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At close of business 20 June 2022 there had been a total of 11,122,501 journeys made under the Young Persons Scheme (YPS).

Following the publication of the interim guidance in August 2021 by the Drug Deaths Taskforce, the Scottish Government published an evidence review on benzodiazepine use in March 2022 and convened an expert group to consider the interim guidance, the evidence review, and what further guidance would cover. Experts endorse the interim guidance and agree that the prescribing element is the area which requires further research before anything further is published.

The Scottish Government has provided funding for a cohort study by the University of Stirling on patient outcomes and through the National Mission we are funding a pilot benzodiazepine clinic in Fife. These projects will contribute to the evidence needed to inform further guidance, and guidance on benzodiazepine harm reduction will be updated in response to the developing evidence base.

Information on salaries/fees of ScotRail Board members will be published by the end of June 2022.

The SPCB provides support to staff who suffer from recurrent illnesses, including migraine.  The SPCB recognises that most people with migraine can manage their condition and work effectively, with the right information and support in place.  Managers and MSPs, in their capacity as employers, are encouraged to create a positive workplace culture, including holding regular conversations with team members about wellbeing so that additional support needs can be identified.  

Members, their staff, and SPS staff also have access to a range of health and wellbeing related policies, advice and services including the Parliament’s Occupational Health Service, which can provide workplace assessments or referral to medical specialists.  The SPCB is also committed to providing a Safe place of work and fully complies with workplace health, safety and welfare requirements including ensuring the availability of water, good lighting, good ventilation and a reasonable working temperature. 

The SPCB also provides support to individuals including:

• Reasonable adjustments including the provision of assistive equipment;
• Localised adjustments to reduce brightness in individual work areas;
• Health and wellbeing training, including stress awareness and managing your physical working from home arrangements;
• Free eye tests;
• Adjustable DSE workstation equipment;
• stress risk assessments, as required;
• Quiet working space in the Holyrood building;
• A good mix of natural and electric lighting and an environment which is free of excessive noise and odours.
  

Staff can also access flexible working arrangements, including flexible working hours and time off for medical appointments. 

When compared to the Migraine Trust’s definition of a migraine-friendly employer the Parliament is well placed.  However, the SPCB continues to review the support it provides to staff.

Transport Scotland has not held any discussions with Highland bus operators regarding providing extra bus services at times when ScotRail is operating a temporary timetable. The temporary timetable currently in place is an operational matter for which ScotRail is responsible for. The temporary timetable aims to provide the best possible service to as many passengers as possible with the available resources.

The Scottish Government allocated £93.5 million in funding to support bus services in 2022-23. This includes temporary additional recovery funding to bus operators, including those in the Highlands, through the Network Support Grant Plus. And I am pleased to confirm that the Scottish Government is making a further £25.7 million in recovery funding available to support bus services across Scotland.

The SPCB undertook to consider this and can advise that the central register of interests for SPCB staff who are members of the Parliament’s Leadership Group is now publicly available, as of this week.  The register can be found here.  The SPCB considers that publication of declared interests for Leadership Group members is in the public interest for reasons of transparency and maintaining trust and confidence.  As before, Leadership Group members will be required, on an annual basis, to review their register of declared interests.

The number of passenger complaints received by ScotRail, through their official complaints process, is set out on the following table for the period 1 and 30 April 2022. The complaints may involve accidents that occurred before 1 April 2022.

The average recorded number of complaints per period for previous years is as follows:-

2019-2020 - 1,664 complaints

2018-2019 - 2,064 complaints

The figure of 1,144 complaints for April 2022 is lower than the above period averages.

ScotRail do not record staff complaints and therefore the information is not available.

The Scottish Government has set out our commitment to people with a learning disability and their families through the Keys to Life Learning Disability strategy and the Learning/Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Towards Transformation Plan . Both strategies focus on outcomes intended to ensure people with a learning disability live healthier lives, enjoy choice and control over the services they use, and are supported to be independent and active citizens.

In healthcare settings, all incidents of restraint should be recorded and monitored at NHS Board level in line with their individual clinical governance procedures. The Mental Welfare Commission also have a role in publishing guidance in this area and in addressing individual cases following contact from patients, or as a result of their visits and themed reviews.

The Care Inspectorate gathers information on all incidents of restraint and reviews selected cases to ensure staff carrying out the restraint are fully trained and best practice is followed. They also inspect residential and secure care homes at least once each year, and restraint procedures are part of that inspection process.

In education settings, under existing 2017 guidance any use of physical intervention in schools, including restraint, must be recorded and monitored by local authorities. As part of their scrutiny and improvement roles in schools, Education Scotland inspectors consider the impact of practice in relation to the use of physical intervention, including restraint, for children and young people.

On 21 June, the Scottish Government launched a public consultation on new draft human rights-based guidance on the use of physical intervention in schools. The draft guidance makes clear the recording, reporting and monitoring expectations that apply to all schools. This includes recording of a child or young person’s additional support needs and any protected characteristics.

Furthermore, this year Restraint Reduction Scotland was launched. Restraint Reduction Scotland is led by a core group of stakeholders, including professionals and family carers, who have lived experience, expertise and a shared, cross-sector, commitment to working towards the reduction of restrictive practices.

Gill netting is a legitimate form of fishing activity permitted within Scottish waters. As with all forms of sea fishing, gill net vessels must comply with all applicable rules, regulations, and technical standards, when carrying out their fishing operations. Furthermore, the retained EU regulation (EU) 2019/124(the Technical Conservation Regulation ) provides that vessels with an overall length of 12 metres or more, whilst using any bottom-set gill net in certain parts of Scottish waters must use an acoustic deterrent devices which should reduce cetacean bycatch.

We recognise that bycatch and entanglement in any type of fishing gear can pose a risk to our iconic marine life and we remain committed to tackling this issue in our waters. We support good practice by the fishing industry and are pleased to see the level of support from fishers to trial novel solutions to reduce marine animal entanglements. In some cases, additional measures may be required to reduce instances of entanglements and bycatch of other marine species including marine mammals and seabirds. We will consider this further as part of our development of the Future Catching Policy, using a co-management approach.

We take protection of the marine environment seriously and are clear that any form of dumping and other illegal activities are completely unacceptable. Legal obligations regarding the disposal of litter and fishing gear at sea are enforced by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Marine Scotland Directorate officers can report illegal activity through an intelligence system to the MCA and vessels operating within Scottish waters are regularly reminded of their obligations under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) Regulations. Vessels must also comply with Article 48 of the retained EU Regulation 1224/2009 (the Control Regulation ) which makes provision regarding the retrieval of lost gear.

The Scottish Government remain committed to meeting the standard that 90% of patients start treatment for CAMHS and Psychological Therapies within 18 weeks of referral by March 2023.

There have been obvious operational difficulties caused by Covid-19 and the restrictions necessarily put in place over the pandemic. However, latest statistics for both CAMHS and Psychological Therapies (PT) published on 7 June 2022, Publications - Public Health Scotland , for the latest quarter ending 31 March 2022 show that there has seen an all-time high number of children and young people beginning treatment for CAMHS. It is also the highest number of children beginning treatment within 18 weeks under this measure since quarter ending June 2016. It is also encouraging to see significant progress with Psychological Therapies waiting times with a significant decrease in long waits over one year and a decrease for those waiting over 18 weeks.

This reflects the effects of the Scottish Government’s improvement work with Health Boards and the additional investment – which is growing the workforce and reducing backlogs resulting in shorter waiting times and a better experience for individuals and families supported by our NHS.

We are working with Boards closely and will continue to monitor their performance against the waiting times standard.