Chamber and committees

The audit will provide enhanced information on where empty properties are located to help determine the prospects of bringing them back into use and enable better targeting and design of future interventions. The scoping exercise is currently underway and we anticipate that the audit will complete in early 2023.

A breakdown of the various crime types is provided in the following table, please note that we are unable to separate alcohol offences from drug related offences in some crime groups.

People convicted of offences related to driving under the influence (where main crime), 2015-16 to 2019-20.

The National Referral Mechanism is the UK-wide framework for identifying victims of human
trafficking and exploitation and ensuring they receive appropriate support. The NRM is
operated by the Single Competent Authority and Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority
within the Home Office.

NRM data can be accessed via the Modern Slavery: National Referral Mechanism statistics which
contains records back to 2013.

In terms of police recorded crime statistics, there is no single crime of slavery. However multiple
types of crime involve, or can involve, slavery. A list of these is provided below. Further information
on slavery related activity is also available from the Anti-Slavery Commissioner, within their
Annual Report . The data the Scottish Government receives from Police Scotland is a general count
of the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police, split by local authority. We do not receive
further details on the characteristics of these cases, including the number of victims.

Slavery or forced labour

Human organ offences

Immoral traffic

Procuration (excluding homosexual offences)

Procuration (homosexual offences)

Breach of trafficking and exploitation order

Most of these crime types fall under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015.
This came into effect on 31 May 2016, with the first recorded crimes falling in the 2016-17 recording
year (see Table One below). Prior to this act there were no straightforward means to track crimes of
slavery.

Table 2 shows the number of Immoral traffic and Procuration-based crimes recorded in Scotland since
1999 (both of which are classified as crimes associated with prostitution). It should be noted that the
same crimes are shown in Tables 1 and 2 for Immoral traffic over 2016-17 to 2020-21. This is because
the data we hold does not identify which crimes of Immoral traffic relate to the Human Trafficking and
Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, and which relate to earlier legislation.

Table 1 – Recorded crimes under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015,
Scotland, 2016-17 to 2020-21

The Scottish Government welcomes the focus in the report on the delivery of high quality, accessible homes in sustainable communities and recognition of the broader contribution that housing can play in terms of people's health and well-being.

The current functions of SQA will continue and staff working in those functions will continue to carry out their work, as they currently do. We recognise and appreciate the valuable skills, experience and knowledge held by all staff across SQA, and a primary consideration in the reform process will be in making the most of these attributes in the future. As decisions are made about the roles that are needed in the successor bodies, a process will be taken forward to enable matching of current staff to roles - this process will be designed with the input of staff and trade unions and the underpinning commitment to protecting terms and conditions, and no compulsory redundancies as a direct result of reform, will be in place.

We will continue to work closely with staff, facilitated through existing arrangements including via recognised trade unions, to develop the transitions framework and timeline for implementation and to consider impact on groups of staff and individual posts, including identifying suitable redeployment opportunities if they are needed. TUPE and/or COSOP will apply, and as the activities currently carried out by existing bodies move to new bodies, the staff carrying out those activities who are deemed to be in scope of transfer will transfer.

Further detail on programme structures will be published in spring.

We published our NHS Recovery Plan on 25 August 2021, which sets out our ambition of increasing NHS capacity by at least 10% as quickly as possible in order to address the backlog of care and meet the ongoing healthcare needs for people across Scotland.

Backed by over £1 billion of funding, the Plan will support an increase in inpatient, daycase, and outpatient activity to address the backlog of care, which will be supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements through new models of care.

Health Boards’ elective activity is being actively monitored through daily and weekly returns to the Scottish Government and support provided where required.

Additional support needs, as defined under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Act 2004 (as amended), arise if a child or young person is, or is likely to be, unable without the provision of additional support to benefit from school education. An additional support need can be of short or long-term duration. Under the Act, education authorities are required to identify, provide for and to review the additional support needs of their pupils. Local authorities are supported to carry out their duties under the Act by the statutory Supporting Learners’ Code of Practice.

Under the Act, a formal diagnosis is not required in order for support to be provided. The Pupil census: supplementary statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) , published on 15 March 2022 includes the latest information and a local authority level breakdown of the reasons why additional support was provided. The data collected does not distinguish between support not being provided and a need being identified and support not being in place.

Our £44m Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme adopts a whole-systems approach to diagnosing and treating cancer as early as possible – ranging from screening and public awareness campaigns to diagnostics and data. The NHS Recovery Plan, published August 2021, commits an additional £20m for the Programme. A symptom-checker tool is included on the DCE website (getcheckedearly.org) to raise awareness of the early signs and symptoms of cancer, including ovarian cancer.

An Early Cancer Diagnosis Programme Board has been formed, Chaired by Dr Catherine Calderwood, National Clinical Director at the Centre for Sustainable Delivery. This group will be responsible for shaping and supporting the delivery of Scotland’s early diagnosis agenda over the coming years, including any additional public awareness campaigns. Research is currently being undertaken to better understand the possible barriers and levers to early diagnosis that any new DCE campaigns should focus on, with results expected in April.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-007334 on 25 March 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 .

Since 2015 we have committed over £500,000 in funding to the Scottish Huntington’s Association (SHA) towards the development of the national care framework for Huntington’s Disease (HD) and in funding towards the organisation’s specialist support services and initiatives to raise awareness of the condition.

I was pleased to meet with the SHA on 10 November 2021 to discuss motion S6M-00923, the progress on the Framework for HD and to understand the provision of specialist services in Scotland. We will continue to work with NHS, third sector partners and people affected by Huntington’s Disease to drive up standards of care.