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In the wake of the protest at Mr Sweeney’s office, the Parliament’s Security Office engaged with the ‘Operation Sandbed’ team within Police Scotland on behalf of the SPCB.  Protest activity can cause alarm and the Security Office shared Mr Sweeney’s concerns, and the experience of his staff, that this protest had been unsettling and upsetting for those involved.  

Taking into account the issues experienced by Mr Sweeney’s office, the Security Office will undertake further engagement with Police Scotland on behalf of the SPCB to discuss additional support and training that can be provided to local office staff, and Members, should protest occur at a local office.

Data on Fracture Liaison Services across Scotland are not centrally held by the Scottish Government.

The Education Maintenance Allowance is vital in supporting young people from lower-income households to overcome financial barriers and to stay in education. It is a central component of this government’s support for young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Scottish Government has faced its most challenging budgetary settlement since devolution began – a settlement which has not been inflation-proofed, and which has subsequently required difficult decisions to be made, due to the pressures on our public services. Any future changes to EMA would need to be considered in this context.

The GP Sustainability loan scheme was paused in March 2024 due to a greater than anticipated number of loans having completed this year with the result that our budget for loans was oversubscribed.

The Scottish Government’s position on GP premises remains that set out in The 2018 General Medical Services in Scotland document: we recognise and support a long-term shift that gradually moves towards a model which does not presume GPs own their practice premises.

We intend to resume Tranche 1 of the Sustainability Loan Scheme in 2024-25 once we have completed the disbursement of funds for those loans already completed and confirmed a budget. This will likely not be until midway through the financial year.

Our preference remains to continue the loan scheme into Tranche 2 and beyond – however, this will depend on whether the UK Government resumes the allocation of Financial Transaction Capital to the Scottish Government.

In the meantime we have carried out no assessment of the potential impact of the suspension of the GP sustainability loan scheme on health inequalities as we intend to resume the scheme as soon as possible.

MPV Minna was commissioned in 2003 with an expected service life of 25 years. Concept designs for the vessels replacement have been developed and we are currently looking at funding options for a replacement in the near future. To ensure service continuity, upgrades and replacement of machinery and equipment have been scoped so we can safely extend the service life of the vessel should that be required.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact of these global medicine shortages on people living with cystic fibrosis. The supply of medicines and associated legislation are a reserved matter for the UK Government, and we continue to engage with them on this supply issue and other medicine shortages. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO) for Scotland is a member of a UK-wide Medicines Shortage Response Group (MSRG), set up to identify and co-ordinate responses to medicines shortages across the UK and provide advice to prescribers on alternative therapeutic options.

In May, the Scottish Government issued a Medicine Supply Alert Notice (MSAN) and a National Patient Safety Alert (NatPSA) which outline actions to be taken by prescribers, who are best-placed to determine the impact of this shortage on each individual person, and offer an alternative treatment, where appropriate. We also issued a Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP) for Creon ® 25000 gastro-resistant capsules which allows community pharmacists to restrict the total quantity of Creon ® supplied to one month’s supply to help conserve stocks of Creon ® .

As previously advised in answer to question S6W-26346 on 9 April 2024, the current phase of Clyde Metro is being led by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, working alongside Glasgow City Council and with Transport Scotland providing support in a project assurance role.

SPT have recently appointed consultants to undertake some preliminary work, with procurement of a framework for multi-disciplinary consultancy services for later phases of the case for investment currently ongoing.

As such, Transport Scotland is not promoting a policy aimed at increasing population density in the vicinity of railway stations in Glasgow.

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 .

Toxics use reduction as a concept is already well embedded in the regulatory system on chemicals safety in Great Britain. This system includes UK REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals) regulation, part of the post-brexit chemicals regulatory framework we inherited from the EU. It includes specific provisions to prevent the use of harmful substances, ensure mitigations are in place to reduce exposure from such chemicals where their use is essential, and reduce risks associated with chemical use more generally.

The Scottish Government regularly monitors for hazardous substances in the Scottish marine environment. Hazardous substances highlighted to be of particular concern and routinely monitored include heavy metals (cadmium, mercury and lead), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These contaminants are measured in biota (mussels and fish) collected as part of the UK Clean Seas Environment Monitoring Programme for four biogeographic regions: Irish Sea (Clyde and Solway), Minches and Western Scotland, Scottish Continental Shelf and Northern North Sea.

More information related to the testing for contaminants in marine animals in Scottish waters can be found in the Scotland's Marine Assessment 2020 | Scotland's Marine Assessment 2020 .

As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, and the Scottish Government does not hold this information, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:

Scottish Water is currently developing its Long Term Strategy, due for publication in January 2025, which will include the investment requirements for addressing the forecast supply-demand deficits through demand reduction activities, increased connectivity between supply systems and potentially new water sources.

Scottish Water is also working on a zonal model which will inform the strategic choices for managing their supply-demand balance. Scottish Water is in the middle of the detailed planning activities and will be in a position to respond to the specifics of this query by the end of December 2024/early in 2025.