Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government publishes statistics relating to the number of reports of suspected illegal fishing inside Marine Protected Areas. These statistics detail the number of reports by suspected fishing method, including scallop dredging. Reports of illegal fishing are investigated by Marine Directorate officers to determine whether an offence has been committed, and whether there is sufficient evidence to pursue further action. Not all reports are confirmed illegal incursions. Marine and fisheries compliance: reports of illegal fishing in marine protected areas - 26 May 2020 to 31 May 2022 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The location and movement of firefighters is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and this information is not held by Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government has written to all 14 Territorial Health Boards and Police Scotland to determine the extent of these issues across Scotland. The responses are now being complied and the conclusions will be sent to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee shortly. I am clear that access to the right treatment at the right time for each and every person is vital to the implementation of the Medication Assisted Treatment Standards across our nation and is at the very heart of our national mission on drugs.

Under the Animal Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (the “2006 Act”), Scottish SPCA inspectors have certain powers to investigate relevant offences relating to animals which are suffering and in the control of a person.

The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill contains an enabling power to allow the Scottish Ministers, by way of subordinate legislation, to extend the powers of inspectors authorised under the 2006 Act to investigate relevant offences relating to wild animals, as set out in section 8 of the Bill, should they deem it appropriate to do so in the future.

This is unlikely to include environmental destruction, disturbance or harm to a wild animal as a result of environmental destruction would constitute a wildlife crime and would be investigated as such by Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people living with hypothyroidism and other thyroid diseases are able to access the best possible support and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

We expect clinicians to adhere to current guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment options from authoritative sources such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the British Thyroid Association (BTA) and have no plans at present to undertake a review of timescales for receiving a diagnosis.

While employment law is reserved to the UK Parliament, our Fair Work approach seeks to improve workers’ rights and conditions and aims to address women’s workplace inequalities by encouraging employers to take action to tackle gender pay gaps across the labour market in Scotland.

Our refreshed Fair Work Action Plan: Becoming a Leading Fair Work Nation by 2025 published in December 2022, reiterates our commitment to tackling Scotland’s gender pay gap and recognises that an intersectional approach is needed to address the overlapping labour market inequalities faced by women, disabled people, racially minoritized people and the over 50s workforce.

The Scottish Government has not been made aware of any issues with regard to the disposal of used incontinence products, and has no plans to require that public toilets have incontinence bins installed.

As set out in a letter I sent to Pam Duncan Glancy MSP on 27 June and as covered during portfolio questions in Parliament on 28 June https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-28-06-2023?meeting=15400&iob=131343#orscontributions_M16199E320P809C2508836 I remain committed to working with the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers to explore how we can progress a reduction in teachers’ class contact time by ninety minutes per week (from the current contracted figure of 22.5 hours to 21 hours). To help inform this discussion and ensure effective and evidence-informed workforce planning I will be commissioning an external piece of work which will consider and bring together a range of factors, including effective local and national teacher workforce planning, pupil teacher ratios and the projected decline in the number of school-aged children in Scotland.

The Women’s Health Plan: A plan for 2021 – 2024 aims to reduce health inequalities and improve health outcomes for women and girls. The Plan focusses on a specific set of priorities and thyroid conditions are not specifically mentioned in this iteration of the Plan.

However we do recognise that many women are significantly affected by the condition and we are committed to ensuring that people living with hypothyroidism are able to access the best possible support from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care. Information on symptoms and treatments are available at NHS Inform .

The priorities for any future Women’s Health Plan are not yet determined. Future aims and priorities will be developed in collaboration with women and girls, including our lived experience stakeholder group, clinical experts and relevant stakeholders alongside the most up-to-date evidence base.

NHS Boards regularly assess continence patients’ needs, with the assessments undertaken by dedicated Bladder and Bowel Teams or community nursing staff. This ensures that patients’ needs are met, either through treatment or through provision of appropriate containment products. Referrals can also be made by patients’ GPs where necessary, and also by a range of other healthcare professionals including pharmacists, consultants, and care home staff.

Where a patient has been assessed as requiring continence products, these are provided by their local NHS Board’s continence service on prescription. As such, any person that is suffering from incontinence, such as men living with prostate cancer, should seek a referral to their local continence service in order that their incontinence can be assessed, treated where appropriate, or managed through the prescription of continence products.

The Scottish Government remains committed to improving the quality of life and wellbeing of people with chronic pain. Involving people with lived experience remains a priority to help inform the improvement work we have set out in our Framework for pain management service delivery - implementation plan .

Our plan was developed with extensive engagement with people with chronic pain. The Scottish Government conducted a public consultation where four-fifths of respondents were individuals living with chronic pain. All of their views have informed the actions set out in the plan.

In summer 2022, we commissioned the Lines Between to establish a Pain Management Panel. The panel included a diverse cross-section of people with chronic pain across Scotland. The findings from this report, published in July 2022 , have helped inform the implementation of the plan.

We are continuing to engage with a range of diverse voices of those living with chronic pain across Scotland as we develop and deliver the plan. Officials attended the most recent Cross Party Group for Chronic Pain to request feedback and further engagement sessions with the group are planned. We have also invited our stakeholders, including people with lived experience, to a series of drop in sessions to give their input as we update our Implementation Plan.