Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35647 on 21 March 2025. 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 Scottish Government wants to ensure families affected by Huntington’s Disease are given the best possible care, information and support and I was pleased to meet with the Scottish Huntington’s Association recently to discuss services in Scotland.

The Scottish Government provides funding to Health Boards and Local Authorities, and it is ultimately for local partners to agree a joint, integrated budget which will enable them to meet the needs of local people in line with their Strategic Objectives.

While agreeing budgets is the responsibility of partnerships, we expect that these decisions be made in consultation with people who use services.

I was pleased to meet with the Scottish Huntington’s Association (SHA) recently to discuss the provision of Huntington’s Disease services.

The Scottish Government is currently supporting the SHA’s youth services through the Children, Young People, Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund, to improve the resilience and confidence of young people with Huntington’s and support young carers.

Through the Neurological Care & Support Framework 2020-25, we have been working to ensure that everyone with a neurological condition, including Huntington’s Disease, can access the care and support they need. As the formal Framework strategy concludes, we have been engaging with clinicians, patients, carers and third sector organisations to explore a joined-up policy approach to long-term conditions. A full public consultation will commence shortly, following which a strategy will be developed and published later in 2025.

We have recently established a Neurological Conditions Improvement Network and are working with providers across Scotland to consider ways of ensuring statutory and third sector organisations collaborate on decision-making around the provision of care. This aims to ensure the best use of resources while encouraging person-centred support for people with neurological conditions.

A significant amount of work has been undertaken to date, to progress the implementation of the 55 recommendations made as part of the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland, involving a wide range of stakeholders across the public and third sector. We continue to work with the NHS, Third Sector and private providers to identify and cost an appropriate model of community care for any future service reform and ensure that the voices of those with lived experience inform this work.

A report outlining how each of the 55 recommendations set out in the Independent Review have been closed or transitioned, and the rationale for that, will be provided to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee imminently and will be made available on both the Committee website and https://www.all-ears.nhs.scot/

Designation as a statutory consultee places certain statutory obligations on the relevant body to provide comments on any application notified to them within a set time period. These obligations have to be met and funded by the organisation in question. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has not requested to become a statutory consultee at this time and we do not have plans at this stage to take this forward however we will of course continue discussions with SFRS on this matter as and when appropriate.

A conditional marketing authorisation was granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for givinostat (Duvyzat®) on 20 December 2024. A conditional marketing authorisation is an early temporary licence.

The pharmaceutical company that markets Duvyzat® has offered a national Early Access Programme which provides free of charge access to the medicine for the treatment of ambulant young people aged six years and older with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This has been in place since late December 2024.

It is for individual Health Boards to consider the implementation of any new medicine, and ultimately for the clinician in charge of a person’s care to advise on suitable treatment options. The Scottish Government is aware that Health Boards are currently considering how to schedule offering this medicine in the most fair and equitable manner.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35647 on 21 March 2025. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35647 on 21 March 2025. 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 cause behind the reported increase in homes falling below the tolerable standard since 2018 is due to the introduction of the fire and smoke alarm, and carbon monoxide criteria in 2022.

The legal duty to take action on houses that do not meet the tolerable standard rests with the local authority. No homeowner will be criminalised if they need more time, and there are no penalties for non-compliance.

The UK Pesticides National Action Plan (NAP) was published on 21 March 2025.

The NAP is a UK-wide document which sets out the shared ambition of the Scottish Government, Defra, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. It aims to minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides to human health and the environment, while ensuring that our land managers in the agriculture, horticulture and amenity sector have effective tools to manage pests and pesticide resistance.

Supporting uptake of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is central to the actions set out in the NAP. This includes targeting use of conventional chemical pesticides to when environmentally and economically justified. It also includes equipping pesticide users with the knowledge and support needed to adopt a range of sustainable crop protection practices, including innovative precision application technologies, to continue to reduce the use of conventional chemical pesticides whilst retaining the ability to address the crop protection challenges arising from climate change. The NAP also commits to improving and supporting compliance with regulations to ensure that pesticides are used safely.

Measuring progress is a key commitment of the NAP and as such sets the first domestic reduction target for pesticides in the UK, with an aim of reducing a suite of representative pesticide load indicators by 10% by 2030. The target is designed to measure progress against reducing environmental pressure from pesticides, rather than representing a simple usage reduction target. This reduces the potential for unintended consequences, which could risk the removal of important tools for farmers, growers and other land managers. The NAP sets a target for the arable sector, using data from the existing pesticide usage surveys, but also acknowledges that we want to improve our understanding of the nature of pesticide use in the amenity and amateur sectors in future.

We welcome publication of this plan, which commits us to measuring our progress over the next five years, and we look forward to working with stakeholders during the implementation of these actions.

The plan can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-pesticides-national-action-plan-2025.