Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government believes in a Scotland where all Scots should benefit from an education system that is engaging, relevant, tailored to their needs, and best prepares them for their future lives irrespective of their social, economic or ethnic background.

We expect that approach to be followed by learning providers everywhere. A number of adult learning providers also engage directly with these communities at a local level.

Perjury is an extremely serious offence and any allegation of perjury brought to the attention of the prosecution will be thoroughly investigated. Crown Counsel’s authority is required before any proceedings for perjury are initiated. Before a prosecution for perjury can be raised there must be sufficient credible and reliable evidence and that it is in the public interest to proceed.

The Scottish Executive measures attitudes towards discrimination against Gypsy/Travellers using the Attitudes to Discrimination module of the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey. The latest available results are from 2006. The 2010 results will be published on 11 August 2011.

NHS boards are responsible for providing primary medical services and for ensuring that these services recognise cultural diversity and respond to the healthcare needs of all ethnic groups and communities.

There should be no barriers to Gypsy/Travellers accessing or receiving health services and the GP registration regulations apply equally to members of the travelling and settled populations.

A GP practice can only refuse an application if it has reasonable grounds for doing so which do not relate to the applicant’s race, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability or medical condition. A patient does not need to be resident in a practice area to be accepted and the regulations specifically provide for applications from temporary residents who are moving from place to place. The regulations also provide for health boards to assign a patient to a GP practice as necessary.

The Scottish Government has funded and been involved in a number of programmes and initiatives to engage with the Gypsy/Traveller communities to improve access and to tackle their health inequalities. These include the introduction of a patient hand held record to improve their access to healthcare; an action research project in Lothian on mental health and wellbeing; a strategy in West Dunbartonshire to improve access to health services, and a multi agency action plan in Highland.

NHS Health Scotland works with health boards to advise and support in delivering equality and diversity, eliminating discrimination and reducing health inequalities. The Gypsy/Traveller group has now been specified within the standard ethnicity classifications for Scotland and the results of the 2011 census and increased ethnic monitoring in NHSScotland will further enhance understanding of Gypsy/Travellers’ health needs and experiences, and inform boards’ future service developments and outreach initiatives for this group.

I have been clear that following the tragic incidents at both Tomintoul and Crieff, current arrangements for handling rest breaks in the Scottish Ambulance Service cannot remain in place as they are not in the interests of the public or of our hardworking and dedicated ambulance staff.

Urgent talks are currently ongoing between management and staff within the Scottish Ambulance Service with a view to preventing any further incidents where rest breaks are seen as affecting response times in emergencies. I am being kept fully informed of progress with these talks and have urged both management and the trades unions involved to resolve this untenable situation as quickly as possible.

The Scottish Government is presently considering review of the guidance on site management. An exact date of publication cannot be confirmed at the current time.

I have been clear that following the tragic incidents at both Tomintoul and Crieff, current arrangements for handling rest breaks in the Scottish Ambulance Service cannot remain in place as they are not in the interests of the public or of our hardworking and dedicated ambulance staff.

Urgent talks are currently ongoing between management and staff within the Scottish Ambulance Service with a view to preventing any further incidents where rest breaks are seen as affecting response times in emergencies. I am being kept fully informed of progress with these talks and have urged both management and the trades unions involved to resolve this untenable situation as quickly as possible.

The existing site management guidance was published in January 1998 by the then Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Scotland’s Travelling People. We are presently considering a review of the guidance on site management. An exact date of publication cannot be confirmed at the current time.

(a) The number of pitches within each local authority-managed sites is shown in the following table.

Notes:

(i) East and Midlothian Councils jointly operate a site.

(ii) The figures in the table are based on a count which was undertaken by the Scottish Government in 2009.

(b) Information on the number of pitches on privately run sites for Gypsy/Travellers is not collected centrally by the Scottish Government.

The table below shows the number of charges reported to Procurators Fiscal under the Trespass (Scotland) Act 1865, section 3 where court proceedings were initiated. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service database does not contain information that identifies the ethnic or cultural identity of accused persons.

Charges: Tresspass (Scotland) Act 1865, section 3