Chamber and committees

Vapes and e-cigarettes are subject to the provisions of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 (the WEEE regulations). As such, anybody who sells a vape or e-cigarette to a consumer has obligations including to accept the return of WEEE from private households subject to certain conditions.

Guidance for retailers subject to these obligations, including on how to join a scheme which will discharge this obligation on a retailer’s behalf, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/electricalwaste-producer-supplier-responsibilities

I have commissioned an urgent review of the environmental impacts and management of single-use vapes. Zero Waste Scotland will lead on the review, which will examine available evidence and consider potential options to tackle the issue.

The review will consider of a range of approaches and implementation considerations, including the role of local authorities and others in helping to ensure responsible recycling and disposal, as well as enforcement issues.

We will consider the evidence and expert advice and bring forward policy options in due course.

The Women’s Health Plan focusses on a specific set of priorities including enhancing care and support for those with endometriosis. Whilst chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs) are not specifically mentioned in the priorities for this iteration of the Plan, we recognise that many women are significantly affected by the condition.

In addition, we have commissioned the Health and Social Care Alliance to take forward a programme of work on lived experience in order to put the voices of women at the heart of the Plan.

We recognise that research is essential if we are to increase our understanding of endometriosis and develop new and effective approaches to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of this debilitating condition. That is why we are jointly funding a £250,000 research project with Wellbeing of Women, which aims to develop improvements into treatment and management options for the condition.

We will raise awareness and support the implementation of the new Endometriosis Referral Pathway for NHS Scotland developed by the Modernising Patient Pathways Programme. The Pathway aims to ensure those with endometriosis receive individualised treatment in relation to their symptoms by improving earlier intervention and support within primary care, streamline referrals to secondary and tertiary care where required.

Our Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan, backed by £70m investment, was published on 30 November 2021 and focusses on key areas such as Balancing Demand and Capacity; Workforce Training and Development; and Infrastructure Innovation and Redesign. This will be achieved through the implementation of key actions that are focused on reducing the waiting times back to the 6-week target during the life time of this Parliament.

In addition, in July last year, we introduced ambitious targets for NHS Scotland to address the backlog of planned care, undoubtedly exacerbated by the pandemic. We are working intensively with NHS Boards to maximise capacity and to clear remaining waits as soon as possible, with a specific focus on specialities and areas where there are larger amounts of people waiting, including Urology.

The Scottish Government is providing local authorities with funding to make free school lunches available, during school term-time, to all children in primaries 1 to 5 and in special schools. This policy has given 280,723 children access to nutritionally balanced school lunches, as well as eligible pupils in primary 6 to secondary 6, saving families approximately £400 per child, per year.

On 15 December 2022, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery announced the next phase of our free school meals expansion programme which will see them being made available for children in primaries 6 and 7 whose families are in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment.

Also announced was £21.75 million for local authorities to provide assistance with the cost of buying food during the 2023-24 school holidays to all families who are eligible for free school meals on the basis of low income.

The Scottish Government contributes funding to national activity to support Meal Makers and Eat Well Age Well (EWAW), which are projects provided by Food Train .

Meal Makers connects older people locally with volunteers who are happy to deliver and share extra portions of a home cooked meal. It is designed to enhance an older person’s existing food intake with fresh nutritious home cooked meals, provide them with regular social contact and help reduce their risk of malnutrition and associated health impacts. EWAW is a national, five-year project of Food Train to support the prevention of malnutrition and dehydration among older people in the community. It began in early 2018, and quickly became the country’s leading project addressing and improving the prevention, detection and treatment of malnutrition among older people.

We have provided £2.4m funding in 2022/23 to support people struggling over this winter. We know the costs crisis is impacting those on the lowest incomes the hardest, with food price inflation at 16.4% and food bank demand in Scotland up 34% compared to this time last year. This funding is providing vital support, including helping people access emergency cash in their local communities so they can buy the food they need. The funding has the potential to directly reach 7,500 people, and many more will benefit than this, as the Corra Foundation and Fareshare will between them distribute it further to an estimated 900 organisations.

This is in addition to the almost £3bn we have allocated in this financial year that will be helping households face the increased cost of living, including £1bn for services and financial support not available elsewhere in the UK. We are investing £41m in the Scottish Welfare Fund each year to provide a vital safety net for those facing an emergency or crisis.

