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I wrote to the Secretary of State for Scotland on 29 June. That letter provided an update on the Scottish Government’s plans for returning a revised UNCRC Bill to the Scottish Parliament; highlighted the loss of coverage for children’s rights that are a consequence of how we need to amend the compatibility duty in the Bill; and underlined the need for the UK Government to incorporate the UNCRC into UK law to give children and young people the protection they deserve.

The Secretary of State for Scotland responded on 14 August saying that the UK Government will consider the Bill in the usual way once it has completed its Parliamentary passage and that the UK Government is currently giving careful consideration to the Concluding Observations from the UK State Party’s Constructive Dialogue with the UN Committee. However, he gave no indication of the UK Government’s willingness to incorporate the UNCRC into UK law.

The letters have been shared with the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee who may decide to share these on their webpage.

NHS Boards make arrangements for external consultancy support; where this provides value for money and where there is a requirement for specific skills or services that cannot be delivered within existing capacity.

The information requested is not collected or held centrally by the Scottish Government, as Health Boards undertake their own independent arrangements with external contractors. This information would therefore need to be obtained from Health Boards.

Building safety is an issue the Scottish Government takes very seriously and we are fully aware of significant issues with some Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC). A survey programme across NHS Scotland is underway, to be completed by November, so we can all fully understand the scope of RAAC. The Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion will be surveyed as part of this prioritised discovery survey programme. NHS Lothian will continue to manage their Estate to provide a safe environment for patients, staff and visitors.

Firstly, I’d reiterate that the Scottish Government is absolutely committed to making improvements to the A96 and the current plan is to fully dual the route.

The significant interest in the transparent, evidence-based review’s initial consultation generated 11,000 options to improve the corridor and it is only right that these were fully appraised. 

Transport Scotland is pushing forward a robust appraisal of the sixteen retained options alongside a Climate Compatibility Assessment, with outcomes expected to be ready in the coming months for final public consultation, before a final decision can be reached.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on recreational vaping. However, the Scottish Government published a report earlier in 2023 which examined the extent of use of e-cigarette in adults and children. The numbers will include those using e-cigarettes to quit smoking tobacco, as well as recreational use - Vaping - understanding prevalence and trends among adults and children: research - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Although challenging to establish a precise estimate of use, key messages from the report include:

The percentage of adults in Scotland reporting current use (generally includes those who vape once a week or more and those who vape only occasionally) is likely to be somewhere between 5% according to the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS 2021) and 13.2% as shown by the Smoking Toolkit Study (STS 2022). The most recent data suggest that the percentage reporting current vaping has increased over time, despite the SHeS 2021 indicating a decrease since 2019.

Although based on different samples by age, surveys from across the UK show that the percentage of current young users (both regular and occasional) could be somewhere between 1.1% of 10-15 year olds ( Understanding Society 2020/21 ) and 7% of 11-17 year olds ( ASH GB Youth Survey 2022 ). Current use appears to be increasing.

Scottish Government commissioned Zero Waste Scotland to undertake a review of the environmental impacts of single use e-cigarettes, the report was published in June 2023. The report identifies several environmental impacts, including littering, wasteful use of resources and carbon emissions. Further detail is available in the report. The environmental impact of single-use vapes (zerowastescotland.org.uk) . The Scottish Government is considering the findings of the report and will set out next steps in the autumn.

The Scottish Government will publish a refreshed Tobacco Action Plan in Autumn this year, which will include further action on nicotine vaping products.

We work with Public Health Scotland, Scottish Government analysts and a range of academics and stakeholders to understand the evidence. This is an ongoing process to ensure that the Tobacco Action Plan is based on the latest evidence.

In May 2023 we published “Vaping – understanding the prevalence and trends among adults and children – research” ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/understanding-prevalence-trends-vaping-adults-children/pages/2/ ). This analysis of data on vaping from twelve surveys conducted at UK or regional level, with a focus on current use, ever tried and dual use of vaping products, and differences by socio-economic status. It helps understand the potential extent of any issues.

We have not had any direct discussions with Local Authorities to date regarding the potential banning of disposable vapes.

However, a stakeholder roundtable was held on 6 September 2023 by the Ministers for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity and for Public Health and Women's Health to discuss the findings of the Zero Waste Scotland report on the environmental impacts of single use vapes, which will include representation from local government.

The Scottish Government does not routinely gather or centrally hold information on the total number and value of contracts awarded by public corporations to consulting companies. As public corporations have a degree of independence from central government information of this nature will be held more locally and can be attained by approaching the bodies directly.

As set out in the Programme for Government 2023-24, the Scottish Government has committed £3,03m in 2023-26 to progressing the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, which is expected to launch in October 2023.

The available information is published on a monthly basis, as experimental statistics, by Public Health Scotland: Primary Care in-hours General Practice activity visualisation - as at 30 June 2023

This exploratory work aims to illustrate the type of activity information captured within General Practice clinical systems. Not all activity is currently recorded on the clinical systems and therefore the activity reported here does not represent all the work happening within a general practice setting. Work is ongoing to enhance this data. This collaborative effort between ourselves, the profession, National Services Scotland and Public Health Scotland, is a significant step on our journey to improving access to General Practice data.