Chamber and committees

21 September 2021

Stephen Kerr (Central Scotland) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with representatives of the theatre sector ahead of its announcement regarding its plan to introduce COVID-19 vaccine passports at certain events.

Scottish Government officials are engaging with representatives of the theatre sector through various forums. The Federation of Scottish Theatres (FST) is a member of the Events Industry Advisory Group, where these plans have been discussed, most recently at its 25 August meeting. Representatives from individual theatres have also been involved in roundtable meetings between Ministers and those sectors where these proposals will apply. Further roundtable meetings are planned to help shape the proposals ahead of their implementation. In addition, officials have discussed the proposals with representatives of theatres in Edinburgh through the Edinburgh Cultural Venues Group, most recently on 8 September.

It is expected that these proposals will apply primarily to unseated venues, or venues with audiences of more than 10,000 people, which means that the majority of theatres in Scotland will not be affected.

Prior to introducing plans for Covid-19 vaccine passports at certain events, the Scottish Government consulted the Scottish Football Association on the potential operational issues which would need to be considered in delivering a workable and proportionate vaccine certification scheme.

Since the Parliamentary vote, the Scottish Government has been consulting directly with impacted football clubs, and will continue to do so, to further discuss these operational issues with a view to arriving at workable solutions to allow implementation from 1 October.

The following table presents the information requested.

Table 1 : Number of readmissions with a diagnosis of deep-vein thrombosis readmitted within 90 days of discharge following an orthopaedic or any type of surgery.

The following table presents the information requested.

Table 1 : Number of people that died within 90 days of discharge following an orthopaedic or any type of surgery, with pulmonary embolism and deep-vein thrombosis among the causes of death.

This information is not held centrally .

Local authorities are independent corporate bodies with their own powers and responsibilities, separate from the Scottish Government. As such, the information requested is not held by the Scottish Government and would have to be obtained directly from individual local authorities or from COSLA.

Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics is an annual publication providing a comprehensive overview of financial activity of Scottish local authorities in 2019-20 based on authorities' audited accounts.

The regulation of nuisance calls and texts is reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government is committed to doing all it can to tackle this issue – and the scams that can underpin them – using our devolved powers.

Many of the proposed actions from the Nuisance Call Commission 2017 have been progressed and delivered. However, we recognise that further work needs to be done. That is why on 19 March 2021 we published Scotland’s Scams Prevention, Awareness & Enforcement Strategy 2021-24.

The strategy introduces a new framework for tackling scams, with an emphasis on: disrupting scams at source; building capacity, skills and resilience amongst individuals to avoid the risk that scams pose; streamlining the reporting and advice landscape so that people can access the right support at the right time to meet their needs; and improving coordination and intelligence sharing between frontline advice providers, enforcement bodies and wider advocacy organisations.

A key part of this work is supporting technological innovation. Since 2017, we have been providing funding to Trading Standards Scotland for the purchase and roll out of domestic call blocker devices to the homes of individuals in some of the most vulnerable circumstances in Scotland. A recent report on the effectiveness of these call blockers by Trading Standards Scotland indicated that the devices have blocked 779,633 calls and an estimated 1,265 scams have been prevented.

A new Strategic Partnership was established on 12 August to oversee delivery of the strategy, including development of a robust monitoring framework to assess impacts over time. A progress update report will be produced by the end of 2022-23.

Public inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005 do not determine civil or criminal liability. Those are matters for the courts.

The Lord Advocate is responsible for the investigations of deaths. This function is wholly independent of the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government is currently inviting views from the public on aims and principles for the Covid public inquiry, to help shape the terms of reference for the inquiry. A mailbox where views can be shared has been set up and will remain open up to 30 September. We are also arranging meetings with key stakeholders, including representatives of those bereaved during the pandemic, who remain at the centre of our engagement.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensure everyone with a neurological condition has timely access to care and services in all regions of Scotland. That is why we published a Neurological Care and Support – a National Framework for Action in December 2019 . We are investing £4.5 million of funding to implement the Framework’s aims and commitments. The aims include improving the provision of co-ordinated health and social care and support, developing sustainable workforce models and ensuring high standards of person-centred care.

Since 2015, the Scottish Government provides £2.4 million annually to improve specialist nursing services. NHS Boards make the decision on where to prioritise this funding based on local need. NHS Boards are expected to ensure that patients, including those who require epilepsy services, have access to a range of professionals to provide the appropriate management of their condition.

The Scottish Government launched its NHS Recovery Plan on the 25 August, which sets out our key headline ambitions and actions to be developed and delivered now and over the next 5 years. The plan is backed by more than £1 billion of investment over the next five years.

By the end of this year, we will publish a National Workforce Strategy that supports the delivery of the NHS Recovery Plan , specifically its key workforce targets. The strategy will set out the strategic framework through which we will design, develop and deliver training programmes in partnership with NHS National Education Scotland and the NHS Academy, offering new routes into the NHS, and broadening opportunities. In addition, it will provide NHS Boards a framework for assessing nationally the role of Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS). The NHS will gain additional 500 Advance Nurse Practitioners (ANP) over the next five years and we will be working closely with neurology services to identify areas of need for both ANPs and CNS capacity to better meet patient need.

A recent report published by the Chief Nursing Officer Directorate made a number recommendations regarding CNS roles. This work is being taken forward in Neurology (and epilepsy specifically) by a group with representation from Chief Nursing Officer Directorate, NHS Education Scotland, Centre for Sustainability Delivery as well as strong Epilepsy CNS Representation.

The impact of addressing the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that many health and social care services had to be suspended or reduced in scope and scale. This has affected almost all aspects of NHS care. Addressing the backlog of care, while continuing to meet the ongoing urgent health and care needs of the country, is a priority for this Government.

The Centre for Sustainable Delivery continues to work closely with Neurology services in all Health Boards. In particular work on Active Clinical Referral Triage aims to ensure patients who require appointments most urgently are seen as soon as possible, while those who may not benefit from a Consultant appointment are returned to the GP with advice and guidance; and Discharge Patient Initiated Review aims to avoid unnecessary return appointments, again supporting access for those patient who need to be seen in a timely manner.

Scottish citizens, who have had their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine out with Scotland, and 8 or more weeks have past, will be able to receive their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in any of our available vaccination centres.

We have made the vaccine as accessible as possible such as having drop in clinics are available throughout mainland Scotland and also the option to phone the national COVID-19 Vaccination helpline on 0800 030 8013.