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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 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.

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 Gender Equality Taskforce in Education and Learning contains representation from gender competent leaders, who were instrumental in developing ambitions for the Taskforce, which will result in girls and young women having a gender equal experience of education.

As outlined in its Theory of Change Model, the Taskforce has committed to working with leaders in the education sector to facilitate the development of leadership programmes to upskill and resource educational leaders to take a whole school setting approach to tackling gender inequality. The Taskforce’s work on this ambition is at an early stage and it will meet again in June to continue to develop ways to do so.

a) There is no specific workforce data collected for neuropsychiatrists in Scotland or the rest of the UK. This is not a specialty or sub-specialty of psychiatry and would usually be a special interest of doctors trained in Old Age or General Adult Psychiatry. As part of higher psychiatry training programmes resident doctors can undertake additional training in this area such as a masters degree and placements in liaison psychiatry.

b) WTE Applied Psychologists working in Neuropsychology in NHS Scotland as of 31st December 2024*:

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

My officials met with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), an agency of the UK Government, on 5 February 2025. Topics discussed included actions being taken to alleviate driving test waiting times and issues surrounding the use of bots to book and upsell driving tests to learners.

These issues are unacceptable and I welcome the actions announced on 23 April 2025 by the Department for Transport’s Secretary of State, Heidi Alexander MP to rectify the situation.

My officials met with officials from DVSA again on 6 May 2025 to discuss further the actions announced, and will be meeting with them quarterly going forward.

a) There is no specific workforce data collected for neuropsychiatrists in Scotland or the rest of the UK. This is not a specialty or sub-specialty of psychiatry and would usually be a special interest of doctors trained in Old Age or General Adult Psychiatry. As part of higher psychiatry training programmes resident doctors are able to undertake additional training in this area such as a masters degree and placements in liaison psychiatry.

b) Neuropsychologist is not a recognised job role within NHS Scotland. Postgraduate Applied Psychologists (mainly Clinical Psychologists) may undertake further training to various levels in neuropsychology. NHS employing Boards make decisions about what additional training may be required to meet the needs of their population. Every year NHS Education for Scotland (NES) undertakes an annual commissioning process with Boards to discuss their psychological workforce development and training needs. NES supports the provision of Neuropsychology training at the University of Glasgow which is highly valued by Boards.

The Scottish Government actively promotes and supports the natural regeneration of woodland through the work of Scottish Forestry and the funding provided through the Forestry Grant Scheme.

Scottish Forestry actively encourages land managers to consider natural regeneration when developing woodland management plans and woodland creation proposals.

The Forestry Grant Scheme provides financial support for land managers to create the conditions necessary for natural regeneration and contributes to the costs of protecting natural regeneration. This includes reducing deer numbers and encouraging co-operative deer management without fences.

Support is also available for the management of existing native woodlands and reducing deer populations in the surrounding landscape.

The Forestry Grant Scheme has already supported over 9,000 hectares of new native woodland through natural regeneration with significant further projects in development.

The Forestry Grant Scheme is continually evolving to meet the needs of land managers in Scotland and as part of recent enhancements the grant rate offered for natural regeneration was doubled in 2023 to address increasing costs and encourage land managers to consider creating woodland through natural regeneration.

Addressing violence against women and girls remains a key focus of the Scottish Government through the Equally Safe strategy, which is co-owned with COSLA. The Equally Safe strategy focuses on violence and abusive behaviour carried out predominately by men and directed at women and girls precisely because they are women and girls. It explicitly lays out that to tackle this violence and abuse, we need to prioritise addressing the root causes of gender inequality, challenging outdated stereotypes and societal attitudes that allow violence against women and girls to persist. That is why Equally Safe places emphasis on challenging gender inequality and norms, and the underpinning attitudes that perpetuate and condone such violence. Under the auspices of Equally Safe, we have strengthened the law in relation to violence against women and girls; and we have taken forward a great deal of work to ensure those working in the public sector are equipped with the resource and knowledge to confidently and sensitively work with those affected.

Specifically, we are implementing the Equally Safe Delivery Plan. The delivery plan consists of 14 deliverables and associated actions which represent a commitment to act from partners across the public and third sector at a local and national level. The plan covers the period from Summer 2024 to Spring 2026. This collaborative approach is vital as it is essential that all spheres of society are involved in the work to tackle violence against violence against women and girls. Development of the delivery plan was informed by extensive engagement with our stakeholders, both internally and externally - including with Public Health Scotland, the Improvement Service, those working within the specialist violence against women sector, COSLA and its allied organisations, and the Equally Safe Joint Strategic Board.

Additionally, we have confirmed that the Delivering Equally Safe Fund will be extended into 2025-26, benefiting from a £2.4m uplift, taking the total Scottish Government investment in the Delivering Equally Safe Fund up to £21.6m for the year ahead. The Delivering Equally Safe fund supports the work of the Equally Safe strategy, which underpins Scotland’s approach to preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls. It supports 115 projects from 107 organisations across every local authority in Scotland.