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In accordance with the Sewel Convention and in line with Rule 9B of Standing Orders, the UK Parliament should not legislate with regard to devolved matters – that is on matters within the legislative competence of the Parliament or which change the competence of the Parliament or the Scottish Ministers – without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.

Within the legislative programme announced by the UK Government, Bills which appear to give rise to the requirement for the legislative consent of the Scottish Parliament are:

Procurement

Trade (Australia and New Zealand)

Bill of Rights

Levelling Up and Regeneration

Energy Security Bill

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill

Brexit Freedoms Bill

Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill

Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill

Transport

Modern Slavery

Data Reform Bill

In addition, the following Bills may extend to Scotland but at this stage it is unclear whether they will generate the requirement for an LCM:

UK Infrastructure Bank

Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill

Electronic Trade Documents Bill

Financial Services and Markets Bill

Higher Education Bill

Social Housing Regulation Bill

Harbours (Seafarers’ Remuneration) Bill

The Scottish Government will consider the content of all Bills before making its recommendation to the Parliament on legislative consent. It will then be for the Scottish Parliament to determine whether to give or withhold consent.

It is possible that legislative consent may be required for other UK Bills and those will be drawn to the attention of the Parliament as they arise.

We have published the Report of the independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy.

The Report is available at: http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781804353912/documents/

Dr Colin Church submitted his Report to Ministers on 13 April. Given the potential for the Report’s findings and recommendations to raise issues that could be of particular local interest, publication was deferred until after the local government elections.

We are considering Dr Church’s recommendations carefully and will respond to these in a statement to Parliament in June.

Given the important issues that the Review Report raises in relation to Scotland’s national capacity requirements for incineration, the temporary notification direction that was put in place during the review will remain in place until we determine our response to Dr Church’s recommendations. This notification direction requires local authorities to notify Scottish ministers when they receive, and when they intend to approve, a planning application for an incineration facility.

I am pleased to announce that Scotland’s first Adult Learning Strategy has been published today, and can be found online here: www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802018301

The strategy has bold and ambitious actions to remove barriers to learning, enabling more adults across Scotland to begin and continue their learning journeys. It outlines important steps required to create more accessible learning opportunities for our adult learners, particularly those experiencing disadvantage and furthest from learning.

The publication of the strategy deepens collaboration with adult learners to address and tackle the inequalities that many face. Our aim is to ensure that learners are at the centre of the strategy’s delivery as we work with them to realise their ambitions and aspirations.

Through the Women’s Health Plan, we are committed to improving support and care for people experiencing perimenopause symptoms.

A menopause platform has launched on NHS Inform to ensure women have access to information on menopause, including the signs and symptoms of perimenopause. One of the key actions in the Women’s Health Plan is to launch a public health campaign in order to raise awareness of the symptoms of menopause.

We want all women to have timely access to menopause support and services. For those who need specialist support, there is now a specialist menopause service in every mainland NHS Board and support in place for the Island health boards.

A Menopause Specialists Network meets regularly to provide consistent advice and peer support to health care professionals, including primary care teams.

We know that many women will seek support from their local GP practice for their perimenopause symptoms. To support primary care, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is developing menopause training for healthcare professionals, including Practice Nurses and GPs.

A Women’s Health Lived Experience Group has been established by Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland to ensure we continue to engage with women across Scotland on menopause and other areas of Women’s Health.

Funding for devices was provided to local authorities by the Scottish Government. As such, local authorities undertook their own procurement exercises and devices purchased became assets of, and are managed by, individual local authorities. Decisions on their use are taken locally. We do not hold information on how devices are used and monitored.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-08215 and S6W-08217 on 10 May 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

The Pursuer Panel is a group of lawyers with expertise in dealing with professional negligence claims, and in particular claims against solicitors. About half of the firms represented are registered to carry out civil legal aid, but whether or not the lawyers take on legal aid cases is a matter for them. The Scottish Government cannot compel solicitors to provide advice. Funding is available under the civil advice and assistance scheme for applicants to consult solicitors to get advice on professional negligence. Civil legal aid fees have risen by 10.25% in the last 12 months. There is also funding available for any necessary reports to be obtained to allow the solicitor to confirm whether or not the test for professional negligence is met. Where there is evidence of negligence civil legal aid is available for professional negligence cases, including actions against solicitors. There are other solicitors who may take on this work outside the Pursuer Panel.

As part of our recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, we are reassessing all our priorities to take a systematic, person-centred approach to planning and delivering health and social care services for the people of Scotland.

As we go through a process of realignment, we are taking time to ensure all our strategies are designed around the people using and delivering health and social care services and working together to improve health outcomes. This is even more pertinent for those living with a rare disease.While we expected to publish our Action Plan in the spring, the Rare Disease Action Plan will now be published once this work is complete to ensure maximum impact for the people who need it. This will result in a stronger, interlinked action plan that has a real impact for people with a rare disease.

We will continue to work with Scotland’s Rare Disease Implementation Board and other key partners to progress work that will improve the lives of people in Scotland living with rare diseases.

Responsibility for providing financial support to foster carers registered with Glasgow City Council is a matter for Glasgow City Council. Any concerns about levels of foster carer fees or foster care allowances should be addressed directly to them.

The Scottish Government is working with COSLA to find a way forward on the introduction of the Scottish Recommended Allowance for both foster and kinship carers across Scotland.

The act of drink spiking is utterly abhorrent and the Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to continue working with partners to tackle this unacceptable behaviour. Police Scotland have recorded over 492 crimes of ‘Drugging’ and ‘Administering a substance for sexual purposes’, since October 2021, and continue to work closely with Scottish Government to monitor the situation. These can be broken down as follows: