Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government believes that there is no place in Scotland for prejudice or discrimination including in the workplace. Everyone deserves to be treated fairly, regardless of their age, disability, gender, gender identity/reassignment, race, religion or sexual orientation.

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and any reports of discrimination must be treated seriously by the employer.

I would encourage on-going dialogue between employers and unions as this is an important element of Fair Work. If parties decided a summit was appropriate then the Scottish Government would be supportive.

I can also confirm I have agreed to the TSSA's request to meet to discuss concerns regarding sexism in the workplace, this approach has been welcomed by TSSA.

The independent Fair Work Convention has developed the Fair Work Framework for Scotland which sets out how our businesses can work with their employees and trade unions to create more innovative and productive workplaces. Key to this is adopting the five key Fair Work Dimensions – Respect, Opportunity, Security, Fulfilment and Effective Voice.

The Framework is to be used by everyone in the workplace to guide practice, to help improve understanding of fair work, benchmark existing practice and identify areas where improvement can be made. I would suggest this framework provides excellent guidance for all parties to assist with resolving issues which may have arisen.

I can also confirm I have agreed to the TSSA's request to meet to discuss concerns regarding this issue and sexism in the workplace, this approach has been welcomed by TSSA.

This information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

We welcome research that helps to shed light on the causes of suicide and how better to prevent it. Scotland has seen a significant fall of 17% in the overall suicide rate over the past decade, and we have seen particular progress with the age group covered in this research. Among 15-to-34-year-olds, there has a been a decrease of 34% over the past decade. We are currently engaging with stakeholders on a draft suicide prevention action plan in order to continue this strong downward trend, and we have discussed our plan with the research’s lead author, Professor O’Connor.

These findings reinforce the importance of the vision in our Mental Health Strategy that people can get the right help at the right time, can expect recovery, and fully enjoy their rights, free from discrimination and stigma. We want a Scotland where people feel able to talk freely about how they feel and get the help they need.

There are no official data published on attempted suicide so it is useful to have new research in this complex area. As indicated in the answer to S5W-16828 on 23 May 2018, we welcome research that helps to shed light on the causes of suicide and how better to prevent it. Scotland has seen a significant fall of 17% in the overall suicide rate over the past decade, and we have seen particular progress with the age group covered in this research. Among 15-to-34-year-olds, there has a been a decrease of 34% over the past decade. We are currently engaging with stakeholders on a draft suicide prevention action plan in order to continue this strong downward trend, and we have discussed our plan with the research’s lead author, Professor O’Connor. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing wealth inequality and to delivering policies which support inclusive growth. We are determined to take strong action to reduce child poverty and meet our statutory targets in terms of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017. On Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, Scotland led the way in the UK by establishing a progressive approach to rates and bands for LBTT making the amount paid more closely related to the value of the property or transaction. Our reforms to Council Tax have made local taxation fairer and more progressive. Additionally, income tax in Scotland is fairer, more progressive and raises additional funds to protect public services and support the economy.

Serco Limited is a commercial organisation and as such, any financial information in relation to the amount of profit made from the NorthLink ferry contract is commercially sensitive.

The annual accounts of Serco Limited, Serco NorthLink Ferries parent company, are available from the following website; https://www.serco.com/investors/results-reports-events .

As indicated in the answers to S5W-16828 and S5W-16829 on 23 May 2018, we are currently engaging with stakeholders on a draft suicide prevention action plan in order to continue the strong downward trend in Scotland’s suicide rates. We have discussed our plan with the research’s lead author, Professor O’Connor. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Our ambition is to increase the number of GPs by at least 800 over ten years to ensure a sustainable service that meets increasing demand.

There will also be significant new investment in the wider multi-disciplinary teams to support GPs.

The national health and social care workforce plan on primary care, published on 30 April 2018, sets out how we propose to support the recruitment of these additional GPs through an ambitious training, recruitment and retention programme, supported by a £7.5 million pound investment this year.

The new GP contract, backed by investment of £110 million in 2018-19 and jointly developed with the BMA, will help to cut doctors’ workload and make general practice an even more attractive career.

Our ambition is to increase the number of GPs by at least 800 over ten years to ensure a sustainable 24/7 service that meets increasing demand. There will also be significant new investment in the wider multi-disciplinary teams to support GPs. Details of how we will achieve this are set out in our Primary Care Workforce Plan that published last week.