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The information requested on how many people have been treated using hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy is not centrally held.

34 people were referred to England in 2017-18, 28 in 2018-19, 25 in 2019-20, 20 in 2020-21 and 13 people so far in 2021-22.

The Scottish Government continues to closely monitor the impact of Brexit on businesses, jobs and the wider economy.

The latest Business Impact and Conditions (BICS) survey for December shows that Brexit is having a visible impact on Scottish businesses, with 49% of all manufacturing businesses reporting higher costs due to increased paperwork and 57% facing higher transportation costs.

Early trade statistics indicate that Scottish trade with the EU in 2021 was 24% lower compared to 2019 levels. New customs regulations from the 1st January 2021 are likely to further increase barriers for Scottish businesses importing from the EU.

The latest BICS survey also indicates that Brexit has exacerbated the current labour market shortages as Scottish businesses struggle to hire workers from the EU. In manufacturing and the accommodation and food sectors around 25% of businesses with unfilled vacancies cite a reduced number of EU applicants as a cause of difficulties in hiring.

In the long run, forecasts by the Office of Budgetary Responsibility indicate that Brexit will be more detrimental to the UK’s productivity than the pandemic, causing an estimated 4% fall in productivity compared to 2% for the pandemic.

The Scottish Government has no functions in relation to the Help to Buy ISA

The Scottish Child Payment commenced for children under the age of 6 in February 2021 and eligibility is based on receipt of qualifying benefits, with 106,000 children receiving the payment as of September 2021 based on the latest data available.

Children who are home-schooled are not excluded from this support which will be increased to £20 per week as of April 2022. The Scottish Government remain committed to delivering the Scottish Child Payment in full by the end of 2022, subject to receipt of the necessary data from the Department for Work and Pensions, at which point around 430,000 children under the age of 16 will be eligible.

Until such times as the necessary data is made available by the Department for Work and Pensions it is not possible to expand the reach of the Scottish Child Payment to older children, including those who are home-schooled.

Ahead of the full roll out of Scottish Child Payment, the Scottish Government is working in partnership with local councils to deliver Bridging Payments. This innovative solution, which makes use of data available to local authorities, is enabling immediate support worth £520 in both 2021 and 2022 to be provided to as many children as possible. The Bridging Payments are made automatically for children of school age who receive Free School Meals on the basis of low income, reaching in the region of 150,000 children backed by investment of around £78 million a year.

In addition the Scottish Government has made £25 million of funding available to local authorities, as part of the £41 million Winter Support Fund, in order to tackle financial insecurity in their local areas. Scottish Government guidance , published in December 2021, encourages local authorities to utilise this funding to provide proactive financial assistance to those who may face hardship, including those not eligible for other support.

The scheduling of Cannabis Based Products for Medicinal Use (CBPMs) under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is a function reserved to the UK Government and the Scottish Government has no powers to alter its status.

Having considered possible options for funding private prescriptions for CBPMs for children in Scotland with uncontrolled epilepsy, the Scottish Government continues to consider that it would be inappropriate for the costs associated with a private prescription to be paid by the NHS, as this would have the effect of re-directing public funding from the NHS care to private care.

Despite the change under relevant UK legislation in 2018, many doctors remain concerned about the limited evidence on the safety and efficacy of those medicines which are unlicensed. The Scottish Government therefore considers that randomised controlled clinical trials are necessary as part of the medicine licensing process in order to demonstrate a product’s safety, quality and efficacy. This is why we are committed to working with NHS England and the National Institute for Health Research to build a clearer evidence base in order to enable clinicians to have the assurances they need to consider prescribing these products on the NHS.

Apprenticeships are a key way for all employers to invest in their workforce, providing the skills the economy needs both now and in the future.

Published in December 2020, the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) sets out the actions we need to take to ensure our workforce is able to support the transition to net zero. Agile and responsive work-based learning, including apprenticeships, will support these ambitions and the CESAP notes the importance of developing new work-based learning pathways to capitalise on net-zero opportunities and maximising the uptake of apprenticeships in green jobs.

In this context, the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) commissioned IFF Research to carry out a consultation with SAAB members, and other employers, covering industry views on the importance of reflecting sustainability into Scottish apprenticeships, and the steps required to achieve this. A final report of findings and recommendations was published in November 2021 which highlighted the need to raise awareness of climate change amongst apprentices and their employers.

Ministers are due to meet SAAB to discuss their findings on 27 January 2022. Although climate literacy skills are not currently mandatory within our apprenticeship frameworks, we are keen to work with SAAB and businesses to explore how we could effectively integrate climate awareness into work-based learning in Scotland, ensuring apprenticeships remain flexible and relevant to the current working environment as we transition to net zero, and encouraging apprentices to be at the forefront of behaviour change within their organisations.

The Scottish Government will continue to work collaboratively with Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board to maximise apprenticeships and prioritise a recovery that creates new jobs, good jobs and green jobs, supporting the long-term future of work-based learning and the economy.

The Scottish Government continues to support public sector leadership on the climate emergency through ongoing engagement with key bodies such as the Sustainable Scotland Network, Scottish Leaders Forum, Environment and Economy Leadership Group and the Scottish Cities Alliance. Such engagement allows the Scottish Government to discuss the sector priorities and challenges in achieving our shared net zero ambitions, implementing the updated Climate Change Plan and any support needed for the reduction of carbon emissions across all 32 of Scotland’s local authorities.

Since 2015-16, around 180 listed Scottish public bodies, including all local authorities, have been required to report annually on compliance with their statutory climate change duties. The Scottish Government funds the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) to produce an annual analysis of the submitted reports, which shows progress on emissions reduction. This includes analysis of progress across a number of areas of public sector climate action, including on transport fuel, electricity and waste reduction. Reported emissions from the public sector continue to decrease, with Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions down 28.5% since mandatory reporting began in 2015-16.

Our building by building approach aims to offer reassurance and our priority is always to secure the safety of people in their own homes. Inspections are underway and we expect the first completed reports soon.

We expect that the majority of buildings will be shown to be safe, but where issues are found, then we will seek the most appropriate solutions to remediation. We urge other parties, such as developers, to continue to play their part where construction is found to be unsafe.

As the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, I am responsible for audiology services.

There are multiple directorates in the Scottish Government with an interest in the delivery of audiology services in Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05254 on 25 January 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