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The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2020-21 and is provided in the following table.

Number of people convicted under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003, where main crime, 2011-12 to 2020-21.

The Scottish Government republished the Scottish Good Practice Statement on ME/CFS in February 2023, updated with key recommendations from the latest NICE guidelines on ME/CFS.

Officials continue to work with stakeholder groups to explore how we might further review and implement the guidance in Scotland.

a) Neurological Conditions: estimating the prevalence in Scotland of selected conditions using GP and Hospital Admissions datasets , a Scottish Government experimental statistics report published in December 2022, contains estimated prevalence of selected neurological conditions in Scotland, including ME/CFS.

b) We do not hold data on the prevalence of people living with fibromyalgia in Scotland.

c) Until March 2023, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported monthly on responses to long COVID questions in the COVID-19 Infection Survey (CIS) . This reporting provided prevalence estimates of self-reported long COVID by duration and associated activity limitations, with data available at Scotland level.

The Scottish Government recognises that being physically active is one of the very best things we can do for our physical and mental wellbeing.

It is an effective treatment in the management and prevention of many long-term conditions and reduces the risk of overall mortality. Strong evidence shows that even small increases in activity can have benefits to our health. Evidence also shows that well-informed conversations with healthcare professionals can help to encourage people to be more active. Referral by a health care professional to opportunities to participate in physical activity and sport is a recognised structured approach to health improvement and is an important strand in our overall approach.

Our funding for sport is founded on a recognition of the important role which participation plays in supporting our health and wellbeing. The Golf on Prescription initiative is one amongst a wide range of such referral programmes across the country which involve different sports as well as activities such as walking, jogging, dance and many others. We encourage sports governing bodies as well as local leisure service providers to engage with Health Boards to explore the potential for referral programmes and we are aware of many successful initiatives.

Public Health Scotland published new Physical Activity Referral Standards in February 2022 to provide guidance which aims to reduce variability, enhance the quality of services and build further evidence of what works in relation to such initiatives. This includes the need for a focus on engaging with and delivering services to excluded, marginalised, or otherwise vulnerable population groups. Services therefore must be flexible to ensure that they are able to accommodate issues relating to equality and diversity in local populations which might otherwise act as barriers to participation.

The Scottish Government has been working with a number of partners to support the training and recruitment of a social care workforce to deliver integrated healthcare, which can include palliative care.

In collaboration with NES, the Scottish Government worked with the Home Office to ensure Adult Social Care workers were included on the Shortage Occupation List in February 2022, and that they will remain on this when this is next reviewed. To support international recruitment efforts, we have also collaborated with NES and COSLA to create the NES Centre for Workforce Supply: Social Care.

Further to this, we have been working with The Prince’s Trust and regional Developing the Young Workforce teams to encourage more young people to enter the social care workforce, and we continue to work with DWP, empowering their Work Coaches to support service users into careers in adult social care.

We also launched the National Induction Framework to support the onboarding process for new workers in February 2022, recognising that access to good onboarding can support staff retention by developing skills and confidence early on.

Under the Strategy Steering Group for Palliative Care, we have established a Workforce Education, Training and Resources Working Group to support the workforce and ensure that care is delivered by a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency workforce that is trained, skilled, valued and supported.

The recent Women’s Health Plan: Interim Progress Update 2023 produced for the Women’s Health Plan Implementation Programme Board and the quarterly blog by the Women’s Health Champion sets out progress made since the Report on Progress , which was published in January 2023.

There is now a Women’s Health Lead in nearly every NHS Board. It is for NHS Boards to determine the local role of their Women’s Health Leads according to local need and priority and with reference to the aims set out in the Women’s Health Plan .

The Women’s Health Plan Implementation Programme Board will next meet on 15 November 2023, at which the minutes from the previous meeting will be agreed and subsequently published online.

The Scottish Government reports on progress on its aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030 on an annual basis in the regular Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) Report.

In 2021, almost two thirds of children were in the healthy weight range, the lowest the survey has recorded. Almost one in five children (18%) were considered at risk of obesity in 2021.

In our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan we set out ambitious and wide-ranging action to deliver our vision for a Scotland where everyone eats well and has a healthy weight. We are taking forward a range of action across five key outcomes: giving children the best start in life; creating a healthier food environment; better access to weight management services; leadership and reducing health inequalities.

Although there has been no formal assessment of the impact of the 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan, the annual SHeS provides indicators relating to diet, including fruit and vegetable consumption, weight and physical activity.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of transition plans that local authorities have in place for children and young people as this is a matter for individual authorities.

Under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004, when a young person is expected to leave school the education authority has a duty to request and share information within specific timeframes to help support their transition. Local authorities are responsible for meeting their duties under the legislation and there are a range of planning mechanisms used by local authorities to meet children and young people’s needs.

In Scotland, respiratory infection levels, including those of COVID-19, and their impact are monitored using various sources of data, including microbiological sampling and laboratory test results from community and hospital settings, NHS 24 calls, primary care consultations, and hospital admissions. The intelligence generated from these different data sources provide a comprehensive picture of current respiratory illness in Scotland. In addition, COVID-19 outbreaks and general trends can be estimated by measuring concentrations of the virus in wastewater.

Surveillance of respiratory infections is a critical part of our approach to monitoring and managing the spread and prevalence of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. It helps us to determine the right public health strategies and timing, to manage transmission in the community. Public Health Scotland (PHS) are responsible for delivering Scotland’s National Respiratory Surveillance Plan with the support of the Scottish Government.

Our successful vaccination programme means many people previously considered at highest risk, and the wider population, are now far less likely to become seriously ill from Covid-19. However, people with a weakened immune system might not develop the same level of immunity from the vaccination as others. This means that some people with a weakened immune system may still be at higher risk from COVID-19, although many do get some protection from the vaccine. These people should continue to follow the advice of their GP or specialist clinician, who best know their health condition and circumstances. This may include accessing to antiviral treatment where required. The advice across respiratory diseases remains to get your booster when we invite you for vaccination and if you feel unwell with a respiratory infection to try to stay at home.

As Mr Johnson notes, the new requirement on grants has been in place since July this year. We are currently focussed on supporting all government portfolios and public bodies across Scotland to implement the new conditions.

Monitoring compliance with Fair Work First principles, including the requirements to pay workers at least the real Living Wage and provide appropriate channels for effective voice, is the responsibility of individual grant managers across government and of relevant funders across the wider public sector. It takes place within existing grant assurance and monitoring processes, as with any other condition of grant, such as agreed outcomes.

Where exceptions to the mandatory grant requirements are applied, grant managers are asked to record these. This information will be requested and collated at the end of the financial year.