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I can today announce that the Scottish Government will establish an Expert Group to lead on scoping work to consider and provide recommendations on how Scotland will work towards reaching the targets set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to eliminate Cervical Cancer.

The WHO advises that to eliminate Cervical Cancer, all countries must reach and maintain an incidence rate of below four per 100 000 women. Achieving that goal rests on three key pillars and their corresponding targets:

• vaccination: 90% of girls fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by the age of 15;
• screening: 70% of women screened using a high-performance test by the age of 35, and again by the age of 45;
• treatment: 90% of women with pre-cancer treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed.

Each country should meet the 90–70–90 targets by 2030 to get on the path to eliminate cervical cancer within the next century.

Scotland has already observed many successes in tackling Cervical Cancer and is close to, or has met many of the targets to work towards achieving elimination status.

The Expert Group, due to meet soon will comprise Scottish Government policy officials, clinicians, Public Health Scotland (PHS), National Services Division, Third Sector organisations such as Jo’s Trust.

We will progress work with key stakeholders and develop actions to address inequalities to ensure that the work to meet the targets does not only focus on overall population levels, but addresses the inequalities gap.

Once the Expert Group have considered and provided their recommendations on when Scotland is likely to meet the WHO targets, I will provide a further update to Parliament.

Public sector support for research and development does not sit within the Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy portfolio. This support is directed and delivered by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

SFC strategic initiatives, such as Alliances for Research Challenges, Innovation Centres, and Research Pools, aim to harness our research and knowledge exchange capabilities across a number of priority areas, including Life Sciences.

The Scottish Government continues to support high-quality research and innovation across Scotland, and has increased the investment in higher education capital to over £350m for 2024-25.

Within the Scottish Government, funding of Health and Care Research comes under the remit of the Chief Scientist Office (CSO). CSO provides funding support through NHS Research Scotland who are currently supporting 13 Brain Tumour Clinical studies with over 190 patients recruited.

Additionally, Scottish Enterprise are an active investor and collaborative partner supporting the life sciences sector.

The Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2007 requires Aquaculture Production Businesses to demonstrate that satisfactory measures are in place for the containment of fish, and the prevention of escape of fish. Current Scottish Government policy for demonstrating that satisfactory measures are in place are the requirements of the Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture and the requirements of The Fish Farming Businesses (Record Keeping) (Scotland) Order 2008.

Adherence to the Code of Good Practice is monitored and enforced through the Scottish Government Fish Health Inspectorate’s risk-based inspection regime. Where satisfactory measures are not in place, Scottish Ministers may serve an enforcement notice. Failure to comply with an enforcement notice may result in a fine.

The Scottish Government remains committed to working with the sector to reduce the risk of escapes from fish farms, including through the revision and publication of the Technical Standard for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture, and the introduction of penalties where escape events occur with the ultimate aim of redistributing this money to support wild salmonid conservation and research.

The Fish Farming Businesses (Reporting) (Scotland) Order 2020 places a legal requirement for aquaculture production businesses to report average sea lice numbers per fish per week to Scottish Ministers.

The Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009 place a legal obligation for increased mortality to be reported to Scottish Ministers or a veterinarian. This applies to unexplained mortality, and there is a voluntary agreement in place with aquaculture production businesses for any instances of mortality above specified thresholds to be reported to Scottish Ministers as part of wider aquatic animal health surveillance. This agreement is a requirement of the Code of Good Practice for Scottish Finfish Aquaculture.

Gill health is a term used to describe a category of conditions which have a detrimental impact on fish gills and is not a single disease. The Aquatic Animal Health (Scotland) Regulations 2009 place an obligation for the presence or suspected presence of listed diseases, some of which affect gill health, to notify to Scottish Ministers.

There is no obligation to report fish wellbeing which has no specific definition. The Fish Health Inspectorate will raise any concerns regarding fish welfare with the Animal and Plant Health Agency which is responsible for investigating potential breaches in welfare law.

Dog breeding is regulated under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021. The penalties for offences committed under these regulations were increased in 2020 when the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020 came into effect. The changes introduced increased the maximum period of imprisonment from 6 to 12 months and the maximum fine from level 5 (£5,000) on the standard scale to a maximum of £40,000. Given this recent increase in penalties, the Scottish Government has no plans at this time for further revisions.

The Scottish Government will however be looking in the medium term to work with key stakeholders and interested parties to look at potential improvements to the 2010 Act that could enhance and strengthen the general preventative dog control notice regime in Scotland.

The identification of a host institution can only take place when the co-design process has concluded. This process is currently being set up with key stakeholders, including teachers and professional bodies, with timelines to be agreed as part of that.

As reflected in the Bute House Agreement, we remain committed to a programme of work to better protect wildlife and the environment, and ensure aquaculture in Scotland is sustainable, diverse, competitive and economically viable.

We have made significant progress on the recommendations of the 2017-18 Parliamentary Inquiries into Salmon Farming in Scotland. Last year I was pleased to provide an update to the Scottish Parliament: Salmon Farming in Scotland 3 May 2023 | Scottish Parliament Website.

Subsequently, in July 2023 we published the Scottish Government’s Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture which sets out our aspirations for the development of a sector, operating within environmental limits, and which recognises the considerable social and economic benefits it delivers.

A Consenting Task Group has been working to identify, pilot and review new measures to streamline the administration of the fish farm consenting processes, progressing key recommendations of the independent review of the regulatory framework for Scottish aquaculture.

In response to the Salmon Interactions Working Group report, the Scottish Government identified that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) would become the lead regulator responsible for managing sea lice and the interactions between wild and farmed fish. SEPA has developed and consulted on a new sea lice risk assessment framework that will be implemented from 1 February 2024.

The finfish farming sector operates under robust regulations covering environmental impact and fish health. The Scottish Government is committed to streamlining the aquaculture regulatory framework, whilst maintaining high standards, to ensure regulation is as efficient and effective as it can be. We are committed to a broad programme of work to support the sustainability of fish farming and improvements to its underpinning regulatory system, following the recommendations made in the independent review of the aquaculture regulatory process in Scotland , published by Professor Russel Griggs on 10 February 2022

I provided a written update to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee on 3 May 2023 setting out the progress made to support the sustainability of fish farming, and its underpinning regulatory system, since the inquiry into salmon farming in Scotland. I subsequently updated the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee at their session on salmon farming on 10 May 2023.

I recognise that there is more to do. Following the independent review of the aquaculture regulatory process, I have worked with the Scottish Aquaculture Council to deliver a new Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture in Scotland, which sets out our ambitions for the sector to 2045. The Vision includes an overarching aim that aquaculture is underpinned by an effective and efficient regulatory framework informed by the best available science and evidence.

I have also established the Consenting Task Group, which has been working to identify, pilot and review new measures to streamline the administration of the fish farm consenting processes and progressing key recommendations of the review.