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A short life working group, comprising of key public bodies and third sector representatives, has been established to consider the fundamental principles which will underpin a model for Scotland to effectively tackle and challenge men’s demand for prostitution. These principles will embed equality, human rights and support our efforts to tackle men’s violence against women. Draft principles will be consulted upon later this year.

As part of this work, the group are considering a range of issues which includes support services and how this will be reflected within the model’s principles.

A key aim of this work is to reduce stigma and criminalisation experienced by women involved in prostitution and improve access to services at local and national levels.

The Scottish Government does not intend to stop payments to people receiving Adult Disability Payment (ADP) once they reach state pension age.

An individual, over state pension age, will continue to receive payment of Adult Disability Payment until either they report a change in circumstance or their next light touch review by Social Security Scotland indicates that their needs have changed.

Scotland House London is clearly not an overseas office, but is a hub in a crucial city for Scotland. The facility provides a platform to develop trade and investment links, strengthen government to government relations and facilitate collaboration on economic, academic and innovation projects. Through Scotland House we are enhancing the range and depth of engagement with international partners across areas of shared ambition and common challenge, in order to inform and support the delivery of the Scottish Government policy agenda. Scotland House London is a unique collaboration between the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise (including Scottish Development International), VisitScotland and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

The Scottish Government believes that listening to as broad a range as possible of people affected by these practices will help us to understand what support and action may be needed.

That is why we published a dedicated webpage and questionnaire on 26 January, to invite views from women and families affected by historical adoption practices, who may also wish to take the opportunity to shape next steps. The information we receive will help us to continue to explore how those affected can best be supported with a view to continuing a collaborative approach as we progress with this matter.

We have also introduced a dedicated helpline in collaboration with Health in Mind for individuals who would like to be supported to make their contribution.

The requested information is not centrally held. NHS Education for Scotland publishes annual data on joiners/leavers, but this information does not specify start date or professional background of joiners. Information on joiners/leavers by staff group for each financial year can be found on the following link: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence

In October 2021, SG officials wrote to those remaining on the COVID-19 temporary registers with advice on how to view and access NHS Board vacancies, encouraging them to consider returning to the service. Prospective candidates were directed to vacancies hosted by individual NHS Boards, who are fully responsible for local recruitment.

Our overall assessment, from the numbers that remained on the registers and feedback from boards, is that a reasonable return rate would have been in the region of 5-10%; or around 200 doctors, nurses and midwives, allied health professionals and pharmacists (headcount) nationally. However, as candidates were directed to NHS Board vacancies, the Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of returners joining as a result of this measure.

A decision was taken, in discussion with Boards, that monitoring the rate of applicants in autumn and winter who had applied from emergency registers would be a burdensome task for already pressured Health Board recruitment teams.

All 429 of the intelligence reports received between 24 August 2020 and 30 November 2021 via the webform have been assessed, with appropriate actions identified and initiated.

The remit of the short life working group expressly omits the merits of different models to tackle prostitution .

Lived experience will be captured within the short life working group’s membership as many of our third sector organisations work directly or indirectly with women involved in prostitution. The consultation on draft principles will also enable further voices to feed into this process.

In addition, recognising that prostitution may be experienced alongside other forms of gendered violence, we have agreed that a Reference Group is convened with opportunities to input into the development of the draft principles work. This membership spans across a number of Scottish Government portfolio areas, the wider public sector, third sector and those with direct lived experience.

We have also commissioned a central piece of national lived experience research which aims to understand current support service provision and the needs of service users better. This is being taken forward by an independent research team and is crucial in the forward look towards re-design of support services.

Scottish residents who received a full course of their COVID-19 vaccination overseas are currently not able to have a Scottish record of vaccination, or to use the NHS Scotland Covid Status App. Instead, they should obtain proof of vaccination from the country where they received their vaccine.

For those who have received one dose in Scotland and one dose internationally, you can obtain your vaccination status showing the dose administered in Scotland following the normal process outlines on NHS Inform. For the dose administered internationally, this will need to be requested from the country you were vaccinated in.

We are currently working to expand our digital solution to record vaccines which have been administered in Europe and internationally.

For domestic certification purposes, we accept proof of vaccination from across the UK and Crown Dependencies, as well as the Digital Covid Certificate Scheme – which Scotland is part of. Visitors from other nations, such as the USA, will need to provide the same proof of vaccination status that is accepted for entry into the UK.

As was announced in the programme for government, this year we will open a Scottish Government office in Copenhagen to increase Scotland’s economic and cultural visibility in the Nordic region. During this parliamentary session, we will also open an office in Warsaw, as part of our continued commitment to enhancing our external reach and voice.

The budget allocation for Copenhagen in 2022-23 is £598,000 this includes salary costings, upkeep, day-today running and hospitality costs. We anticipate that the Warsaw office will be similar in budget to existing Scottish Government overseas offices.