Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government continues to take forward the recommendations of the Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism in Scotland which were reviewed positively by Professor Duncan Morrow in March 2017. The work has been focussed and delivered through education projects in schools, colleges, communities and workplaces for children and adults.

It is important that we all take responsibility to do more to rid Scotland of bigotry and prejudice. The Scottish Government is fully committed to tackling sectarianism in Scotland and have invested an unprecedented £15 million since 2012 including £557,000 in 2021- 22.

The vast majority of medicinal cannabis products remain unlicensed with a limited, or non-existent, peer-reviewed clinical evidence base. Under the current rules, only specialist doctors on the General Medical Council’s specialist register can prescribe cannabis-based products where there is clear published evidence of benefit. We are encouraging companies to participate in clinical trials so that these products can be tested for quality, safety and efficacy and brought forward for approval through the medicine regulatory and health technology assessments processes. This will enable these products to be readily available through the NHS – provided they met the clinical safety requirements for licencing and the clinical and cost effectiveness approval for routine use in the NHS.

The Scottish Government is actively working with partners and people with lived experience to develop Scotland’s approach to self-harm; this is a commitment in the Mental Health Transition and Recovery plan.

In developing our approach we are considering how best to deliver our objective to ensure compassionate, trauma informed responses to people in distress who self-harm, whilst also reducing stigma.

Our initial work on self-harm included commissioning Samaritans Scotland to undertake research, which resulted in the publication of ‘Hidden too long: uncovering self-harm in Scotland’ ( https://media.samaritans.org/documents/HiddenTooLong_uncoveringself-harminScotland.pdf ). In line with that research, we have continued to engage with partners and people with lived experience to better understand the prevalence and nature of self-harm. Through the Mental Health Recovery and Renewal fund, work is being commissioned to pilot self-harm support services, develop a website to support people who self-harm and design a programme of learning for professionals. Crucially, this research, engagement and evaluation from pilots will inform our policy approach.

As was announced in the programme for government, we will open a Scottish Government office in Copenhagen next year to increase Scotland’s economic and cultural visibility in the Nordic region. In this parliamentary session, we will also open an office in Warsaw, as part of our continued commitment to enhancing our external reach and voice.

We anticipate that the new offices will be similar in budget and staffing numbers to existing Scottish Government overseas offices. The budget for these additional offices will be established as part of ongoing planning processes and upcoming budget considerations.

A list of organisations which provided advice or information as part of the development of the guidance is contained within ‘ Supporting transgender young people in schools: guidance for Scottish schools’ . They include:

• Association of Directors of Education Scotland
• Children in Scotland
• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
• Education Scotland
• Engender
• LGBT Youth Scotland
• National Parent Forum of Scotland
• Rape Crisis Scotland
• Sportscotland
• Stonewall Scotland
• Scottish Transgender Alliance

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-02838 on 21 September 2021. 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 .

Yes.

A public consultation on the draft Framework for Chronic Pain Service Delivery is expected to begin this Autumn. We are grateful for the input provided to date by people with lived experience, clinical, third-sector and other stakeholders in helping us to shape this draft and welcome further feedback as part of the public consultation in order to help us improve services and support for people with chronic pain in Scotland.

By developing Carbon Neutral Islands that attract jobs and investment, the project aims to retain and bring more people to Scottish islands. It will be informed by the development of the Islands Bond policy and align with Strategic Objective One of the National Islands Plan which states that we will address population decline and ensure a healthy, balanced population profile.

To relieve some pressure on acute services, NHS Highland took the decision to pause their orthopaedic elective programme through August, and the board are continuing to treat patients on the basis of their clinical urgency and in line with the Clinical Prioritisation Framework.

Last year the Cabinet Secretary for Health and sport published a national Clinical Prioritisation Framework for Supporting Elective Care across NHS Scotland. This Framework sets out the key principles that NHS Boards should follow when considering decisions around prioritising cases on their elective care waiting lists during the COVID-19 pandemic. The expectation is that NHS Boards will follow these principles to categorise patients based on their particular clinical needs, ensuring patients with the greatest need are treated quickest.

We are working proactively with health boards to manage pressures and take rapid action to support increased capacity, including expedited recruitment, flexible deployment of existing staffing and supporting mutual aid across the system.

Moving forward, our NHS Recovery Plan sets out commitments over the next 5 years, backed by over £1 billion of funding, to support an increase in inpatient, daycase, and outpatient activity to address backlogs, which will be supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements and new models of care.