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Our internationally recognised Equally Safe strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls (VAWG) emphasises the importance of challenging the underpinning attitudes and victim blaming culture which enable such violence to take place. That is why through our Delivering Equally Safe Fund we support a range of projects which promote culture and behaviour change. This includes over £800,000 split between; White Ribbon Scotland to engage men as allies and change-makers; Zero Tolerance to develop professional skills in policy, practice and wider public campaigning; and Engender to explore primary prevention policy approaches.

As set out in the Programme for Government we will consult on draft laws to give effect to recommendations for criminal law reform contained in Baroness Kennedy’s Report, Misogyny, A Human Rights Issue , with a view to introducing legislation later in this Parliament. This sends a strong message that these behaviours are not, and will not be, accepted.

Education plays a key role in challenging attitudes, including victim blaming. That is why we fund and support education-based programmes and initiatives aimed at preventing gender-based violence such as the Equally Safe at School project, Mentors in Violence peer education programme and the Gender-Based Violence in Schools Working Group.

We also support campaigns and work by partners, such as Police Scotland’s “Don’t be that Guy” campaign as positive contributions which encourage men to take responsibility and challenges the notion that it is the responsibility of women and girls to protect themselves from male violence.

This Scottish Government has consistently championed our Veterans being the first Devolved Administration in the UK to create a Veterans Ministerial portfolio and the first nation in the UK to establish a Veterans Commissioner.

In August, we published our refreshed Veterans Strategy Action Plan in which we reaffirmed our longstanding commitment to our veterans, taking stock of the extensive services and support that the Scottish Government and our partners provide. This was informed by a light-touch consultation with key stakeholders to review our original action plan, first published in 2020, to establish the extent to which our existing commitments remained valid and where there were opportunities to add more detail to these commitments or add new ones. We identified a number of new commitments and updated several existing ones which will help us to better deliver and expand our support to our veterans and their families.

Furthermore, on 8 November I provided the Scottish Government’s annual update to Parliament on its support for the veterans and Armed Forces community. This was accompanied by a published written report which details fully the achievements we have made this year in delivering the commitments we have made to veterans and their families.

The Scottish Veterans Commissioner (SVC) also published her annual assessment of the Scottish Government’s progress against the recommendations made by the Commissioners since 2015. The SVC published this year’s progress report on 16 November which demonstrated good progress against recommendations made since 2015.

47,156 dwellings had an unoccupied exemption based on a snapshot as at September 2022. Further breakdowns are not held centrally.

The Scottish Government has extended the contract for the MS Victoria in Leith by 5 months. The estimated cost of extending the contract is around £9.4 million.

This will ensure those on board do not have to relocate during the festive period and will allow local authority partners to support more people into longer-term accommodation.

The Scottish Government has no plans to develop a strategic housing land availability assessment (SHLAA) for Scotland. SHLAA is part of the English planning system for housing, as expected by the English National Planning Policy Framework.

Scotland has its own planning policy and processes relating to housing. The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 and National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) set out new processes for Local Development Plans (LDPs) and policy for new homes in Scotland.

Our Revised Draft NPF4, if approved by the Scottish Parliament, will expect deliverable land to be allocated to meet the 10 year Local Housing Land Requirement in locations that create quality places for people to live. In addition, areas that may be suitable for new homes beyond 10 years are also to be identified. LDP delivery programmes will be expected to establish a housing land pipeline for the Local Housing Land Requirement. The annual housing land audit will sit alongside the delivery programme and will monitor the delivery of housing land.

Draft LDP Guidance has been consulted on, and is in the process of being finalised. This will include further information on how NPF4 housing policy is implemented in LDPs. We will provide updated guidance on housing land audits to support NPF4 housing policy.

Between 14 January 2022 and 17 February 2022 the role of Chair of the Board Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) was publicly advertised. Two candidates applied but were not successful.

Following the unsuccessful public recruitment exercise, a recruitment agency was engaged via the framework agreement with the Crown Commercial Service. Three potential candidates were invited for formal interview. The formal interviews tested strong leadership, change management, knowledge of the Public Sector, governance, analysis and decision making as well as communication, networking, influencing, mediation and conflict resolution skills. A recommendation was made to Ministers based on the ranking at formal interview and a formal offer of appointment was made to the highest ranking candidate assessed against the stated criteria.

The issue of body-worn cameras is a policy and operational decision for Police Scotland, acting under the oversight of the Scottish Police Authority.

Police Scotland have advised they have developed an initial business case for Body Worn Video which has been considered and approved by the SPA Resources Committee. Police Scotland will undertake a full procurement exercise in 2023 which will provide more clarity on costs – both upfront purchase costs and ongoing costs.

The Scottish Government would expect Police Scotland to achieve best value through all its procurement activity.

The Scottish Government welcomes initiatives being undertaken by Police Scotland to support its workforce through the “Your Wellbeing Matters” programme which covers psychological, physical, social and financial wellbeing.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on staff absences due to mental health reasons. Delivery of call handling services and associated staffing issues are a matter for the Chief Constable under the oversight of the SPA.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11301 on 21 October 2022. 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

AposHealth for osteoarthritis of the knee is being reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and their draft guidance on AposHealth is currently out for consultation, with an expected publication date of March 2023.

Although NICE medical technology guidance does not have official status in Scotland, the Scottish Government is awaiting publication of the NICE guidance before deciding next steps.

The Scottish Government are aware that living with chronic pain and painful musculoskeletal conditions can be extremely challenging and debilitating, which is why we are committed to ensuring people experiencing chronic pain can access appropriate support, when they need it.

The Scottish Government’s Framework for Pain Management Service Delivery – Implementation Plan was published in July 2022 and sets out the Actions we will take to improve the quality and coordination of care for people with chronic pain. We want people living with chronic pain to take control of their condition to improve their quality of life and be more empowered to participate in decisions on their care.