was also because of the recent easing of import restrictions in Canada on red meat and in the US on beef and the prospect of similar steps in the US on lamb and of increased dairy quotas in Canada. Taken together, these have increased the likelihood of a significant portfolio of Scottish food and drink products thriving in the highly lucrative North American market. This visit gave a very timely boost to these efforts.