Chamber and committees

When Scottish Forestry receive a report of suspected unauthorised felling, investigations, including site visits and evidence gathering is then carried out.

When investigations conclude that it is likely that unauthorised felling has occurred, Scottish Ministers have a range of powers available to achieve a positive outcome. The priority is normally to secure the replanting of the site and protection of the woodland. The most appropriate action is often to issue a restocking notice to secure the replanting of the site.

Prosecution is considered in each case where unauthorised felling has taken place. A range of factors, such as the seriousness of the impact and whether there were aggravating circumstances are taken into account when considering whether to pursue a prosecution. The final decision on whether to pursue a case to prosecution lies with the Procurator Fiscal and not with Scottish Ministers. Where replanting has been secured and the woodland has been protected it is often concluded not to be in the public interest to pursue a prosecution.

Prior to April 2019, when the Forest and Land Management Scotland Act 2018 was enacted, prosecutions were required in order to secure a restocking notice. Since April 2019 Scottish Forestry have greater powers and so are able to secure the restocking of a site by issuing Restocking Directions.

Scottish Forestry have issued 36 Restocking Directions for unauthorised felling from April 2019 to the year end 2020-21.

We commissioned EY to undertake a substantial piece of analytical work, this has now been published and is available to view here – Energy System and Just Transition Analysis

Early outputs informed the ESJTP to help us better understand the implications of the transition to net zero on the energy system, including oil and gas, and to help us plan for a just transition across the sector.

This research will help us determine how the sector can help deliver our net zero targets, and how meeting our own energy needs can help build a new low-emission energy industry.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14332 on 7 February 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at Questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website .

An additional £2.5 million has been re-allocated to the Scottish Welfare Fund from the proposed £5 million addition to the Discretionary Housing Payment budget during 2022-23. This additional funding is an exceptional measure in response to the cost of living crisis, and will enable local authorities to provide more flexible local support through Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants. This can include payments to individuals and households who are experiencing financial challenges, including the effects of the cost of living crisis and food or fuel insecurity.

The Biodiversity Strategy is not the primary vehicle for addressing biosecurity issues, although clearly there are related issues and impacts which stress the need to mainstream biodiversity across the full range of Scottish Government policy.

The Biodiversity Strategy sets out a long-term, high-level ambition and Vision for 2045. Delivering that Vision is supported by a series of Outcomes across a range of overlapping ecosystems and land use types.

The Strategy also includes 33 Priority Actions which include, of relevance to the question:

• Implement Scottish Plan for INNS surveillance, prevention and control, and secure wider support measures to enable effective INNS removal
• Support surveillance and monitoring to support managing risks around pathogens and disease in wild bird populations
• Develop a Biodiversity Investment Plan to direct how we address the Finance Gap for nature
• Maintain and seek to increase investment in nature restoration through our £65 million Nature Restoration Fund.

A Delivery Plan is now being developed jointly by Scottish Government and NatureScot officials, drawing on engagement from key policy areas and across a wider network which includes expert academic input alongside significant stakeholder engagement.

Each iteration of the Delivery Plan will include estimated costs and will be reviewed in light of monitoring data to demonstrate the impact of actions taken so far.

The Biodiversity Investment Plan will direct how we address the finance gap for nature. It will ensure that investment is strategic, planned and focused on agreed priorities and will assist in securing responsible private investment in Scotland’s natural capital funding.

The pilot period for the commitment concluded on 31 August 2022, and a final evaluation report has been published on the Transport Scotland website . Support has been provided to delivery organisations to continue activities until 31 March 2023.

The total number of bikes issued during the pilot period was 2600 and the total figure to date is 3650.

The total cost of the pilot period was £2,922,704.15, which was made up of £1,912,135.12 Capital and £1,010,569.03 Resource funding. The total cost to date is £4,498,149.19, which is made up of £3,090,887.49 Capital funding and £1,407,261.70 Resource funding. The resource element of the budget is not used to procure bikes, but to fund activity such as training sessions and staffing to support the objectives of the pilot programme.

We are currently considering how best to continue delivery from April 2023.

The Permanent Secretary has confirmed in a letter to Members on‎ 6 March that written authority from Scottish Ministers (the equivalent of a Ministerial Direction) has not been sought.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-15420 on 13 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

We are providing £170m to support the delivery of extended multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) making it easier for patients to see the right person, at the right time, in GP practices and the community.

Whilst the fund does not have direct provision to support living with myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), the reforms are focused on strengthening the whole general practice team for the benefit of all patients.

We have recruited 3,220 whole time equivalent (WTE) healthcare professionals, such as pharmacists, mental health workers and physiotherapists, into these MDTS. This is helping to refocus the role of the GP on patients with more complex conditions, in turn improving patient outcomes, community health and practice sustainability.

We are aware of the serious negative impact this condition can have on people’s lives and therefore it is important that access to treatment and support is timely. We want to ensure that people have informed conversations with their GP in order to support the diagnosis of lipoedema.

We have now finalised the new NHS Inform webpage on Lipoedema . The new resource aims to provide people with consistent, reliable and accessible information empowering them to make informed decisions about their health and includes information on the symptoms, causes, self-management and treatment options.

We will continue to work with organisations such as Talk Lipoedema to find ways to raise awareness of the condition and its symptoms.

In March 2022, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee did a rapid review on the available evidence on the safety and efficacy of liposuction as treatment for lipoedema and found it to be inadequate. The recommendation was for the procedure to only be carried out in the context of research.

Previously, NHS Tayside was the only Health Board to provide liposuction as a treatment for lipoedema. Due to the updated guidance, NHS Tayside have stopped liposuction as a treatment option until NICE reviews its guidelines in 2025 after further evidence and research has been undertaken.

There are currently non-surgical treatment options for lipoedema and those with the condition will be treated by healthcare professionals at primary care level and, where appropriate, referred to specialist services in secondary care. Any particular treatment is at the discretion of the lead clinician. It is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for service delivery and patient treatment.

NHS National Procurement in partnership with the Health Boards are responsible for the provision of medicine homecare services and have met with affected providers on a weekly basis over a 12 month period to address services provision and monitor return to good service levels.

When service problems arise, through performance management arrangements linked to service level agreement and contracts, there is work with providers to agree an action plan and then closely monitoring delivery of performance improvements against that plan until service levels return to agreed standards.