Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is aware that there have been reports of incidents of anti-social behaviour on buses over recent months and we are aware of concerns relating to anti-social behaviour in other public places. We do not hold data on individual incidents but use official statistics to monitor trends on reported incidents and people’s own experiences or perceptions of antisocial behaviour.

These incidents are of concern but should not detract from the success of the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme. By the end of October over 98 million journeys had been made since the scheme went live in January 2022. The Scheme is making a real difference to the lives of young people and their families by helping to cut costs for essential, every day and leisure travel.

To understand the impact of the Young Persons Scheme, the Scottish Government will carry out an ongoing evaluation during the first five years of its operation. The first part, the one year after launch evaluation will be published later this year and will consider impacts on antisocial behaviour.

As of 06 November 2023, there are 40 civil servants working within the Covid Inquiries Response Directorate. The breakdown by civil service grade is as follows:

As part of the recently concluded information gathering exercise on the provision of stoma care and stoma specialist nurse coverage across Scotland's 14 territorial health boards, all boards supplied information on the stoma services that they provide, particularly with regard to care for stoma patients once they return home after their surgery. This information will be a key element of the consideration by the Scottish Executive Nurse Directors (SEND) of the results of the exercise.

There is a shortage of egg and sperm donors across the UK. The Scottish Government in partnership with NHS Scotland launched the national donor gamete campaign to help alleviate this shortage.

The challenges experienced by construction apprentices completing their apprenticeships continue to be closely monitored. The backlog of those who started in 2017 and 2018 has largely been cleared due to considerable support from all stakeholders. Scottish Government continues to work with agencies and industry to improve the rate of completion for the 2019 cohort, while maintaining the quality and integrity of the apprenticeships.

As Minister for Higher and Further Education I have chaired multiple roundtables with key stakeholders and industry partners and have stressed the need for practical solutions to resolve this backlog as quickly as possible, while ensuring no detriment to the apprentices.

I welcome practical and feasible solutions to help address this situation but we have to ensure that those solutions do not have any unintended consequences for the learners.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22410 on 7 November 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23070 on 4 December 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living with kidney disease in Scotland are able to access the best possible care and support, and benefit from healthcare services that are safe, effective and put people at the centre of their care.

We expect all NHS healthcare workers in Scotland to follow best practice when providing care for people with kidney disease and we continue to raise awareness of the symptoms, causes, diagnosis and prevention of kidney disease by providing and promoting information on chronic kidney disease for patients and their families on NHS Inform .

We also continue to support the work of the Scottish Renal Registry which promotes excellence in renal care in Scotland including audits on the delivery of renal replacement therapy. The most recent report from registry was published by Public Health Scotland in October 2023 and provides vital information for Health Boards, service managers and individual clinicians to help improve care and standards for people with chronic kidney disease.

The cost of the most recent national donor gamete campaign delivered in partnership with NHS Scotland is £50,519.60 inclusive of VAT.

The members of the Ministerial Oversight Group on Homelessness are:

• Paul McLennan MSP, Minister for Housing (chair)
• Elena Whitham, MSP, Minister for Drugs & Alcohol Policy
• Maree Todd, MSP, Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport
• Emma Roddick, MSP Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees
• Natalie Don, MSP, Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise
• Jenni Minto, MSP, Minister for Public Health and Woman’s Health
• Joe Fitzpatrick, MSP, Minster for Local Government and Planning
• Siobhan Brown, MSP, Minister for Victims and Community Safety
• Patrick Harvie, MSP, Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights
• Graeme Dey, MSP, Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans

The Ministerial Oversight Group on Homelessness remit is to bring together ministers from across the Scottish Government to identify the actions required across portfolios to prevent and end homelessness. The group then collectively ensures delivery of these actions. The group provides a space for shared political leadership and enhanced policy links with a view to ensuring everyone has a safe, warm place to call home.

We have published further information on the Ministerial Oversight Group on Homelessness on the Scottish Government’s website at Ministerial Oversight Group on Homelessness - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This includes the membership and terms of reference of the group. The Ministerial Oversight Group on Homelessness has so far had one meeting. The minutes, once available, will also be uploaded to this webpage.