Chamber and committees

The Female Genital Mutilation (Protection and Guidance) (Scotland) Act 2020 was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 19 March 2020. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have provided an update from their live system and confirm that there have been no charges prosecuted under the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act 2005 since that date.

The Scottish Government has not made representations to the management at Liberty Steel Dalzell in Motherwell following the resignation of its parent company's auditors.

The appointment of auditors is an operational matter for the GFG parent company and the issue was raised in a recent Ministerial meeting at that level.

The Scottish Government previously informed Parliament that a statement setting out an Emergency Budget Review (EBR), in relation to the 2022-23 Scottish Budget, was planned for the week commencing 24 October.

However, following the unprecedented uncertainty and instability brought about by the current UK Government in recent weeks, including a series of announcements and changes to UK economic and fiscal measures leading to economic turmoil, mortgage products being pulled, the pound crashing and the Bank of England having to take emergency action to stabilise financial markets, culminating in another change in Prime Minister, the EBR will be deferred until after the planned fiscal statement from the new UK administration currently scheduled for 31 October. This will also allow the EBR to take account of updated independent forecasts of the UK economy from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Parliament will be kept informed regarding the updated timing of the EBR statement.

The Scottish Government is taking forward a wide range of support for all bereaved people, including unpaid carers. This comprises our new Mind to Mind website set up in partnership with NHS Inform which includes a dedicated section on grief and bereavement with information and signposting; the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund which includes a priority for people who are bereaved; funding for the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care which develops resources and information to support people affected by bereavement, including Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief and End of Life Aid Skills for Everyone (EASE), a course which is available to anyone; and funding for CRUSE who support people affected by bereavement including specialist support to children, young people and their families.

Under the Carers (Scotland) Act, all unpaid carers have the right to a personalised plan to identify what is important to them which may include counselling and emotional support. Future needs for bereavement support can be considered as part of the process and any eligible needs for support must be met.

Local authorities must also have a carer information and advice service, usually delivered via local carer centres, to help unpaid carers access support in their area. This must include information and advice on counselling and bereavement support available to carers. In addition to information and advice services, many local carer centres provide their own counselling and support services which can include bereavement support.

We have invested an additional £20.4m for local carer support in 2022-23 via the local government settlement, bringing total investment in the Carers Act to £88.4m per year.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme was developed from the start to include glass, as well as PET plastic and metal containers. This position has not changed.

The Women’s Health Plan, 2021-2024, includes an action to improve information and public awareness of heart disease symptoms and risks for women.

We commenced work on this action through the development of a comprehensive women's health platform on the NHS Inform website. This includes pages on women’s heart health, and provides information and signposting on Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11371 on
‎ 25 October 2022. 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 Green Heat Finance Taskforce will publish a final report in September 2023.

The statement of requirements for Project Neptune clearly states, “the likelihood would be that the final report and recommendations will be published by Scottish Government. It is imperative that the content remains confidential until the Scottish Parliament has been informed.” By signing the Project Neptune contract on 9 of March 2021, the consultant, Ernst and Young, have agreed to requirements as set in the statement of requirements.

The redacted figures are considered to represent sensitive information as it originated from interviews with the Norwegian Government. As such, this information is not for Scottish Government to publish.