Chamber and committees

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

HMP Glasgow will deliver safe and secure accommodation, with maximum possible benefit and opportunity to those who live and work there, as well as the surrounding communities.

The new prison will provide a better quality of living environment and enable strong relationships with staff and those in our care. Based on the current plans, HMP Glasgow has a design capacity of 1344.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25368 on‎ 26 February 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 .

The Scottish Government is committed to improving access to abortion services, underpinned by aims outlined in the Women’s Health Plan. Progress has been made in particular by updating Scottish Abortion Care Providers guidance on early medical abortions in Scotland to take account of the recommendations of the March 2023 evaluation of early medical abortion at home .

One of the actions in the Women’s Health plan is working with NHS Boards to enable all women having later stage abortions to be treated in Scotland.

The Scottish Government commissioned National Services Scotland (NSS) to develop a specification to deliver abortions between 20-24 weeks gestation, for all indications, within Scotland. This options paper was discussed at the National Planning and Delivery Board.

To enable a decision on the most feasible way of delivering this, it was agreed that a short life working group should work with key groups of staff in Health Boards and bring back recommendations to the Planning and Delivery Board. Once proposals for a service model have been agreed by that Board any staff training requirements will be considered as part of that.

The Women’s Health Champion, Professor Anna Glasier, has not met with the First Minister. The Champion meets with myself on a quarterly basis.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25368 on‎ 26 February 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 .

This is a matter for Public Health Scotland (PHS) as our national health protection body. Given the serious nature of measles and the current risk of importation and onward transmission, the Scottish Government is working with Public Health Scotland and NHS Boards through the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP) on a range of measures to promote vaccination uptake.

The Scottish Government is open to considering all options and will continue to work with the industry and other stakeholders to achieve improvements in pig welfare.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with the industry and stakeholders to find ways for producers to transition towards implementing improved animal welfare methods and practices.

The Scottish Government Programme for Government made the commitment to consult on phasing out the use cages for gamebirds and laying hens. This work is now progressing and the consultation on phasing out cages for laying hens and the call for evidence on gamebirds and quail are expected to go live in the early spring.

The proposed consultation on phasing out farrowing crates for pigs was originally intended to have been delivered jointly across all UK administrations. However, progress on a number of important pieces of animal welfare legislation have been significantly delayed or has ceased due to delays in UK Government timetabling, such as the Kept Animals Bill. DEFRA have confirmed that it now has no immediate plans to take forward the work on farrowing crates.

Regardless, the Scottish Government is pressing ahead on improving the welfare of all animals in Scotland, including pigs, and on 20 November 2023 published the Scottish Government Guidance for the Welfare of Pigs . We are also in the process of updating the Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations 2010 to include this updated pigs’ welfare guidance.

We continue to listen and work with the industry and stakeholders on how best to achieve improvements in animal welfare as well as monitoring industry information to allow us to determine how to ensure best practice is delivered.

This information is not held centrally. This is a matter for Public Health Scotland (PHS), which, through the Scottish Vaccination and Immunisation Programme (SVIP), is responsible for oversight and leadership of vaccine delivery in Scotland. The Scottish Government is part of SVIP and is working closely with PHS and NHS Boards to support increased uptake of both doses of the free MMR vaccine to keep people safe from measles by preventing the spread of this very serious disease.