Chamber and committees

The Transvaginal Mesh Removal (Cost Reimbursement) (Scotland) Bill was introduced on 23 June 2021. It is published on the Scottish Parliament website .

The Tenant Hardship Loan Fund is operated and administered on behalf of the Scottish Government by Energy Savings Trust (EST), using a variation of an existing contract. EST carry out affordability checks based on the income and expenditure information provided by the applicant. Initial credit scoring is undertaken by Credit Safe which is powered by TransUnion. Applicants can appeal the credit scoring and in this process a separate credit score is obtained from Credit Karma. This ensures that any error in the original credit check does not impact final decision-making.

All costs associated with operation and administration of the Tenant Hardship Loan Fund are with EST. These costs form part of a wider contract and are commercial-in-confidence, although these can be shared in confidence with the Finance and Constitution Committee where appropriate.

The Scottish Government does not hold any trend data for grey partridge across Scotland, due to low sample size in the Breeding Bird Survey annual monitoring scheme. The UK trend shows a 64% decline over the period 1995-2018. The more recent 10-year trend (2008-2018) is lower at a 34% decline.

528 applications have been approved and when the next payment is made in July, £534,359 will have been paid from the Scottish Government mesh fund. This includes fees paid to GPs for providing proof of complications.

The reports of a possible decline in the capercaillie population are concerning and underline the need to continue to focus efforts on partnership work to tackle threats to the species. We recognise the central importance of biodiversity and our commitment to addressing the twin challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change is unwavering.

We are taking action to address the decline in capercaillie by providing specific support from the forestry grant scheme with funding of over £300,000 between 2016 and 2025, as well as funding of £780,000 through the previous rural priority scheme’s capercaillie package.

NatureScot is also supporting the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project, which is piloting innovative community-led capercaillie conservation. Empowering local communities to develop solutions to recreation management in capercaillie woods is a new approach that has real potential to help the birds. NatureScot will also review the scientific evidence on the key factors affecting capercaillie and feed this into its work with all project partners going forward.

The Complex Pelvic Mesh Removal Service in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC) is managed through a Service Level Agreement with NHS National Services Scotland (NSS). The service reports to NSS on a number of indicators, including patient experience data, any significant adverse events and waiting times. This information will be used for comparison across the UK specialist centres, and will support quality assurance and improvement.

In addition, NHS Scotland is taking part in the development of a UK-wide Pelvic Floor Registry, which will aim to monitor and improve patient safety. It will record surgical mesh implants, and related medical devices, given to patients, and the organisations and surgeons that have carried out the procedures.

The registry will also collect information about patients that receive alternative procedures that do not include a medical device or implant so that outcomes can be compared and complications can be understood.

The main aim of the registry is to improve patient safety. It will mean that patients can be traced in the event of a product recall or safety concern relating to a specific type of implant or treatment. Outcomes data collected by the registry will also be used to improve procedures offered to future patients.

NHS Scotland will pilot the registry in Scotland and the NHS GGC will be involved.

We are committed to increasing the Scottish Land Fund (SLF) to £20m by the end of this parliament and the profile for this is currently being considered as part of the ongoing budget.

The SLF provides important support to communities and between 2016 and 2021, 232 groups were awarded a total of £39m. However, it is not the only source of funding available and we would encourage any community to consider all avenues when seeking to fund acquisition.

Although the Scottish Government’s Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) does not have any options specifically for grey partridge, it does provide funding for options that benefit the habitats of grey partridge, namely:

• Beetlebanks,
• Creation of Hedgerows,
• Management or restoration of existing hedgerows,
• Forage Brassica Crops for Farmland Birds,
• Grass Strips in Arable Fields
• Retention of Winter Stubble for Wildlife and Water Quality
• Species Rich Grassland Creation and Management
• Species Rich Grassland Management only
• Stubbles followed by Green Manure in an Arable Rotation
• Unharvested Conservation Headlands for Wildlife
• Wild Bird Seed for Farmland Birds

The Scottish Government has committed to spending £66.16m towards these options from 2016 through to 2025. 1,838 businesses have these options in their AECS contracts, with over 29,000 Ha due to be managed throughout Scotland in 2021.

Further information about the scheme and how to apply can be found at Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (ruralpayments.org)

This information is not held centrally. It is the responsibility of territorial Health Boards to ensure there is adequate provision of NHS Pharmaceutical Care Services, working with community pharmacy contractors listed on the Boards Pharmaceutical List.

The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 set out the responsibilities for community pharmacy contractors to notify Health Boards when there are instances in which the contractor is unable to provide those NHS services.

The Scottish Government hold regular meetings with Community Pharmacy Scotland, the recognised representative body of community pharmacy contractors in Scotland as set out in the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2009. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and over the last 12 months, Scottish Government officials and Community Pharmacy Scotland representatives have met on a bi-weekly cycle to discuss a range of issues related to the community pharmacy network in Scotland.

In the last 12 months, Scottish Government officials have met with the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists on two occasions and the Pharmacists Defence Association on two occasions.