Seòmar agus comataidhean

All Health Boards in Scotland have the responsibility for delivering the shingles vaccination programme and have operational flexibility to reflect local needs.

Each year, individuals become eligible for vaccination depending on their age on 1 September. Boards can decide when it is most suitable to deliver this effectively alongside other immunisation programmes.

The Chief Medical Officer publishes advice for health professionals which includes the programme eligibility, priority and asks Health Boards to include an element of proactive inclusion work to reduce health inequalities. He also asks for a particular focus on underserved communities; this might include people living in the areas of highest deprivation and certain ethnicities who may experience lower vaccine uptake.

The publication date of the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) annual report on the financial sustainability of the higher education sector is a matter for the SFC. They have made the decision to amend the timing of their publication cycle primarily due to competing pressures and a delay to the finalisation of some college accounts which has resulted in the content of the college and university financial sustainability reports now being unavoidably outdated. Additionally, SFC will have analysis of new financial forecasts in June which will allow them to update and revise their previous analysis.

The updated analysis should be ready for publication in September.

The First Minister announced to the Scottish Parliament on 6 May 2025 that we intend to remove the ban on alcohol on trains and replace it with new restrictions which will allow alcohol consumption between from 10am to 9pm every day. ScotRail will reserve the right to implement alcohol restrictions on specific services where BTP and rail industry intelligence indicates it necessary, for example major concerts or sporting events.

The current ban will be lifted and the new rules will come into force on 2 June 2025.

It is a matter for Health Boards to consider the implementation of any new medicine to meet the needs of their local population. However, in response to concerns raised regarding access to givinostat in Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary has met with the four health boards who provide regional services across Scotland for children and adults with neuromuscular disorders, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). He has asked them to set out their timelines and approaches to the families who have children with DMD in the next two weeks. In addition, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer has been assured that the consultants have reviewed all those who eligible to ensure fair and equitable access across Scotland.

The Shingles vaccination programme was first introduced in Scotland in 2013. In 2023, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended the use of a new two-course vaccine and the expansion of the age cohorts to protect individuals at an earlier age. They recommended a phased implementation over ten years. Currently, individuals who are age 65 and 70, over age 50 with a severely weakened immune system and people with certain health conditions are eligible for two doses of shingles vaccine. The second dose is usually offered between 2 and 12 months after the first. Eligible individuals will be contacted by their local NHS Immunisation team. Most Immunisation teams begin inviting patients forward from January onwards.

In due course, those who reach age 60 or 65 years during the period 1 September 2028 to 31 August 2033 will become eligible from 1 September in the relevant year.

Recent research suggests vaccination for shingles with the live attenuated herpes zoster vaccine (Zostavax®) could be linked to a reduction in the risk of developing dementia.

In the UK, Zostavax®, a live vaccine, was routinely offered to those eligible for the NHS shingles programme and not contraindicated to the vaccine.

In February 2019, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommended that Shingrix® a non-live vaccine, should replace Zostavax® in the routine programme and since 1 September 2023, all newly eligible individuals have been offered the non-live shingles vaccine Shingrix®.

The Scottish Government published its first national assessment of genetic introgression in wild salmon in 2021 using data collected under the National Electrofishing Programme for Scotland (NEPS) in 2018 and 2019, combined with targeted sampling in the vicinity of freshwater smolt rearing facilities: https://data.marine.gov.scot/dataset/national-assessment-influence-farmed-salmon-escapes-genetic-integrity-wild-scottish-atlantic

The research found evidence of introgression was concentrated in areas of marine aquaculture production on the west coast and areas with freshwater smolt rearing. Outside these areas, there was no strong evidence of introgression pressures. The results highlighted how important it is to reduce the risk of farmed fish escapes, to protect the integrity of wild salmon populations in areas of aquaculture production.

This was the first report of the National Introgression Programme for Scotland (NIPS) which is a nationwide project that is researching the link between fish farm escapes and introgression in wild salmon populations.

A larger number of sites were sampled in 2021 and 2023 as part of NEPS surveys (National Electrofishing Programme for Scotland). This should increase the spatial resolution of samples and confidence in the findings, while also allowing comparison across years. Analysis will be submitted shortly for peer review.

Following a large escape at one of its farms (Carradale) in 2020, Mowi funded a study to determine if introgression was occurring. No evidence of impact or introgression was found following the escape event. The report suggests that the effects of farm escapes can be complex depending on numbers of escapes, timing, status of wild stocks, and the maturation status of the escapees: https://www.gov.scot/publications/examination-levels-farm-wild-hybridisation-south-west-scotland-north-east-england-following-large-scale-farm-salmon-escape-event-2020/

We have had extensive engagement with stakeholders – including consumer organisations such as Consumer Scotland – to ensure we understand all perspectives in this debate and represent this in our engagement with the UK Government.

At launch we substantially widened eligibility for Funeral Support Payment in comparison to the UK Government’s funeral payment. We recognised the complex nature of family relationships and introduced flexibility, meaning that the applicant does not have to be the closest relative of the deceased.

We regularly consider how to improve our payments and last year introduced amendment regulations to make improvements to Funeral Support Payment, further supporting bereaved people and helping people who are struggling to pay for a funeral. The changes included extending the definition of funeral to include alkaline hydrolysis, providing assistance for funerals abroad in exceptional circumstances and removing the cap for funerals outwith the deceased’s local area.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government and is a matter for individual public bodies. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the body responsible for regulating and enforcing the Equality Act 2010. The Scottish Government is already undertaking a review of existing policies, guidance and legislation impacted by the recent Supreme Court judgment but will require to fully consider the revised Guidance and Code from the EHRC when it is issued, along with the Supreme Court judgment itself, before any changes could be made.