- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 1 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will implement the recommendations of the UNECE Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention decision VII/8s by the deadline of 1 October 2024.
Answer
The implications of the recommendations of decision VII/8s are being considered and work is ongoing to strengthen compliance with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention. A number of strands of work are being undertaken in relation to a review of the court rules governing Protective Expenses Orders, a new Human Rights Bill for Scotland which will include a commitment to a right to a healthy environment, and consideration of Legal Aid Reform in the course of this Parliament. The Scottish Government has already introduced an exemption from court fees for environmental 'Aarhus' cases brought in the Court of Session. In terms of the recommendations that relate directly to unauthorised development within the UK, we are working with the other UK administrations to assess the options and identify appropriate actions.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 1 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to environmental organisations, including Friends of the Earth Scotland and the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, who referred to its contributions to the UK Plan of action for decision VII/8s of the UNECE Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention, as "woefully inadequate".
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Dorothy Bain on 1 November 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-00237 by the Lord Advocate on 6 October 2021 (Official Report, c. 3), whether it will provide an update on the work of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to address acknowledged issues in managing post mortem reports.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2022
To ask the First Minister what urgent action the Scottish Government is taking to prevent poverty-related malnutrition and food insecurity, in light of reported growing concerns from healthcare workers, school staff and charities about the impact of hunger on people across Scotland.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 3 November 2022
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that retailers do not sell vaping products to under-18s.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many retailers have been (a) charged and (b) convicted in relation to selling vaping products to under-18s.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 26 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve life expectancy in Lanarkshire, in light of the diminishing life expectancies highlighted in the National Records of Scotland report, Life Expectancy in Scotland 2019-2021.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to fund research into heart condition diagnoses for women, in light of public health data that reportedly shows a rise in hospital admissions due to takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
Answer
The Women’s Health Plan, 2021-2024, 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.
The Chief Scientist Office provide funding for the NHS Research Scotland Cardiovascular Network. The role of the Network is to support the delivery of high quality cardiovascular disease clinical research for the benefit of patients in Scotland and is currently providing support for the following clinical study:
Tako Genetics Study - Is There a Genetic Predisposition for Acute Stress-Induced (Takotsubo) Cardiomyopathy?
The Chief Scientist Office directly funds research through its 2 expert committees.
Applications on Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, and other heart conditions, are welcomed and in common with all other applications would go through a process of independent expert review in order to enable funding decisions to be made.
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what actions are being taken to raise awareness of heart health for women, as outlined in the Women's Health Plan for 2021-24.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11371 on
25 October 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
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 06 October 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 25 October 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what actions it plans to take to raise awareness of takotsubo cardiomyopathy and other heart syndromes in women, in light of public health data that reportedly shows an increase in women being hospitalised with this syndrome.
Answer
The Women’s Health Plan, 2021-2024, includes an action to improve information and public awareness of heart disease symptoms and risks for women.
We commenced work on this action through the development of a comprehensive women's health platform on the NHS Inform website. This includes pages on women’s heart health, and provides information and signposting on Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
