Chamber and committees

The draft National Planning Framework (NPF4) includes a strengthened planning policy position that seeks to proactively enable the reuse of vacant and derelict land and buildings and which notes that demolition should be regarded as the least preferred option. Re-use of vacant and derelict land and buildings has multiple benefits, including contributing to climate change targets.

The draft NPF4 was laid in the Scottish Parliament in November 2021 for a period of scrutiny through to next spring. A public consultation on the draft is running until the end of March 2022 and responses are invited to help inform the final NPF4 which will form part of the development plan and therefore inform priorities in local development plans and day to day planning decision making.

The Scottish Government is not able to provide legal advice. However, the making of a false statement on oath may involve the common law offence of perjury or a contravention of a statutory offence under section 44 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 .

Conducting proceedings in a manner amounting to an abuse of process may also involve contempt of court and result in the person responsible incurring a penalty. There is provision on penalties for contempt of court in section 15 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981.

The Scottish Government does not intend to review existing legislation in this area at the present time.

The Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 prohibits the display of tobacco related products inside retailer premises. No advertising of branded tobacco products is permitted either inside or outside a premise but stores are allowed to have generic, unbranded signs stating they sell tobacco on in-store gantries, and outside of buildings, however the latter is actively discouraged.

Any concerns around the compliance of a particular premises with Scottish law should be directed to the local authority. The Scottish Government provide funding of £1.34 million annually to councils for the enforcement of the legislation around the sale and purchase of tobacco and NVP’s. Local authority trading standards services treat the enforcement of legislation as a high priority issue.

The requested information on how many people were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), broken down by NHS board is not held centrally.

The Scottish Multiple Sclerosis Register provides information on new diagnoses of MS. The latest publication of the register shows 450 new patients with a confirmed diagnosis of MS were added to the MS Register in 2020.

We have established a process for individuals who have received one of their first coronavirus vaccinations outwith Scotland which allows them to upload official proof of vaccination from that country to their Scottish Vaccination record through NHS Inform . This will allow those individuals to receive a combined fully vaccinated status to show for international travel and domestic purposes.

Individuals who have been vaccinated in England or Wales can provide confirmation that they are fully vaccinated through NHS COVID Pass for domestic purposes.

A key component to freeing up bed capacity in our hospitals this winter is to reduce the level of delayed discharge and strengthen community services to help avoid acute admissions and maximise capacity. To support this, we are providing £300 million to bolster the workforce and help get people the care they need as quickly as possible this winter. Controlling Covid admissions will also be vital to freeing up hospital beds and helping those who are working so hard in the NHS and social care to keep us safe

We continue to work with NHS Boards and their partners to implement their winter plans which includes increasing the number of staffed beds available. Recruitment for this is underway across acute and community services to ensure best use of available resource.

In November I announced additional winter funding of £10 million for Health Boards to ensure resilience over winter. This funding will be targeted towards enhancing local teams. For example, the deployment of expert physio and occupational therapy staff at A&E units to help triage people best treated elsewhere.

Additionally, as part of our winter plan we’re providing boards with £10 million for two new specialist programmes which will speed up the hospital discharge process or provide an alternative to hospital care altogether.

As set out in our response to S6W-04807, we are working with industry, local government and environmental groups to develop the route map to deliver our waste and recycling targets for 2025. This work is critical in determining how the waste and resources sector will contribute towards lower carbon emissions in the period to 2030 and beyond, including considering the use of carbon-based recycling targets for local authorities.

It would be wrong of me to pre-empt that process, including formal consultation on findings and proposals, planned for the first half of 2022.

The mygov.scot portal for reporting allegations of benefit fraud to Social Security Scotland was launched on 24 August 2020.

A total of 429 reports have been submitted to Social Security Scotland through this portal. Of these, 173 were received in financial year 2020-21, and 256 so far in 2021-22 (up to and including 30 November).

Claims of bullying behaviour by civil servants are untrue. All members of the National Advisory Committee for Chronic Pain (NACCP) are free to make whatever contribution they wish to discussions.

All committee members are required to abide by the behaviours set out in the Terms of Reference, including the values of respect and mutual collaboration to agree recommendations to help improve care for people with chronic pain. If these behaviours and values were not met, this would be taken very seriously and addressed.

As at December 2021 four representatives of the Chronic Pain Patient Reference Group attending the NACCP had written to officials to resign their positions. Two resignations took place in June 2021, with one in each of October and November 2021. It would not be appropriate to divulge the specific reasons cited by each individual, however I am clear that officials acted on the relevant feedback provided.

For example, as a result we are currently reviewing existing stakeholder engagement processes and structures around our work on chronic pain, including the role of the NACCP. The outcome of this work is intended to ensure meaningful engagement to support the future delivery and implementation of the Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery following completion of the current public consultation.

The Open Market Shared Equity scheme is targeted at first time buyers on low to moderate incomes regardless of the source of their income. This includes those in employment and in receipt of benefits. In 2020-21, the average gross household income of beneficiaries was £27,000 and 43% of households had at least one child.