Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government expects everybody to be treated fairly and with respect when seeking health care. All health boards have policies in place to fulfil their duties under the Equality Act 2010.

The Scottish Government supports the appropriate use of single sex exemptions to services when it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Equality Act rests with individual organisations. The responsibility for oversight of compliance with the 2010 Act, rests with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).EHRC has issued guidance on how the Regulations should be applied in practice, including on hospital wards.

The EHRC is independent, and it cannot be directed by Scottish Ministers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W- 22039 on 30 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 Scottish Government’s latest annual progress report on child poverty , published on 13 June 2023, sets out progress toward the meeting the child poverty targets and in implementing the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’.

Modelling published alongside this year’s progress report estimates that 90,000 fewer children will live in relative and absolute poverty in 2023-24 as a result of Scottish Government policies, with poverty levels 9% points lower that they would have otherwise been. This includes lifting an estimated 50,000 children out of relative poverty through our Scottish Child Payment. However, we will not know if the interim child poverty targets have been met until March 2025.

Our approach to tackling child poverty is in stark contrast to that of the UK Government. Scottish Government analysis, published in April 2022, estimated that reversing key UK Government welfare changes that have taken place just since 2015 could lift an estimated 70,000 people out of poverty in Scotland, including 30,000 children, and put £780 million in the pockets of Scottish households this year.

As official statistics on rates of relative poverty in Scotland come from the Family Resources Survey which is run by the Department for Work and Pensions, which is a sample survey. This therefore this does not allow a breakdown to be produced below the national figure for Scotland.

In Scotland (and across Great Britain) the GB Dead Wild Bird Surveillance Scheme, administered by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) on behalf of the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and Defra (England), allows members of the public to report dead wild birds (via a helpline and/or online reporting tool), and for a selection of these birds (based on a triage criteria) to be tested for avian influenza. The purpose of the scheme is to capture information on the general location and strains of avian influenza that might be prevalent in GB. This data then helps government build up a picture of the current risks, and shapes how they then respond in policy terms.

In addition to this, NatureScot have a network of reporters across Scotland who provide early intelligence on unusual mortality levels in wild bird species. It is also recognised by Scottish Government that managers of grouse moors in Scotland may regularly carry out their own health checks of wild grouse across the summer months.

Regulation of electricity networks is reserved to the UK Government. The Electricity Act 1989 schedule 4 sets out the powers that are available to certain distribution network licence holders to fell and lop trees and the circumstances in which such felling and lopping may be carried out. The schedule sets out the duty of the licence holder to give notice to the landowner(s) or occupier(s) of the land of the requirement for this activity and the process which follows thereafter.

Regulation of electricity networks is reserved to the UK Government. Matters pertaining to the retention of electric lines on land are governed by schedule 4 to the Electricity Act 1989. The schedule sets out the circumstances and the timeframe within which an electricity network distribution licence holder may, following the service of a notice to remove the electric line from the land, not be obliged to comply with the notice and retain the electric line on the land.

Epidemiological investigations at each of the six infected premises (IPs) involving gamebird establishments, declared in Scotland in 2023, revealed that all of the birds involved were open to direct or indirect contact with wild birds, either through unroofed netted release pens, open potholes or, in the cases of fully netted release pens and housed birds, through holes in the netting or walls.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22110 on 30 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 Diet and Healthy Weight Monitoring report was not published in 2022 and, as set out at the time, we have engaged with users to decide on the future of this publication. An announcement will be made shortly informed by the outcome of user engagement. Most of the data previously included in the Diet and Healthy Weight Monitoring report is now presented in the Scottish Health Survey with the remaining few indicators available in other publications. Results from the 2022 Scottish Health Survey will be published on 5 December 2023. Data for the indicators on sales of soft drinks with added sugar, confectionery, biscuits, cakes and pastries are available on the Food Standards Scotland website and type 2 diabetes prevalence is available in the Scottish Diabetes Survey report.

The Scottish Government is currently considering all the recommendations made, including the recommendation to establish a national implementation group.

Given the broad scope of the recommendations, and the seriousness of the issues raised, it is important that sufficient time is taken to fully plan how any actions will be taken forward.

We will update Parliament at the earliest opportunity.