Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21433 on 2 October 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 current iteration of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research was undertaken with schools in Spring 2023, and will be published in in advance of the relationships and behaviour summit event currently scheduled for 28 November. This will allow participants in this event to use the research in their discussions on how to address the issue.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-20927 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 latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2020-21 and is provided in the following table.

Number of people convicted under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, where main crime, 2011-12 to 2020-21.

The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the recommendations of the Pathways report.

In this financial year we have:

• Continued to provide funding to Women’s Enterprise Scotland, Investing Women and Business Women Scotland to allow existing programmes to continue ahead of a shift to competitive funding in future years;
• Renewed funding to Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, with a further round of the Scottish Ecosystem Fund, widened to offer support to projects that address the Pathways review’s key themes; and
• As the first phase of work to develop Pre-Start and Pop-Up business supports we have launched the £1.5 million Pathways Pre-Start Fund allocating funding to projects that offer pre-start support and advice to individuals or groups, with emphasis on widening access to primary carers and under-represented groups.

The Scottish Government will work with our agencies and delivery partners to further develop proposals for the report’s core recommendations on pre-start centres and pop-up business supports, incorporating the knowledge gained from the Ecosystem and Pathways Pre-Start funds with the intention to allow broader services to commence in 2024.

The Scottish Government is aware of concerns raised by clinicians about the impact of social media on women’s contraceptive choices, and we are grateful to them for raising awareness of this important issue. We would always encourage women to seek advice from NHS professionals on their contraception options and the benefits and risks, rather than social media.

We are committed to ensuring that all women can access accurate information regarding contraception and are able to access services in a timely and convenient manner. This is something we continue to work towards improving through the Women’s Health Plan and the forthcoming Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Action Plan 2023-26

To support this aim, the Scottish Government has funded a project to develop a new sexual and reproductive health website on the NHS Inform platform, featuring a range of interactive, quality assured sexual health and contraception information.

Since September 2020, Scottish Ministers have had a significant number of meetings with electric vehicle manufacturers, including Alexander Dennis Ltd, Wrightbus, Switch, Volvo, Hydrogen Vehicle Systems, Tesla, Hitachi, and Alstom, as well as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

The Scottish Government recognises that being physically active is one of the very best things we can do for our physical and mental wellbeing.

It is an effective treatment in the management and prevention of many long-term conditions and reduces the risk of overall mortality. Strong evidence shows that even small increases in activity can have benefits to our health. Evidence also shows that well-informed conversations with healthcare professionals can help to encourage people to be more active. Referral by a health care professional to opportunities to participate in physical activity and sport is a recognised structured approach to health improvement and is an important strand in our overall approach.

Our funding for sport is founded on a recognition of the important role which participation plays in supporting our health and wellbeing. The Golf on Prescription initiative is one amongst a wide range of such referral programmes across the country which involve different sports as well as activities such as walking, jogging, dance and many others. We encourage sports governing bodies as well as local leisure service providers to engage with Health Boards to explore the potential for referral programmes and we are aware of many successful initiatives.

Public Health Scotland published new Physical Activity Referral Standards in February 2022 to provide guidance which aims to reduce variability, enhance the quality of services and build further evidence of what works in relation to such initiatives. This includes the need for a focus on engaging with and delivering services to excluded, marginalised, or otherwise vulnerable population groups. Services therefore must be flexible to ensure that they are able to accommodate issues relating to equality and diversity in local populations which might otherwise act as barriers to participation.

The Scottish Government reports on progress on its aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030 on an annual basis in the regular Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) Report.

In 2021, almost two thirds of children were in the healthy weight range, the lowest the survey has recorded. Almost one in five children (18%) were considered at risk of obesity in 2021.

In our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan we set out ambitious and wide-ranging action to deliver our vision for a Scotland where everyone eats well and has a healthy weight. We are taking forward a range of action across five key outcomes: giving children the best start in life; creating a healthier food environment; better access to weight management services; leadership and reducing health inequalities.

Although there has been no formal assessment of the impact of the 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan, the annual SHeS provides indicators relating to diet, including fruit and vegetable consumption, weight and physical activity.

Working Collaboratively with clinical colleagues across NHS Scotland, the Centre for Sustainable Delivery’s (CfSD) National Elective Coordination Unit (NECU) are working to support a nationally coordinated campaign to expedite treatment for patients waiting for specialised urogynaecological procedures: urethral bulking, fascial sling repair and colposuspension.

The initial phase of this work has been completed and patients waiting within these procedure groups have been contacted.

The CfSD is now working to support clinicians within this highly specialist area to both see and treat these patients, with a view to ensure all patients receive treatment as soon as possible. This is expected to focus initially on urethral bulking procedures.

The Chief Operating Officer for NHS Scotland wrote to Health Board Chief Executives in September outlining the Scottish Government’s expectations for the treatment of these patients.