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The Scottish Government believes that all women have the right to access comprehensive universal healthcare, including abortion services, without fear or intimidation.

The Scottish Government is currently looking at how to tackle protests and vigils that intimidate women as they access healthcare services, and are seeking to make progress as soon as practicable.

In light of the recent protests outside of sexual health clinics, if an individual feels uncomfortable attending an appointment, they should contact the clinic directly to discuss their concerns.

The Scottish Government has had no discussions with either party on this matter as local government pay and other employment matters are delegated to local authorities and COSLA.

However, we urge all parties to continue open, constructive dialogue to find a resolution which avoids any potential industrial action and reaches a satisfactory conclusion for both sides.

I engage regularly with EIS-FELA and most recently met with EIS-FELA on 27th April and 17th May to discuss the current pay dispute.

I will continue to meet regularly with both sides, urging them to make every effort to resolve the current dispute without the need for further industrial action, which is absolutely not in the best interests of learners.

Pay for local government employees, including ancillary school staff, is negotiated between the trade unions and COSLA through the Scottish Joint Committee (SJC).

The Scottish Government is not a member of the SJC and does not take part in those negotiations. Any action to address or increase the pay of the non-teaching workforce is therefore a matter for COSLA.

The wellbeing and safety of children and young people in Scotland are key priorities for the Scottish Government. All children have the right to be cared for and protected from harm. GTC Scotland is the independent registration and regulation body for the teaching profession in Scotland. Their role is to help maintain trust in the teaching profession. They do this by keeping the Register of Teachers and setting and regulating the standards for entry to, and continued inclusion on, the Register. In the year April 2020 - March 2021, GTC Scotland received fitness to teach referrals in respect of 0.2% of the total number of registrants. For referrals for sexual misconduct specifically, this drops to 0.02%. These figures are consistent with previous years.

Administrators FRP have advised it is their understanding that the vast majority of employees previously employed by Dawnfresh Seafoods have secured alternative employment. PACE support is continuing to be provided as required to the remaining employees.

We continue to monitor the influence of PACE support through a PACE Client Experience Survey which we undertake every two years. The latest report published in December 2020, indicated that 81% of individuals surveyed who had received PACE support, secured alternative employment within six months. The 2022 survey will be published later this year.

The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to reaching net zero by 2045. The decarbonisation of our infrastructure will be central to this goal.

Our five-year Infrastructure Investment Plan published in February 2021 includes details of around £26 billion of major projects and national programmes with more to be confirmed in future years.

The Plan delivers our National Infrastructure Mission and sets a long-term vision of infrastructure supporting an inclusive, net zero carbon economy in Scotland.

The £26 billion pipeline of major projects and national programmes includes almost £9 billion for environmental sustainability and the transition to net zero emissions, including over £280 million to support 18,000 hectares of forestry and restoring peatlands.

The NHS and Public Health Scotland provide support to expectant mothers for a healthy and safe pregnancy. Currently, the Committee on Toxicity has been supporting Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition by conducting a large scale risk assessment of the maternal health issues associated with legacy pesticides such as hexachlorocyclohexanes, endosulfan, and other organochlorine pesticides; and the plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA).

Additionally, The Scottish Government have legislated to end the supply and manufacture of the single use plastic items most commonly found littered, as set in the Programme for Government 2021-2021. The new regulations on single-use plastics are coming into force on 01 June 2022.

The Scottish Government is supporting organisations across Scotland to tackle the climate emergency. This includes, a further £1 million this year for the continued rollout of Green Growth Accelerators to support local authorities to develop low carbon projects and deliver £100 million over the next five years to help businesses via the Green Jobs Fund. Bespoke advice and support for businesses is also available through the enterprise agencies, Zero Waste Scotland, Business Gateway and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency. We are also supporting workers to engage in a just transition through the £100,000 we have provided for union capacity building. Our framework of regional climate action hubs and climate action towns is also enabling communities to engage in collective climate action.

We provide a wide range of antenatal support to help reduce the effects of poverty. For example, Best Start Foods provides pregnant women in receipt of benefits, with £18 every four weeks. To improve the nutrition of pregnant women, we provide free vitamins and are working, on a UK basis, to introduce mandatory fortification with folic acid. We provide £2.3m annually to NHS Boards to implement the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Framework (2011) and we have agreed standards with them to ensure early access to antenatal services where fetal growth, smoking/alcohol use, diet and maternal wellbeing is monitored.