Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government put in place and agreed a three year financial package in 2019-20 which sees an annual a fixed percentage uplift of 2.5% to the global sum each year of the current remuneration package. This ensures funding for continuous expansion in the quality and number of services that can be offered by community pharmacy contractors to local communities.

The Scottish Government have also invested £10 million over the course of the 3 year financial settlement in NHS Pharmacy First Scotland, seeing it increase the range of common clinical conditions which are able to be treated by the community pharmacist without the need to see a GP. We have also put in place a National Foundation Programme and Independent Prescriber Career Pathway. This pathway aims to maximise pharmacists’ expertise in medicines and, with the introduction of the new NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service, the opportunity for pharmacists to enhance patient care will further increase. Increasing the number of Independent Prescribers and establishing the core use of the IP qualification in the community setting will enhance the pharmacy networks’ role in the clinical pathway of patients.

The Scottish Government Health and Social Care Integrated Workforce Plan commits to increasing Pharmacy pre-registration training places by 120 over the next 4 years and we are currently increasing training places available for pharmacy technician training. Scottish Government will continue to work with partners to ensure not only the stability of the network but also that the balance of high quality pharmaceutical care is maintained across the whole pharmacy workforce in all sectors.

There were 42 proposed flood protection schemes set out in the Flood Risk Management Strategies published by SEPA in December 2015.

Of the 42 projects 8 have been completed.

The Chief Medical Officer issued guidance in his letter of 21 September on the vaccination of severely immunosuppressed individuals. This letter is published here: COVID-19 vaccination programme: JCVI advice on the vaccination of severely immunosuppressed individual (scot.nhs.uk) . On 19 October a tailored Primary Care Update communication was cascaded direct to primary care networks to ensure GPs and others were aware of arrangements for this cohort.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice on third primary doses is complex both in terms of eligibility and timing, as the ideal time for a third dose may differ from person to person. There has therefore been clear national communication to health boards to assist them in delivery to this cohort.

There are many rare conditions and guidance on specific conditions which may benefit from inclusion is not necessarily exhaustive. Where a condition is not on the list but a patient’s clinician believes they should be included, they can add people to the list and refer them for vaccination to their local health board, if in their judgement, they feel that their patient should be eligible for a third dose.

More information on this is available at: Coronavirus (COVID-19) third dose vaccination | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot).

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04237 on 6 December 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 .

Preventing litter is essential to protecting wildlife. We have taken steps to address increased litter of PPE as the result of the pandemic. Scottish Government’s “coronavirus (COVID-19): public use of face coverings guidance” also includes information on wearing reusable face coverings and disposing of face coverings.

Zero Waste Scotland has developed the “Face It: Reuse Beats Single Use” campaign which encourages the public to dispose of face coverings responsibly and wear reusable face coverings. This includes a toolkit of social media assets that can be shared by stakeholders. This initially ran in Spring 2021 and an updated campaign was launched on 2 December 2021.

That Scottish Government does not support the manufacture of munitions and Scottish Enterprise does not provide funding for the manufacture of munitions. The support provided is mainly focused on helping firms to diversify and develop civilian applications for their technology and ensure Scotland continues to benefit from the thousands of jobs in the defence, aerospace and shipbuilding sectors.

The licensing of arms exports is a reserved matter over which the Scottish Government has no control. We have impressed upon the UK Government our expectation to act responsibly as regards export licensing.

I refer the member to the answer given in S6W-00182 on 27 October 2021 with regard to how Scottish Enterprise undertake Due Diligence assessments when assessing business support. I understand that Scottish Enterprise have also reached out to the member with an offer to discuss how they support businesses operating in the defence sector and I would recommend that the member accepts that offer.

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 Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of pharmacies that have closed over the past 12 months nor reasons for closures. The provision of community pharmacy pharmaceutical care services are the responsibility of territorial Health Boards as set out in the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009, including pharmacy closures. Each Health Board holds separate data on those community pharmacies that have been unable to deliver pharmaceutical care services due to closures.

Any challenges faced by community pharmacies in ensuring the safe and effective dispensing of treatments should be discussed with the local Health Board.

The regulation of medicines and medicinal products, including Cannabis Based Products for Medicinal Use (CBPMs) is reserved to the UK Government, and is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The Scottish Government remains committed to helping build the evidence base around the safety, efficacy and quality of CBPMs.

CBPMs contain cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD). Any foods or food supplements containing a CBD must be evaluated for safety, authorised and approved as a novel food before they can be sold in Scotland. At this moment in time there are currently no CBD products that have been authorised for the GB market under the novel foods regulation. You can find more information on Food Standards Scotland's website here .

The Scottish Government funds advice services through a combination of longstanding funding relationships that ensure continuity of services, such as those delivered by Citizens Advice Scotland and the network of Citizens Advice Bureaux, or through a bidding process for funds aligned to specific policy objectives. All bid-in funds have their own assessment criteria based on the needs of the policy areas with responsibility for the funding programme, however all grant funding offered from the Scottish Government must adhere to the rules set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

As was the case for the disposal of the former HMP Peterhead site, SPS will dispose of the site at HMP Barlinnie in accordance with Scottish Government policy which is set out in guidance within the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

Thereafter, it will be for any potential purchaser to determine the future use of the site in conjunction with the relevant Planning Authority.