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Ministers have not met with universities and colleges to discuss RAAC. Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council officials have met on three occasions to discuss this matter, the last meeting of which was held on 5th July.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19568 on 26 July 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/questions-and-answers .

The Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland. NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally have responsibility for both service delivery and people’s care.

The 2023-24 Scottish Budget delivers record funding of £19 billion including increases in funding for community and primary care health services such as GP practices where the vast majority of people with chronic pain seek support. Detail on how funding has been used specifically for the assessment and treatment of chronic pain would require to be requested from NHS Boards.

The Scottish Government’s Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus plan for 2023 to 2026 is scheduled for publication towards the end of summer 2023. As part of this approach, there will be a focus on improving access to testing for STIs and blood borne viruses.

Recommendations made within the HIV Transmission Elimination Proposal are currently being considered, and prioritisation of those to be taken forward in 2023-24 is likely to be announced before the end of summer 2023.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on whether all employees of Community Justice Scotland have been directed to receive training on trauma-informed justice, or how many employees have received this training to date. This is a matter for Community Justice Scotland.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of establishing mechanisms at a Scottish, as well as UK, level to support awareness and action on this issue across many sectors within the built environment.

Discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) and mitigation including on funding will be reported to relevant Ministers, directly where necessary, and through the Building and Fire Safety Ministerial Working Group.

Officials continue to work closely with relevant partners including the Scottish Funding Council, other public sector bodies and the wider structural engineering community in relation to this matter, including funding.

There were no incidents of someone being found in possession of a firearm within a prison in 2022-23. When the Recorded Crime in Scotland Statistics 2022-23 were originally published on the 20th June they showed one such case. However, Police Scotland identified an administrative error, whereby this crime should have instead been classified as bringing drugs into a prison. The above statistics were revised to reflect this and re-published on the 1st July 2023.

Dwelling types including flats are covered by the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme. Domestic Energy Assessors will carry out a survey of the home and recommend suitable improvements which can include insulation measures such as loft insulation, wall insulation and draft-proofing. The improvements offered to the homeowner will depend on the survey results of the home and what room it is in the property. Where there is a roof above the ceiling it will be loft insulation that is offered, subject to access and suitability. Where a flat roof is present, internal wall insulation (IWI) can be applied if appropriate and recommended by the Domestic Energy Assessor. This measure is only offered in habitable rooms (e.g. bedrooms or living rooms).

There has been no change to the number of planned carriages on peak services on the North Berwick to Edinburgh line, with the majority of peak trains planned to run with six carriages.

From time to time operational difficulties do arise, for example disruption caused by late running cross border services, which may affect delivery of ScotRail plans on this route. This is an operational matter for ScotRail Trains Ltd. to manage, who may be contacted at Contact us | ScotRail for further information.

The Trauma Informed Justice: A Knowledge and Skills Framework for Working with Victims and Witnesses, published on 3 May 2023 , gives organisations the information they need to develop and deliver training for their staff, tailored to the nature of the engagement those staff have with victims and witnesses. Justice organisations represented on the Victims Taskforce are working in collaboration to implement the framework and are being supported by NHS Education Scotland, the authors of the Framework.

The provisions in Part 2 of the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill have been designed to make sure our justice system recognises how common trauma is, understands how trauma can affect people, and adjust its ways of working to respond to those impacts as far as possible and reduce the risk of retraumatising people. The Bill creates a legal definition of trauma-informed practice for the justice sector, to help provide clarity and consistency, and it requires criminal justice agencies to have regard to trauma-informed practice in their work with victims and witnesses of crime.