Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20954 on 19 September 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 Scottish Government is opposed to the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and recognises that the Act as drafted would restrict the right to seek asylum in the UK, putting people in need of protection at risk and undermining the UK’s international obligations to recognise refugees in the UK.

Scottish Ministers are currently engaged with officials to assess and identify any mitigations available, informed by engagement with stakeholders, including through a summit held in June 2023.

Limited information has been made available by the UK Government about planned implementation of the Act. This makes it challenging for the Scottish Government and our partners to consider what action it may be possible to take.

As asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament, the Scottish Government cannot lift or amend measures introduced by the Illegal Migration Act in relation to access to asylum in the UK. The Scottish Government also cannot amend restrictions placed on people seeking asylum while they await a decision, including long standing UK Government policies to restrict the right to work and access to public funds.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with our partners to support people seeking asylum through the New Scots refugee integration strategy. We are undertaking engagement designed in partnership with the Scottish Refugee Council and COSLA to inform the refresh of the New Scots refugee integration strategy.

We are jointly funding a £250,000 endometriosis research project with the charity Wellbeing of Women. The research project, which will primarily be run by researchers at The University of Edinburgh, will look at the drug dichloroacetate in the management of endometriosis-associated pain.

Additionally, in January 2023 our Chief Scientist Office announced funding for the ENDOCAN project, led by researchers at The University of Edinburgh. Through a large scale UK-wide trial, the research will investigate whether a cannabinoid can reduce endometriosis-associated pain. Funding of £299,509 has been committed to this 30 month project.

The Chief Scientist Office also invited applications to the Applied Health Research Programmes Funding in March this year. Applicants will be informed of the outcome in December 2023.

The Scottish Cancer Registry does not capture whether a cancer was detected following presentation at an Accident & Emergency (A&E) department. The details in the Scottish Cancer Registry and the lack of clinical information included in the A&E attendance data leaves the relationship between cancer diagnosis and A&E attendance uncertain.

Public Health Scotland completed a study to describe emergency and non-emergency routes to cancer diagnosis in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. A decision on whether to include an expanded list of cancers in the emergency vs. non-emergency routes to cancer diagnosis reporting will be made ahead of a planned publication in March 2024. However, this would be using the emergency/non-emergency definitions and so presentation at A&E would not specifically be defined as a route to diagnosis.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to introduce such a register. We are working with Local Authorities, Health Boards and other public sector partners to understand the extent to which RAAC is present in buildings and any actions necessary in response.

Zero Waste Scotland recognises the importance of natively grown sustainable fibres in the transition to a Circular Economy for textiles. Zero Waste Scotland are undertaking research on the textiles industry in Scotland to understand material flows and business practices. Results are anticipated next financial year.

The Scottish Government’s International Network of offices regularly support and create opportunities across the culture sector, making links for the sector within the territories in which they are based and ensuring that cultural activity is central to their presence.

The Scottish Government is also currently scoping promotional opportunities across the cultural sector as part of our work to develop our new International Culture Strategy.

The strategy was announced in 2023-24 Programme for Government. It will set out how we will support the culture sector’s international ambitions and ensure that barriers to achieving those ambitions are addressed. We expect to publish the new strategy by the end of March 2024.

We recognise that international activities such as touring are vital to many creative professionals. The Scottish Government therefore continues to call on the UK Government and EU to negotiate an extensive and generous mobility agreement that would allow creative professionals to continue to move freely between the UK and EU.

We continue to work with our partners to minimise the barriers to international working, in addition to providing support to Arts Infopoint UK, a mobility scheme which provides a practical source of information on artist mobility.

Scottish Government is committed to improving health and tackling inequalities, working together with partners to ensure that inclusion strategies strengthen efforts to reach those at higher risk or from under-served communities.

The national flu Programme and Health Boards continue to recognise and support the needs of minority ethnic communities in planning and delivering the programme. Support includes translated resources in a wide range of languages, outreach clinics in community venues and collaborative working with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) mobile vaccination units to reach those who experience barriers to uptake.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan and Workforce Action Plan were published on 7 November 2023; alongside an Easy Read version of the Delivery Plan and the Workforce Action Plan Summary of Phase 1 Activity.

The documents are available at the following links:

Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan – https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835215098

Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan Easy Read - https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835214800

Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan – https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835215104

Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan Summary of Phase 1 Activity - http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781835215104/documents/

Clyde Metro will be transformational for the region. It is likely to be a programme which will be delivered over a number of years, with the scale and capital costs required making it one of the largest programme of works Scotland will have ever seen.

The design and development costs to date have been funded by the Scottish Government. It is too early to comment on the longer term funding of Clyde Metro, however, it is envisaged that the funding model for its implementation will be determined as part of the next stage of development.