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The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport announced earlier in 2015 that a new type of test would be introduced to the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme over the next two years. The Quantitative Faecal Immunochemical Test will replace the current Faecal Occult Blood Test. The new test is deemed to be more user friendly than the current test and is expected to help increase participation in the programme.

Additionally the ‘Bowel Scope Study’ is currently underway within three health boards in Scotland to determine if offering a Flexible Sigmoidoscopy to participants would be a beneficial addition to the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme. The study is due to complete in March 2016, the resulting data will then be analysed and a decision taken upon recommending inclusion to the Bowel Screening Programme.

The Public Health England report is a welcome addition to the evidence base around e-cigarettes as the Scottish Government continues to develop its overall policy around e-cigarettes. Current evidence suggests e-cigarettes are far less harmful than tobacco and if using them helps smokers quit entirely then that is to be welcomed. Anyone using an e-cigarette to help them quit will most likely see the best results if they do this alongside the support of their local stop smoking services. Scottish Government is working with smoking cessation services in Scotland to explore how they can best help users of e-cigarettes to quit tobacco for good. Further research on the long-term health impacts of e-cigarettes is needed, and we will continue to monitor evidence. Our Health Bill strikes a balance between regulating e-cigarettes and helping those who wish to use them to help stop smoking. By doing so we hope both to prevent smoking from appearing normal again, but also gain the public health benefits from reductions in the use of cigarettes.

Evidence suggests that increased use of e-cigarettes has contributed to a reduction in the popularity of other methods of quitting smoking. Nevertheless, NHS stop smoking services continue to support significant numbers of smokers to give up this deadly habit. Anyone using an e-cigarette to help them quit will most likely see the best results if they do this alongside the support of their local stop smoking services. Scottish Government is working with smoking cessation services in Scotland to explore how they can best help users of e-cigarettes to quit tobacco for good.

In any given case, sentencing decisions are a matter for the court based on the facts and circumstances of each case in line with the overall legal framework. There are no sentencing targets for judges including in relation to how different categories of offenders should be treated when sentencing.

One of the disposals available to Scottish courts is the Community Payback Order, which ensures offenders pay back to the community, whilst also addressing the underlying causes of their offending behaviour. This can include providing support for mental health issues.

<>The Scottish Government established the National Prisoner Healthcare Network to take forward work on mental health policy in prisons. The Network has representation from NHS boards. The Scottish Government will consider the recommendations from the Network’s implementation report which is due to be published for wider consultation on 6 August 2015.

Scotland’s local authorities have statutory oversight of community councils under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Local authorities are accountable to their community for how they fulfil their functions including their statutory responsibility for community councils. The Scottish Government has no additional statutory role for actively monitoring how they fulfil these functions.

The Scottish Government was made aware of East Renfrewshire Council’s revised community council scheme of establishment on 29 June 2015. Local authorities have statutory oversight of community councils under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. This includes the duty to review their area’s community council scheme of establishment and if they consider it should be amended, to consult with the community councils concerned and the local community. Local authorities are accountable to their community for how they fulfil their functions including their statutory responsibility for community councils. The Scottish Government has no statutory role for monitoring how they fulfil these functions.

The health care of prisoners transferred to the NHS as of November 2011. As part of this transition all prisoner health care records and mental health service management information also transferred from Scottish Prison Services to NHSScotland. Health boards are expected to undertake the assessment of healthcare needs in the prisons in their areas, prioritise them, and address them over time, as they would do for other services in the community. We would expect boards to be transparent about any data they have used to materially inform their
decision-making.

The health care of prisoners transferred to the NHS as of November 2011. As part of this transition, all prisoner health care records and mental health service management information also transferred from Scottish Prison Service to NHSScotland. In terms of mental health care and treatment the Scottish Government is responsible for setting the overall policy direction of mental health services, and for working with and funding NHS boards and local authorities to ensure they plan and deliver appropriate local services. It is for local NHS boards to decide how they implement these policies to ensure that their local population have the highest quality care and treatment.

Specifically in relation to the mental health of prisoners, the National Prisoner Healthcare Network has a strategic and national coordinating role to support the delivery of high quality, safe, effective and consistent services to prisoners in a national Scottish Prison Service. This network has commissioned specific work streams on mental health and substance misuse to ensure that national policies and protocols are used and to ensure that resources are used effectively. Membership of the group includes the Scottish Government, NHS boards including the State Hospital and the Scottish Prison Service.

The NHS in Scotland fully implements the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. All NHS boards are expected to report all incidents in accordance with the guidance issued by the Health and Safety Executive. This guidance is available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hsis1.pdf.

The regulation of workplace health and safety is reserved to the UK Government under the Scotland Act 1998. The Scottish Government does not routinely collect workplace accident and injury data centrally.