Chamber and committees

For the period between the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity)(Scotland) Act 2021 coming into effect and 31 August 2021, information relating to the Scottish Government's use or considered use of the section 1(1) power of the Act is in the public domain and can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/constitution-europe-external-affairs-and-culture-committee/correspondence/2022/eu-alignment--continuity-act--6-may.pdf

For the period 1 September 2021 - 31 August 2022 information is also in the public domain and can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/constitution-europe-external-affairs-and-culture-committee/eu-continuity-act--draft-annual-report-for-laying--final--27-oct-2022.pdf

The Scottish Government has not used the ‘keeping pace’ power in regards to primary legislation. The ‘keeping pace’ power in section 1(1) of the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity)(Scotland) Act 2021 is a power to make secondary legislation, therefore primary legislation would not be made under the ‘keeping pace’ power.

There are 586 co-operatives and 195 employee owned businesses in Scotland. Data on these businesses is not collected on a per local authority basis.

Scottish Ministers have attended the Arctic Circle Assembly (ACA) every year it has been held since 2016. The Scottish Government remains committed to building on the strong partnership that it has established with the Arctic Circle secretariat, with a view to continuing to showcase relevant Scottish expertise internationally and facilitating Scottish-Arctic collaboration. A decision on Ministerial attendance will be made once an official invitation has been received.

Actions on loss and damage can either avert, minimise or address loss and damage; meaning we can prevent climate impacts by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the severity of climate impacts through adaptative measures or remedy the harm that has been caused. The Scottish Government funding on loss and damage is focused on the latter, that is, addressing the losses and damages by remedying the harm that communities are suffering.

The Scottish Government funding is focused on addressing loss and damage because partner countries have continually stressed that this is an underfunded and underacknowledged area. But our funding also, in addition, lessens future potential impacts. For example following the devastating impacts of Storm Ana and Cyclone Gombe in Malawi, the Scottish Government’s funding has supported the training of 155 artisans in the construction of safer housing using low to medium cost materials. It is expected that, with the advanced knowledge and skill, the artisans will support community members to construct more resilient homes, better able to withstand future climate shocks.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that all people living in Scotland with lung cancer 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.

Clinical nurse specialists make a valued contribution to delivering services and supporting patients and families who require specialist care. The Scottish Government has invested over £2.4 million annually in the Specialist Nursing and Care Fund since 2015.

The Scottish Government has overall responsibility for health and social care policy in Scotland; however, the statutory responsibility for delivering or commissioning services at a local level lies with local authorities, NHS Boards and integrated health and social care partnerships. Operational decisions, including whether there is a need for lung cancer specialist nurses, are therefore matters for those bodies.

The ScotRail peak fares pilot is scheduled to be undertaken in the next financial year (2023-2024).

Work on the precise methodology and design is ongoing with Transport Scotland officials working closely with Scottish Rail Holdings (SRH) and ScotRail to derive maximum benefit for this scheme.

Once this work has been completed an update will be provided well in advance of the ScotRail peak fares pilot commencing.

For academic year 2021-2022, which is the most recent data we hold, 22,635 international students were residing in student accommodation (university halls and private purpose-built student accommodation) and 29,090 in other rented accommodation. We do not hold information specifically in relation to private rented or social rented accommodation.

International Enrolments at Scottish Universities by Accommodation Type, 2021-22

The following tables show the number of people from Scotland who have received elective or emergency treatment as an inpatient or day case in hospitals in other parts of the UK in each year since 2017.

Information is provided in the following table on the number of finished admission episodes for patients resident in Scotland who have received healthcare from the NHS in England since 2017.

As set out in the Chamber on 15 Dec, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was asked to undertake a high-level review of a specific procurement exercise carried out by NHS Grampian.

The Board was asked:

• On the basis of having appropriate NHS procurement expertise and having not been involved in the procurement exercise being reviewed.
• To consider if the overall process was conducted in accordance with NHS procurement procedures, including documentation, scoring and selection.

The review has since completed and been shared with the Member. The review found that the exercise was conducted in a compliant manner.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15447 on 15 March 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