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No-one should be the victim of abuse or violence while at work and assaults on NHS staff are completely unacceptable.

The courts have extensive powers to deal robustly with those who attack emergency workers and we strongly encourage staff to report all instances of violent and aggressive behaviour through their local reporting systems. If it is a serious incident, then all efforts must be made to escalate to the Police as quickly as possible.

NHSScotland has joined the multi-agency Your Safety Matters (YSM) initiative, led by Police Scotland. YSM aims to minimise incidents of violence and aggression in workplaces, through campaigns, sharing resources and good practice.

This is an operational matter for NatureScot. I have asked their Chief Executive to write with the relevant information.

The Scottish Government is working to develop a sustainable healthcare workforce. We continue to look for opportunities to increase levels of recruitment and retention of healthcare staff in rural areas and we will develop a Remote and Rural workforce recruitment strategy by the end of 2024. This will support employers to ensure that the Health and Social Care needs of people who live in remote and rural communities are met.

This information is not held centrally by Scottish Government as the management of asbestos in buildings is a reserved matter for the UK Government and the Health and Safety Executive.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17711 on 19 May 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 is considering the issues that the hospice sector raised at its meeting in March with the then Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and the then Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport, including immediate and longer-term funding issues.

This information is not held centrally. NHS Health Boards hold that information for NHS facilities as they are the responsible body for managing their estate. Local authorities are required to keep an up-to-date record of the location of asbestos in their school buildings.

The management of asbestos in buildings is a reserved matter for the UK Government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has UK wide responsibility for enforcement of the legislation and regulations. The HSE is carrying out a statutory, five yearly, review of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. Part of the work includes estimates about the number of premises containing asbestos. HSE has also given a commitment that future research will include obtaining better information on the number of business premises containing asbestos.

Social Security Scotland does not keep statistics on the total number of BASRiS [Benefits Assessment under Special Rules in Scotland] forms issued or the number received but does publish statistics regularly on the caseload of clients who were eligible for disability benefits via Special Rules for Terminal Illness: Social Security Scotland - Social Security Scotland statistics: publications

The DS1500 is a form produced and issued by the UK Department for Work and Pensions and serves the same purpose as BASRIS. Though it is never issued by Social Security Scotland it is accepted without the need to additionally complete a BASRIS form.

We recognise that biologically diverse seas and healthy, functioning marine ecosystems are vital to underpin a wide variety of marine industries and interests. It is important that we manage our marine environment in such a way as to ensure sustainable use, allowing future generations to enjoy and benefit from a healthy resource. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that we will be undertaking a public consultation on potential measures to manage fishing for sandeel in Scottish waters, bearing in mind our environmental protection objectives.

Sandeels aid the long-term sustainability and resilience of the marine ecosystem and are an important food source for many species, including marine mammals, seabirds and predatory fish.

Measures to restrict fishing for sandeels in Scottish waters could also deliver benefits to seabirds which have been impacted by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza as well as providing greater resilience to seabird populations, some of which have faced declines in recent decades.

Launching in summer 2023, this consultation will seek the public’s views on potential measures for the sandeel fishery in Scottish waters, to help achieve the Scottish Government’s vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and diverse seas which are managed to meet the long term needs of nature and people. This consultation will also seek the public’s views on a number of key documents including environmental and business regulatory impact assessments.

This consultation aligns with the overarching Scottish Government position, which is reflected in Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy, not to support fishing for sandeel in our waters. For this reason, sandeel quota has not been allocated to UK vessels since 2021.

As indicated in the islands communities impact assessment , published in 2020, the introduction of Deposit Return Scheme will not increase the amount of waste that will either arise in island communities or be transported off islands. This is because most waste is currently transported off the islands already. Circularity Scotland and Biffa are developing a solution for the collection of scheme articles on islands which makes use of local supply chains where possible. We expect this solution to be subject to review as more local data becomes available about active return points and exempted return points.

A number of amendments that sought to introduce a third party right of appeal were considered, and rejected, by the Scottish Parliament during consideration of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. We are aware of the communication brought to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) concerning planning appeal rights in Scotland (ACCC/C/2022/196). A response will be issued to the ACCC in due course.