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As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

As set out in the Policy Memorandum, accompanying the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the policy intention is that a local authority can establish exemptions to a visitor levy scheme in its area as it believes are appropriate. The Bill therefore provides for a local authority to put such exemptions in place, which will be informed by advice in national guidance being developed by local government and business organisations in the Visitor Levy Expert Group.

The Scottish Government published the independently produced Improving Equity of Access to Cancer Clinical Trials in Scotland report in February 2023, which includes a recommendation for the establishment of a national register for cancer clinical trials in Scotland. The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office has established an Equity of Access Implementation Board, which includes clinical research expertise from NHS Scotland, to consider this and other recommendations in the report.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office has established an Implementation Board to prioritise and take forward the recommendations of an independent report on Improving Equity of Access to Cancer Clinical Trials in Scotland that was published in February 2023: Improving equity of access to cancer clinical trials in Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Implementation of recommendations is anticipated to improve access to cancer clinical trials in Scotland.

The Scottish Government currently has no specific plans to provide mobility aids to medical charities operating in war zones. However, we will work with NHS Scotland and local authorities to respond to such requests from recognised partners, including WHO and UN bodies.

The Scottish Government has provided significant financial aid to humanitarian efforts in war zones in Gaza and Ukraine. We also donated a significant amount of medical supplies to Ukraine last year as part of the UK humanitarian response, coordinated by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes incidence and mortality data on leukaemias, Hodgkin lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma annually.

PHS previously published survival data on these same cancers. However in the 2023 release, a different approach was taken to assess the short-term impact of COVID-19 on cancer survival for a select few cancers. It utilised a much smaller cohort than the usual methodology which meant an estimate of survival for rarer cancers could not be calculated. Some estimates for blood cancers are available for the 2016-2020 cohort upon request to PHS.

In future cancer survival publications, these same blood cancers will be included again, as survival publications will revert back to previous methodology.

The Scottish Cancer Registry does not capture whether a cancer was detected following presentation at an Accident & Emergency (A&E) department. The details in the Scottish Cancer Registry and the lack of clinical information included in the A&E attendance data leaves the relationship between cancer diagnosis and A&E attendance uncertain.

Public Health Scotland completed a study to describe emergency and non-emergency routes to cancer diagnosis in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. A decision on whether to include an expanded list of cancers in the emergency vs. non-emergency routes to cancer diagnosis reporting will be made ahead of a planned publication in March 2024. However, this would be using the emergency/non-emergency definitions and so presentation at A&E would not specifically be defined as a route to diagnosis.