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The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee has previously welcomed significant progress made by Scotland in strengthening compliance with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention. Work is in progress or planned in relation to the areas of concern which were raised in decision VII/8s. The Scottish Civil Justice Council has been asked to undertake a review of court rules relating to Protective Expenses Orders, and this is currently underway. Following a public consultation which closed in March this year the Scottish Government has introduced an exemption for court fees for Aarhus Convention cases in the Court of Session. This exemption is now in force. Work is underway on planning for a new Human Rights Bill for Scotland, which will include a commitment to a right to a healthy environment. The Scottish Government is committed to introducing legislation to reform legal aid in the course of the current Parliament, informed by ongoing engagement with stakeholders. The Scottish Government is committed to strengthening compliance with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention.

Significant work has been done by COPFS, toxicologists and pathologists to address this issue. Since the beginning of 2021, there has been no backlog of toxicology reports. In some cases, the toxicology analysis requires to be supplemented by further scientific testing to assist the pathologist in establishing the cause of death. The dedicated team established by COPFS in November 2021 continues to manage the submission of the final post mortem reports which then require to be considered by Procurators Fiscal.

In this reporting year, over 90% of final post mortem reports have been received within 12 weeks of the date of post mortem and the number of reports still to be processed by COPFS has been substantially reduced from a peak figure of almost 2200 in December 2021 to 356 the week commencing 20 October 2022.

The Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office operates open competitive funding schemes for applied health research projects and fellowships across the wide range of NHS and health challenges in Scotland.

These schemes continue to operate and are open to consideration of applications addressing priorities for research conditions that effect menstrual health. Applications to these schemes are assessed through independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by independent expert committees.

A number of research projects on menstrual health including fibroids and endometriosis, have been funded through these schemes in the past.

In partnership with Wellbeing of Women, this year we are jointly funding a £250,000 research call which aims to develop improvements into treatment and management options for endometriosis. The funding will be awarded in December 2022, fulfilling our medium term commitment in the Women’s Health Plan to commission research into endometriosis.

The Women’s Health Plan also includes a long term action to establish a Women’s Health Research Fund with the aim of closing gaps in scientific and medical knowledge in women’s health for both sex specific and non sex-specific conditions.

COPFS aims to conduct its investigation and advise the next of kin of the outcome within 12 weeks of the initial report of the death in at least 80% of cases.

Reporting years 2020-21 and 2021-22 saw increases in deaths reported to COPFS of 44% and 40% respectively, reflecting a combination of factors including, but not restricted to, excess deaths attributable directly to COVID-19, local GPs having less contact with patients in the community and being unable to certify deaths, and changes in the process of dealing with and reporting deaths in the community.

The number of cases requiring further investigation, because no cause of death was immediately apparent, has therefore increased, with 7085 post-mortem examinations instructed in 2021-22, an increase of 742 on the previous year. The following table shows the numbers and percentage of deaths requiring further investigation for the last two reporting years and the first two quarters of the current year.

Progress against the published performance target is monitored regularly and has improved significantly this reporting year.

The National Records of Scotland published the latest life expectancy statistics on 22 September 2022. As reflected in these statistics, the pandemic has hit our most deprived communities the hardest, including many in Lanarkshire.

Reducing poverty and inequality sits at the heart of our investment across all portfolios and remain the best way of improving life expectancy. As a result we are mobilising action across government to tackle the underlying causes of inequality in our society.

This includes our commitment to providing free school meals, increasing the number of hours of free childcare, investing in affordable housing and continuing to deliver free prescriptions, concessionary travel and free personal care. Our Programme for Government and COVID Recovery Strategy include further commitments to improve life expectancy and to tackle health inequalities.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have confirmed that in the last five financial years, as of 14 October 2022, there have been 11 charges reported and 2 charges convicted under the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 S4A(1) in relation to the selling of vaping products to under 18's.

We are greatly concerned by reports of children and under-age young people obtaining e-cigarettes or vaping products. Vapes and other nicotine products are part of a range of cessations tools available to existing smokers to help stop tobacco use. They are not a lifestyle accessory for children, young people or adult non-smokers.

There are already regulations in place which restrict the marketing, promotion and sale of vaping products to under 18s. We wrote to all retailers involved in their sale to remind them of their duty at the start of October 2022.

Our recent consultation proposed restrictions on vaping products that strike a balance between protecting all non-smokers from the potential harms of vaping, while still providing existing adult smokers with the information they need to make an informed choice on cessation. We hope to bring forward further regulation in the new year.

We recognise the importance of having a clear public health message for young people around the dangers of vaping. We are working with Young Scot and the Children’s Parliament to bring their voices into our work to develop a bold refreshed Tobacco Action Plan due to be published in Autumn 2023.

The Scottish Government will carry out the review required by section 41 of the EU Withdrawal from the EU (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2021. This Act requires Ministers to review and consult on the effectiveness of the governance arrangements introduced by the Act, access to justice on environmental matters and whether the establishment of an environmental court could enhance the environmental governance arrangements. The report has to be presented to the Parliament within six months of Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) adopting its first full strategy.

The ESS strategy has recently been laid in the Parliament and is expected to be published shortly, subject to the Parliamentary process. The review is planned to be published and the subsequent consultation to be launched in spring 2023.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a new right to a healthy environment as a part of the planned Human Rights Bill.

The Scottish Government has not made representations to the management at Liberty Steel Dalzell in Motherwell following the resignation of its parent company's auditors.

The appointment of auditors is an operational matter for the GFG parent company and the issue was raised in a recent Ministerial meeting at that level.