Chamber and committees

Abellio ScotRail was responsible for Delay Repay payments between January 2022 and March 2022. From 1 April 2022, ScotRail Trains Limited is responsible for considering and settling all new compensation claims.

It is published on the ScotRail website here: Delay Repay | Train Fare Compensation Scheme | ScotRail as per ORR Code of Practice.

The LEZ Retrofit fund has recently closed for new applications in financial year 2022-23.

As we review budgets for 2023-24, we ask that taxi owners who are interested in applying for future funding should register their interest via the Energy Saving Trust website.

Any future iterations of the Women’s Health Plan will be evidence-based with aims and priorities developed in collaboration with women and girls, our lived experience group, clinical experts and relevant stakeholders.

The Scottish Government has provided £80,000 of funding to Talk Lipoedema over the financial years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. The funding assisted the development of the Scoping Report on Lipoedema Care in Scotland, providing a welcome insight into Lipoedema services, and has supported Talk Lipoedema to enhance their important work supporting people across Scotland.

We have now launched the new resource on lipoedema on the NHS Inform Women’s Health Platform. The new resource includes information on the symptoms, self-management and treatment options for lipoedema as well as sign posting to organisations like ‘Talk Lipoedema’ for more help, advice and peer support.

The right to health is a fundamental human right and means the right of everyone to have the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

Menopause care and support is a top priority in the Women’s Health Plan, through which, we are working to improve access to menopause care and treatment for all women in Scotland.

The Women’s Health Plan is underpinned by an intersectional approach which recognises that minority ethnic women and girls can face multiple and often overlapping disadvantages and barriers to accessing good healthcare, including menopause care.

As set out in the Women’s Health Plan, it is important that all health and social care professionals approach people from all cultures with openness and without judgement and are responsive to the individual needs of their patients and community.

Menopause is an important transition in women’s lives, but one that many know little about. It is important that all women are able to make informed choices about their health. The menopause resource on the NHS Inform Women’s Health Platform has been translated into five languages, BSL and easy read.

In addition to the work of the Women’s Health Plan, there is a Scottish Government Racialised Health Inequalities in Health & Social Care in Scotland Steering Group developing an action plan to address racism and racialised health inequalities in health and social care.

Public Health Scotland does not hold the information requested to answer this question.

NHS Scotland does not currently hold information on prescriptions based on patients’ ethnicity.

Through the Women’s Health Plan, we are determined to ensure that all women are able to access the care and support they need for menopause, be that through primary or specialist care. A range of treatments to manage menopause symptoms, including Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT), are available on the NHS in Scotland free of charge.

Today a document has been laid in Parliament [ref: SG/2023/43] outlining our response to this CCC advice and associated legislation which has been brought forward to adjust our interim statutory target for 2020s for technical reasons.

Scottish Ministers note the CCC advice highlights this is a technical revision - the need for which is anticipated in the Climate Change (Scotland) 2009 Act - and as such does not impact the scale of ambition required to achieve our targets, which from 2030 and beyond remain unchanged.

I will be writing to the Convenor of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee outlining this response to the CCC and the associated legislation that has been brought forward. I will provide a separate response to the CCC’s December progress report.

The independent Scottish Sentencing Council's guideline for sentencing young people took effect from 26 January 2022. The development of a sentencing guideline has 8 stages associated with it. Stage 8 is monitoring and review once a guideline is in force. It is for the Sentencing Council to decide how best to monitor and review the operation of their guidelines. Further information is contained on the Scottish Sentencing Council website. https://www.scottishsentencingcouncil.org.uk/sentencing-guidelines/methodology/stage-8-monitoring-and-review/ .

The Scottish Government plans to consult on extending the animal licensing framework introduced in 2021 to a number of animal care services, including commercial dog walking. We expect to launch a public consultation on our proposals in early summer this year.

The SPCB offers a range of benefits to SPCB staff and similar or identical benefits also underpin the employment relationship between MSPs and their staff.  These benefits include generous annual leave, sick pay and maternity, paternity and adoption pay entitlements which exceed statutory provisions and which are competitive when compared with other public sector employers.  Other benefits include pension schemes with employer contributions, a cycle to work scheme, interest free season ticket loans and discount schemes for selected retailers.