Throughout the 1140 hours expansion the Scottish Government has sought to improve conditions across the private, third and childminding workforce delivering funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC). This includes our investment to support local authorities to set sustainable rates at a level that enables payment of the real Living Wage to those workers delivering funded ELC. Payment of the real Living Wage is a key measure in tackling in work poverty, and Scotland is the only part of the UK to apply this to the ELC sector.

Overview of Local Authority Funding and Support for Early Learning and Childcare Providers: 2022-23 , highlights that average rates paid to providers in the private and third sector to deliver funded ELC to 3-5 year olds have increased by 57% between 2017 and 2022, from £3.68 per hour in 2017-18 to £5.77 per hour in 2022-23.

The investment for the payment of sustainable rates has supported real progress in pay. For example, in 2016, before the ELC expansion to 1140 hours, the Financial Review of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland estimated that approximately 80% of practitioners delivering funded ELC in private and third sector providers were paid less than the real Living Wage.

The Financial Sustainability Health Check , published in August 2021, reported that 88% of private and third sector providers delivering funded ELC intended to pay the real Living Wage to all of their staff from August 2021.

However, public funding and Scottish Government policy can only effect a certain amount of change in pay. The childcare market is a mixed economy - the August 2021 Financial Sustainability Health Check reported that funding for the delivery of funded ELC accounted for, on average, around 33%-45% of overall income for private childcare services – and employers in the private and third sectors are responsible for making their own decisions about pay and conditions.

We are working with partners and sector representatives, including through our Real Living Wage and Fair Work Implementation Group, to understand any barriers to paying the real Living Wage and to ensuring all childcare staff perform their essential work under terms and conditions which meet Fair Work criteria.

Since August 2021 the Scottish Government has funded 1140 hours of high-quality early learning and childcare (ELC) for all eligible children. Scotland is the only part of the UK to offer 1140 hours a year of funded ELC to all three- and four-year-olds - and eligible two-year-olds regardless of whether their parents are in work or not, putting children first. If families paid for this offer themselves, it would cost them around £5,000 per eligible child per year.

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) are focused on drug treatment as the primary means of reducing offending behaviour, by reducing or eliminating drug dependency. DTTOs allow drug testing and regular court reviews as features of a community disposal, and their effective delivery involves ongoing medical and other support services.

Where DTTOs are available, their supervision is a matter for local authorities, working in collaboration with relevant health services to ensure that support and treatment is provided, and arrangements vary by local area. The Scottish Government therefore does not hold the information requested.

However, in response to the Drug Deaths Taskforce Report and as noted in the cross government action plan published on 12 January, the Scottish Government will carry out a review of DTTOs, community payback orders and other community sentencing options to assess how they have been used, their outcomes and whether they are the most effective mechanism to support an individual’s recovery and reduce recidivism rates. The aim is to report in spring 2023.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-14172 on‎ 31 January 2023. 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 primary purpose of Cross Party Groups is to provide Members with a forum to consider matters of public interest, normally involving people from outwith the parliament to provide expert or stakeholder input to discussions. Cross Party Groups are welcome to request factual briefings on Scottish Government policy positions. It is expected that officials will meet with the Cross-Party Group on Chronic Pain in the coming weeks to provide an update on work to progress the actions set out in the Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery – Implementation Plan.

We are committed to ensuring that people living with respiratory conditions such as asthma receive the best possible care and treatment. Our Respiratory Care Action Plan sets out our vision for driving improvement in the prevention, diagnosis, care, treatment and support of respiratory conditions, including asthma. The Plan can be found by following the link: Respiratory care - action plan: 2021 to 2026 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

We know that factors such as cold homes, smoking and vaccination are key to managing respiratory conditions and as such, support NHS Boards with preventative strategies. The flu and COVID-19 vaccination programme was extended to offer free vaccines to over 3 million people in Scotland this year, including those with asthma.

We are also ensuring that the issue of warm homes is being tackled. We have pledged almost £3 billion in this financial year alone to support families and households facing the increased cost of living. We have doubled the Fuel Insecurity Fund to £20 million to ensure support continues to be available to people affected by the rising costs of energy.