Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government are committed to improving outcomes for people living with diabetes in Scotland. Our Diabetes Improvement Plan contains specific commitments to raise awareness of the dangers of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and also has a significant focus on equity of access to care and services. This can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/diabetes-improvement-plan-diabetes-care-scotland-commitments-2021-2026/documents/ .

DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) happens when there is severe lack of insulin in the body. When this happens, chemicals called ketones are released, and can be extremely serious if left untreated. We are working collaboratively with clinical teams, third sector and people living with diabetes to relaunch the national education campaign: Think, Test, Telephone. This campaign is designed to support people living with Type 1 diabetes to better understand the risks of DKA and how to avoid it. We will continue to capture and track data on SCI-Diabetes to assess the impact of this on DKA rates.

Treatments for diabetes are complex and multifaceted. Many treatments require people to go through a formal education programme in order to self-manage their condition from home. This means there are many barriers facing people living with diabetes and in particular, those living in areas of deprivation or people that have English as a second language.

We are committed to understanding these barriers and are working in partnership with Diabetes Scotland and the Alliance to ensure the needs of people living with diabetes are fully understood. We will take targeted action to ensure equity of access across Scotland and share progress of this using data from SCI-diabetes.

When a decision is made on the timing of a Crofting Bill, consideration can be given to what other measures might be useful to support that work.

Our approach during the pandemic has been to permit as much sport and physical activity as much as possible in a safe way, in particular prioritising under eighteen sport. The Scottish Government is in discussion with key stakeholders involved in the provision of swimming lessons and water safety education. We recognise the importance of swimming lessons in helping to build water confidence and learning to be safe in and around water, as well as the benefits swimming provides to physical and mental health.

We do not currently hold this information.

The Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed that the whole play estate will be considered and all play parks that have been identified for refurbishment in line with nationally agreed principles and influenced by local plans and investment priorities will be refurbished over the course of parliamentary term.

The Scottish Government has met its 100 days commitment and agreed the first £5 million allocation of funding to local authorities and we will continue working with COSLA and local authority partners to agree the allocation of the remainder of the funding over the course of this parliamentary term.

We are continuing work with COSLA to establish a reporting process to track the progress of refurbishment within each local authority and a suite of national principles to underpin and provide a framework for the play park refurbishment programme. The principles will ensure that local authorities prioritise the needs of all children and young people, key to this will be the engagement of children, young people, and families at each stage of the process. The national principles will set out how local authorities should review their existing estate, prioritise refurbishment work, and design play parks that offer improved play opportunities for all children and families.

The funding distribution and allocations are provided in the following table:

We recognise that the opportunities for physical activity, particularly for organised sport, have been significantly affected by the restrictions. Our approach during the pandemic has been to permit as much sport and physical activity as much as possible in a safe way, in particular prioritising under eighteen sport, recognising the importance to both physical and mental health.

Our Programme for Government commits to doubling investment in sport and active living to £100 million a year by the end of this Parliament. That investment will enable us to rebuild capacity and resilience in the sector following the pandemic, and ensure we address inequalities in access to physical activity and sport.

sportscotland works in partnership with all 32 local authorities to invest in and support the Active Schools Network. Over the coming year, we will also work with sportscotland on the next steps to ensure that Active Schools programmes are free for all children and young people by the end of this Parliament, providing them with more opportunities to take part in sport before, during and after school.

We invested over £20m in our Get into Summer Programme across Local Authorities and 18 National Partners to support the wellbeing and mental health of those children and young people most impacted by Covid. This included funding of £1.4m to sportscotland for Active Schools coordinators, Sports Development officers and Community Sport Hub officers to enhance opportunities for all children and young people to participate in activities and experiences over the summer.

There a number of routes into drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation treatment that do not always involve the Alcohol and Drug Partnerships or NHS services.

While the information requested is not currently held centrally, the Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland to develop a monitoring system which will include reporting on number of people accessing residential rehabilitation treatment from each Alcohol and Drugs Partnership area.

Getting people into the treatment and recovery that is right for them at the right time is at the core of our national mission to save and improve lives. £100 million of the additional £250 million funding announced as part of the National Mission will support further investment in - and expansion of - residential rehabilitation and associated aftercare over the next five years.

Scotland did not vote to leave the EU, but the UK’s departure means that there is now a trade border between Scotland and the EU. While our preference remains to have tariff and barrier free trade with the EU, as a responsible Government, the Scottish Government started work to build a Border Control Post (BCP) to apply devolved sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls on EU goods arriving into Scotland through the Loch Ryan ferry routes from Belfast and Larne. Work began to consider our needs in this regard last autumn, including appropriate engagement and liaison with UK Government. Dumfries and Galloway Council and other devolved administration officials to determine the scope, scale and specification of what might be required as a BCP for these Loch Ryan routes. During this time, I have sought assurances from the UK Government regarding the funding for this infrastructure and the effect of its approach to guaranteeing access for Northern Ireland goods to the market in Great Britain (Phase 2 Unfettered Access) on transiting EU goods.

In the absence of any such assurances from the UK Government, and given the enduring uncertainty surrounding the UK Government’s approach to the Northern Ireland Protocol, I have taken the decision to pause the construction of the BCP until there is greater clarity on the long term funding, the need for this infrastructure, and more information about the timescales when controls might come into effect. Once we have greater clarity, work on the BCP can recommence with a view to completion to accommodate Phase 2 Unfettered Access should that be introduced. Contingency plans are also being made to enable SPS checks to take place away from the ports, should that be needed. I will update Parliament of any relevant developments relating to this BCP.

The UK Government’s decision unilaterally to further postpone the introduction of border controls adds to this uncertainty. That decision was made without any prior or meaningful engagement with the Devolved Administrations, which I have continued to push for recently at an Inter-Ministerial Group meeting on 13 September and in a separate call with UK Ministers on 14 September. We have advised Dumfries and Galloway Council and will continue to engage with them regularly.