Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35332 on 5 March 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35332 on 5 March 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

As set out in paragraph 10.18 of the Scottish Ministerial Code, a monthly list of engagements carried out by all Ministers is published three months in arrears. Detailed arrangements for recording contacts with external organisations and individuals, including outside interest groups and lobbyists, are set out in paragraphs 4.22 to 4.24 of the Code, and paragraphs 9.27 to 9.31 provide further guidance on contact with commercial companies. Ministers attach the highest priority to complying with their obligations under the Code.

In the case of established consultants, any decision to allow a doctor to undertake a period of additional training abroad is made by the Health Board as the employer and would be based on patient and service need.

This is standard practice across NHS Scotland.

I would also refer to answer S5W-35181 on 12 February 2021 where I have expressed my support for the work being taken forward to introduce a GMC-approved credential in mesh removal. This will recognise the skills of our surgeons. It will, in addition, highlight training needs if they exist and will allow these to be addressed. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-29926 on 16 June 2020, The Scottish Government has made £1 million available for the mesh fund. Over 400 applications have been received to date. Payments totalling just under £397,000 have been made so far, with payments amounting to a further £20,000 pending. Applications are permitted up to the 31 May 2021 and, as such, continue to be received. It cannot therefore be known at this stage what the total amount claimed will be.

In response to S5W-33641, answered on 5 January 2021, I indicated that I had asked NHS National Services Scotland (NHS NSS) to actively consider whether options are available for the commissioning of mesh removal services outside of the NHS. I can now confirm that, as set out in a letter to Parliament's Public Petitions Committee on 17 February, NHS NSS intends shortly to issue an invitation to tender for specified mesh removal services. Persons and centres in the UK and from overseas may submit a tender. Standard procedures will be followed, as set by NHS NSS, and any treatment commissioned as a consequence of this process will be provided free of charge to patients.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has provided regular updates on the number of prisoners who have tested positive with Covid-19 throughout the pandemic. As this information relates to the number of active positive cases within prisons on a given day, rather than the number of people who have newly tested positive over a specified time period, it is not possible to calculate an infection rate in the same way as would be calculated for the population across Scotland more generally. SPS publish the number of active cases daily, you can access this information through Scottish Prison Service (sps.gov.uk) .

Consistent with the wider community and in line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation clinical guidance, which prioritises those most at risk, vaccination of prison staff and prisoners who are eligible has commenced by Health Boards. We anticipate reaching everyone on the JCVI priority list by mid-April, subject to supply.

The locations for vaccinations are chosen to maximise the number we can vaccinate while making it as accessible and easy as possible for people to come to their appointment.

We intend that as we contact each priority group we ensure that everyone is able to make appointments to receive their vaccine as quickly as possible. In addition, we are working closely with our local NHS Boards; the armed services; Local Authority and other key organisations such as St John’s Ambulance Service to ensure that the vaccine programme is supported locally and we can offer additional support to help people such as transport to the vaccination centre where that is needed.

Alternative options for vaccination are also available for those who are clinically vulnerable, housebound or with mobility-related issues. Local health boards can arrange a more local solution which would be either at their GP Practice or to be vaccinated in their own home.

The locations for vaccinations are chosen to maximise the number we can vaccinate while making it as accessible and easy as possible for people to come to their appointment.

As we contact each priority group we aim to ensure that everyone is able to make appointments to receive their vaccine as quickly as possible. In addition, we are working closely with our local NHS Boards; the armed services; Local Authority and other key organisations such as St John’s Ambulance Service to ensure that the vaccine programme is supported locally and we can offer additional support to help people such as transport to the vaccination centre where that is needed.

The safety of children is always paramount, and our children and young people have the right to be protected from all forms of harm. The Scottish Government budget for 2021-22 includes £2.066m specifically for Child Protection. This funding will allow the Scottish Government to continue its financial support across various policy areas, to support action to tackle child abuse and children subjected to domestic violence. This includes continued funding to our third sector partners: Children 1st, Barnardo’s Scotland, NSPCC, Childline, The Moira Anderson Foundation and Stop It Now! Scotland.

We recognise that providing early support to families is the most effective form of protection and are funding a range of work to enable delivery of prevention and early intervention activities, and improve parenting capacity and family support. This includes providing £14m core funding in each of the last 5 years to strengthen early intervention and prevention to better protect children and young people in Scotland from abuse and neglect. In addition, we have committed over £0.5 billion to protect people and communities impacted by Covid. This includes a £50m Wellbeing Fund to help charities and others who require additional capacity to work with at-risk people who may be worst affected by the crisis and NSPCC Childline received £60k from this Fund to support those children most vulnerable to abuse.

We are investing over £12 million over 2020/21 from the Equality and Human Rights Budget to support a range of projects and initiatives- including services that support women and children affected by domestic abuse- and have offered this indicatively until September 2021.

The Scottish Government agrees with the WAVE Trust that it is imperative to reduce the number of children and young people who have been subjected to abuse, or who have witnessed domestic violence. The safety and wellbeing of Scotland’s children is an utmost priority for the Scottish Government, with activity currently taking place through Government-supported work streams across Health, Justice, Equalities, Education and Policing.

The Scottish Government is already fully committed to a wide range of action to reduce the number of children and young people who have been subjected to abuse, or who have witnessed domestic violence, including through Scotland's Serious Organised Crime Strategy, Scotland’s Cyber Resilience Learning and Skills Action Plan, Scotland’s refreshed Digital Strategy, the National Action Plan on Internet Safety for Children and Young People, the Curriculum for Excellence, Equally Safe, the Child Protection Improvement Programme, the revision of the National Child Protection Guidance and the Joint Strategy for Policing.

Action to tackle child abuse is strengthened further by the incorporation into Scots Law of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and through Scotland’s GIRFEC approach. We continue our funding commitments to strengthen early intervention and prevention to better protect children and young people in Scotland from abuse and neglect.