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The spending on the Lord Advocate’s reference to the Supreme Court as published on 22 September 2022 was on external legal fees. An additional £350 has been spent on Supreme Court filing fees.

Scottish Government is working in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) and Modernising Patient Pathways Programme to explore the feasibility of further national action to improve early detection and treatment of liver diseases.

Health Boards across Scotland currently have different pathways in place to promote the early detection and management of patients with liver disease.

A consistent approach to technology used across laboratories in Scotland is needed to support national roll out. A National Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) which will be able to deliver iLFTs is currently being rolled out across Scotland.

These are matters for Police Scotland rather than Scottish Government or the Scottish Prison Service, which has no has no legal authority to question individuals in relation to crimes committed in the community.

I have asked the Chief Constable to write directly to the member with further detail on Police Scotland’s activity in this regard.

While I understand there are no current lines of enquiry following the death of Peter Tobin, any information that is received by Police Scotland will continue to be reviewed as has been the established procedure since his conviction and imprisonment.

We will be publishing updated costs of the reference, including a breakdown of them, in December.

The GP contract regulations require all GP practice partners to be sufficiently engaged in providing primary medical services in Scotland. It is for the partners to determine how best to meet the clinical needs of their patients and to ensure there are sufficient GPs onsite to provide necessary face to face appointments and home visits.

Health Boards and Health & Social Care Partnerships are responsible for monitoring their contracts with GP practices.

This information is not held centrally.

There are no GMS practices in Scotland without a partner and only a handful of 2C practices, mostly providing services to niche population groups, without a permanent GP.

Public Health Scotland produced the “Surveillance of Hepatitis C in Scotland” report earlier this month and the report indicated that major progress in Scotland has been made. By 2021, 80% of individuals diagnosed with chronic HCV infection in Scotland had been initiated on HCV treatment, meaning that Scotland had met the World Health Organisation Target on treatment.

While this is encouraging, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted progress towards the elimination target, and particularly challenged our ability to gather data needed to guide interventions. Additional prevalence data is expected before the end of this year. This will support decision-making on the extent and location of required interventions and resources.

Scottish Government officials are in regular communications with public partners including SEPA, South Ayrshire Council, and The King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer.

In addition to the regular communication, officials from Scottish Government have met representatives from SEPA, and South Ayrshire Council on the following occasions: 1 July 2020, 8 December 2020, 4 February 2021, 22 March 2021, 28 January 2022, 15 February 2022, 3 March 2022 and 29 June 2022. Further meetings will also be held shortly.

The Scottish Government is working with wider public partners to consider all possible avenues for the long-term management of the site. This includes the consideration of any private sector interest in the site.

The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving elimination of Hepatitis C across the whole of Scotland by 2024.

This includes the prison population. However, we know that the health needs of those in prison can be complex and may need more targeted intervention.

Opt-out testing for blood borne viruses, including hepatitis C, is recommended in prisons and PHS published “Guidance to Support Opt-Out Blood Borne Virus (BBV) Testing in Scottish Prisons” in 2019. This guidance recommends that BBV testing should be offered to everyone within 7 days of entering custody. The guidance is due to be reviewed later this year and that review, in combination with the work underway to re-invigorate progress towards the wider elimination target, will ensure there remains a focus on eliminating hepatitis C in Scottish prisons.