Chamber and committees

There were no costs incurred in setting up the Pain Management Task Force prior to meetings commencing in June 2022, beyond the pay of NHS staff and civil servants undertaking this work as a part of their role.

The Scottish Government has today published its response to the SLARC report and it is available at : https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781836014898 .

The Scottish Government has always recognised the importance of Scotland’s international connectivity and we are committed to working with all Scotland’s airports to help grow international connectivity.

Our International Strategy, published earlier this year, makes reference to that commitment and our overall ambition is for Scotland to be at least as well connected as peer nations.

Transport Scotland, along with VisitScotland and Scottish Development International, works to help Scotland’s airports grow international connectivity and secure new routes that are essential for inbound tourism, business connectivity and the economy as a whole. This includes work to grow our connectivity to the US and Canada given the importance of these links for business, exports and tourism. That role is a complementary one with each airport competing on their own merits for new routes and capacity.

Representatives from the Scottish Government recently took part in the route development forum Routes Europe 2024, meeting with a number of airlines to discuss future opportunities and promote Scotland as a market that can sustain more direct connectivity. We also have regular engagement with airlines to discuss future opportunities to further develop Scotland’s connectivity to North America. These discussions are commercially sensitive and I am unable to share specific details.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-28205 on‎ 5 July 2024. 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

Today, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has laid the multidisciplinary team's full report (SG/2024/132) in Parliament. The CMO is also writing to the Convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport committee to set out the findings of the multidisciplinary team. Given the significant interest, the full report and the CMO's letter will also be published on the Scottish Government website later today.

Pre-election guidance prevented this update from being provided in the run-up to the UK General Election, but a commitment was made to Parliament to provide this at the first opportunity after the restricted period ended.

The conclusions of the report will now be considered and used to improve gender identity healthcare for children and young people. The Scottish Government will update Parliament after recess.

In summer 2022, the Lines Between were commissioned to recruit, support and engage a diverse cross-section of people with chronic pain across Scotland to establish a Pain Management Panel to help inform the Pain Management Implementation Plan. The total cost of the contract with The Lines Between was £40,000 exclusive of VAT. The cost of formatting the report for publication on the Scottish Government website was £516.58.

There have been no costs specifically incurred in supporting the Pain Management Task Force and associated Short Life Working Groups for either the 2022-23, 2023-24 or 2024-25 financial years, beyond the pay of NHS staff and civil servants undertaking this work as a part of their role.

Employment of social workers rests with local authorities and the Scottish Government does not hold any information on numbers of renal social workers.

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to protecting and effectively managing 30% of Scotland’s land and seas for nature by 2030, halting the loss of biodiversity by 2030 and restoring and regenerating it by 2045, and we continue to pursue a wide range of actions to deliver this commitment.

The Scottish Government’s future legislative programme will be set out as part of the upcoming Programme for Government in due course.

The Scottish Government introduced asset transfer legislation as part of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. This landmark policy is the first of its kind in the UK and since its enactment on 23 January 2017 there has been more than 225 successful asset transfers agreed using these powers.

We are committed to ensuring that all our communities can access community assets, and are working with our partners to make sure our most vulnerable communities can access the assets they require to deliver important services and develop their own economies, wellbeing, and environments.

Our work with the Community Ownership Support Service (COSS) and the Barmulloch Community Development Company in Glasgow established a central hub which has supported 11 marginalised groups engage with the asset transfer process including the Bangla Centre, Spingburn, who were able to progress their asset transfer ambitions by accessing this targeted support.

As part of the current review of the Community Empowerment Act we have asked our partners and their networks to help us better understand the experiences of those involved in taking on community assets, including seeking the views of underrepresented groups.

We maintain a vision for a Scotland where all people – including black and minority ethnic communities, and migrants – have equal access to wealth, opportunities, and power.