Seòmar agus comataidhean

We welcome the Together for the One in Six report produced by the Neurological Alliance of Scotland (NAoS). We are determined to improve the provision of neurological care which is why we funded the NAoS to help facilitate this survey in Scotland.

It is vital that people with neurological conditions feel enabled and involved in their care. Understanding the perspectives of those who access health care in Scotland will enable us to work together to identify good practice and drive up standards.

We continue to implement the commitments of the Neurological Care and Support - a National Framework for Action, as a priority. We will continue to work with the Neurological Alliance of Scotland to ensure that all people living in Scotland with a neurological condition are able to access the best possible care and support throughout and beyond the lifespan of the Framework.

Public Health Scotland will publish their final report on Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) in summer 2023.

The sunset clause within the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 means that this policy is only in effect until 30th April 2024 unless an affirmative Scottish Statutory Instrument is approved by Parliament to continue MUP beyond that date. As the sunset clause is set out in legislation it is not possible to extend the period of time before it comes into force.

In the last ten years, the Scottish Government's Chief Scientist Office has provided £889,000 in funding towards Motor Neurone Disease (MND) research.

NHS Employer and Staff Side representatives discussed the temporary increase at a meeting on 7 July and agreed to extend the enhanced rates for a further 4 months, until 30 November 2022. This was confirmed to the service on 12 July.

The National Care Service will allow us to improve standards across the whole of the social care sector. The current model of securing care services will be replaced by a model of ethical commissioning and ethical procurement.

As part of this the entire adult social care workforce experience fair work, introducing national pay bargaining to deliver more equitable terms and conditions. The National Care Service will design its services locally to ensure individual needs and local circumstances are taken into account. This will include continuing to work with specialist charity and third sector providers of care services.

The Scottish Government has no plans to widen the statutory remit of the Care Inspectorate to include working with other public bodies to take assets into public ownership. However, we intend to strengthen the Care Inspectorate’s enforcement powers. This will include the introduction of enhanced fitness of provider requirements and financial sustainability monitoring to act as an early warning system for the deterioration of service quality or failure. These will enable the regulator to more quickly take action on poor performing services, and drive up the consistency and quality of care expected across all social care services in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is not currently considering culling wild birds where Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) is detected, as this would not be a practical or proportionate method of impact mitigation.

Current advice to all keepers of poultry and other captive bird keepers is that the enhanced biosecurity requirements that were brought in as part of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone in November 2021, remain in force, as infection continues to circulate in the environment. Keepers are advised to maintain scrupulous biosecurity standards and to continue applying such standards as best practice. These practices include the cleansing and disinfection of equipment, vehicles and footwear and the storing of feed, water and bedding to minimise the risk of virus contamination from wild birds.

In Autumn 2021, NatureScot suspended all licences to shoot Svalbard barnacle geese in the Solway area in light of the HPAI outbreak.

In February 2022, when HPAI was confirmed within the Greenland barnacle goose population, NatureScot suspended licences to shoot Greenland barnacle geese on Islay and on Uist. These licences had been issued to prevent serious agricultural damage.

NatureScot will review whether similar arrangements are required when geese and other waterfowl populations return to their wintering grounds. If culling licences to prevent agricultural damage are suspended in the autumn then alternative support for land managers and owners will be considered.

As Scotland’s seaweed cultivation industry grows, we must ensure we manage this in a sustainable manner, addressing and mitigating any impact on the natural environment. Research will be key to better understanding the sustainability aspects of growing seaweed cultivation, and as part of our next steps of the aquaculture regulatory review, I have approached the Scottish Science Advisory Council to examine the use and communication of science in aquaculture consenting.

The seaweed sector is being considered as part of our broader regulatory review on aquaculture, beginning with the independent report by Professor Russel Griggs published earlier this year. As a next step and in response to the recommendations set out by Professor Griggs, I have set up and Chair the Scottish Aquaculture Council, which represents a range of stakeholders interested in the aquaculture sector and its environmental, economic and social impacts.

The Scottish Government recognises the emerging seaweed cultivation industry as an important part of the Scottish aquaculture sector. We are committed to taking action on aquaculture regulatory reform, which will include the seaweed sector. I have welcomed Professor Griggs’ independent report and accepted his recommendations in principle. His report recognises the unique challenges and opportunities of the seaweed sector and recommends that a separate regulatory framework is developed for the sector alongside frameworks for finfish and shellfish. It also stresses the need for these regulatory solutions to be informed by a government-led Vision for aquaculture, which is in progress and due to be published at the end of this year.