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The Scottish Government has engaged extensively with stakeholders to ensure as wide a range of views as possible were taken into consideration during the development of the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill. While there has been no engagement between Ministers and their counterparts across the United Kingdom, there has been regular contact at official level.

While we do not hold information on the number of households at risk of being disconnected this winter due to debt, we are clear that suppliers must exhaust all possible options to prevent this.

The power to take meaningful action to alleviate the effects of high energy costs on households over the long term, such as the introduction of a social tariff, sits with the UK Government. However, the Scottish Government continues to do everything we can, within the limited powers available to us, such as tripling our Fuel Insecurity Fund to £30 million for this year.

I also recently chaired three working groups focusing on rural, non-domestic and vulnerable (now known as priority) energy consumers, helping to identify and deliver collaborative actions to help mitigate the impact of the continued high cost of energy on households and businesses across Scotland.

I would urge anyone struggling with energy debt to contact Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 80 960 for free, impartial advice.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

This information is not currently held by SPS. This type of information can only be obtained through analysis and testing via a laboratory setting.

The Scottish Government recognises the disruption and harm that retail crime does to both businesses and the individuals who work there. We support the work of our Justice partners to tackle this, including through the innovative Scottish Partnership Against Acquisitive Crime strategy. This strategy is led by Police Scotland, together with other organisations, including retailers, and outlines a partnership approach to the prevention, deterrence and enforcement of a range of crimes including shoplifting.

The Criminal Proceedings National Statistics for 2021-22 were published on the 24th October 2023. These include the first partial year of activity for the earliest opening period under the Act (from August 2021 to March 2022). Due to this, some caution should be exercised in interpreting the figures. Over August 2021 to March 2022, 26 individuals were convicted in court where the main charge was a crime or offence under the Retail Workers Act. The type of sentences received included custodial (13 individuals), community-based (9), a financial penalty (3) or another sentence type (1).

The Criminal Proceedings National Statistics for 2022-23, which will represent the first full reporting year of activity under the Act (from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023) will be published in 2024. Separate to this, data about the number of charges (not people) resulting in a conviction has been extracted from the management information used to publish the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard (Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Criminal Disposals Dashboard ). This shows there were 543 charges under the Retail Workers Act that received a criminal conviction in court from August 2021 up to March 2023.

All mainland Health Boards now offer abortions for all patients up to at least 20 weeks’ gestation in line with the recommendations in the 2022 Healthcare Improvement Scotland Sexual Health Standards.

The abortion statistics for England and Wales show that from January to June 2022, 19 patients resident in Scotland were treated in England or Wales who were over 20 weeks’ gestation and 5 patients who were between 13 and 19 weeks’ gestation. It is not possible to confirm how many of those patients sought treatment in England or Wales by choice and how many were referred there by their Health Board.

We understand that there will be rare occasions where waiting times mean that women under 20 weeks’ gestation are required to travel to England as they would not be able to access the service in Scotland before 20 weeks. We are working with BPAS to seek data on this, but the majority of patients needing to travel are over 20 weeks.

We continue to encourage Health Boards to ensure that patients close to 20 weeks’ gestation are prioritised for appointments.

We seek to ensure that people can access vaccination appointments as close to home as possible. Health Boards continue to recognise and support the needs of rural communities in planning and delivering the winter vaccination programme.

Health Boards continue to use outreach options to provide vaccination in rural areas. This winter, community pharmacies, ‘pop-up’ clinics and support from Scottish Ambulance Service mobile unit teams have been used to improve access and reduce travel distances.

Most Health Boards aim for a maximum travel distance of 10 miles or a travel time of 15-30 minutes and always consider public transport routes when choosing vaccination venues.

Community support and local transport solutions are utilised where possible in order to support those with additional barriers. Boards are also able to utilise local intelligence and provide flexible options including some weekend and evening appointments.

When booking their vaccination, I would encourage people to continue to check the online portal or call the national vaccination helpline as new appointments do become available regularly.

A transport appraisal of passenger and freight ferry services between the Northern Isles and the Scottish mainland, in line with the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG), was undertaken in 2016-2017 to inform the specification of the Northern Isles Ferry Services contract awarded in 2020. The study report is published here:

final-report-appraisal-of-options-for-specification-of-2018-northern-isles-ferry-services-april-2018.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

Serco NorthLink Ferries (SNF), as operator of the Northern Isles Ferry Services contract, keeps freight services under review and discusses these regularly with key stakeholders and Transport Scotland. SNF publish its carrying statistics, including freight, here:

NorthLink Statistics | NorthLink Ferries

As set out in the Women’s Health Plan , we are committed to developing a menopause and menstrual health workplace policy for NHS Scotland, as an example of best practice and to promote equivalent efforts across the public, private and third sector. This policy and its supporting guides will launch at the end of October.

It aims to provide a supportive environment, where staff (in a predominately female sector) can perform at their best, in a way that supports their wellbeing and ultimately helps staff retention.

Line managers and workplace adjustment guides will also be published to supplement the policy. These guides will be available to all staff across Scotland, not just NHS Scotland employees.

Additionally, Endometriosis UK run the Endometriosis Employer Friendly Scheme and a number of employers across Scotland have signed on to the scheme. In addition, the Endometriosis UK website also hosts resources for employers and employees on how to support those with endometriosis in the workplace.

While bedbug bites can be itchy they do not constitute a public health hazard. Local authority environmental health departments are responsible for their own pest control and advice services. General prevention advice for anyone who suspects an infestation can be found by contacting the relevant local authority.

The NHS UK website contains useful information on bed bugs, including self-care advice, and can be found at Bedbugs - NHS (www.nhs.uk) .

Policy responsibility for this issue is a devolved matter, and the potential introduction of any new legislation would be given careful consideration by Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government understands that the Animal Welfare (Responsibility for Dog Attacks) Bill would require a person in charge of a dog to take all reasonable steps to ensure that that dog does not fatally injure another dog. The Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 already makes it an offence for a person to cause unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, however the Scottish Government is open to considering if further provision is necessary in this area.