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Three Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDS), formerly known as Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres (ECDC), have been established in NHS Scotland, and we are committed to ensuring equitable access across the country.

RCDS’s provide primary care with a new referral route for patients with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer (i.e. weight loss, fatigue, nausea), which can often be a sign of blood cancer. The Clinical Leads for two of the Services are Haematologists, reflecting the role that this new model can play in diagnosing blood cancers earlier.

Our NHS Recovery Plan commits to providing greater public awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer, with a new national campaign in development and website being re-designed.

The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with primary care clinicians, including the Scottish Primary Care Cancer Group, to identify possible symptoms as early as possible and support appropriate referral via the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer.

Yes, Argyll and Bute alongside other local authorities that are home to large numbers of private water supplies were considered when deciding where to pilot private water supply first time connections scheme. The main purpose of this scheme is to focus on private water supplies which are facing water scarcity due to climate change.

The Scottish Government has worked with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland on the mandatory water efficiency label proposals. The consultation was launched on 2 September 2022 and I would encourage households and businesses to respond. The press release is available at: Action on water efficiency - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-10636 on 20 September 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

Housing to 2040 is Scotland’s long-term strategy for housing and is designed to be agile and adaptable to 2040. A governance process has been established to support sector-wide delivery of the strategy, recognising the crucial roles of stakeholders across the housing system and beyond to delivering the Housing to 2040 vision. A Strategic Board will give strategic oversight, provide accountability on progress and support the government as we develop an appropriate monitoring framework for the strategy.

The Galloway Fisheries Trust, along with other fishery and river trusts, fishery boards and angling associations, play an important role in helping Scotland meet its nature recovery ambitions. The Trust was successful in securing £100,000 through the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) this year, to undertake a project on invasive species control and knowledge across nine river catchments in the Solway. This work builds on their previous NRF projects, which improved the climate resilience of local water courses and contributed to peatland restoration.

Through NRF funding, we continue to support fishery management organisations across Scotland in undertaking a range of projects that aim to address biodiversity loss.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6O-01331 on 7 September 2022. The answer to the Oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliaments website, the Official Report can be viewed at:

https://archive2021.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=13875

Use of existing stock, whether purchased on the open market or rehabilitated, has and will continue to have a role in delivering affordable homes towards the target in line with strategic local priorities. We do not hold forecasts to 2032. Local authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans set out the funding priorities for affordable housing in their area for the next five years. These may include local authorities’ rationale for supporting use of existing stock and some estimates but will rely on properties becoming available to purchase.

I am aware of reports about a bus operator deploying drivers to the Commonwealth Games, and my officials have raised this directly with the relevant operator, reminding them of the expectations in our Network Support Grant Plus funding about the service levels they will provide. The operator confirmed that a small number of drivers from Scotland were involved in delivering the services needed for the Commonwealth Games, and mitigations were put in place to ensure the impact on local services was minimised. I can confirm that no buses funded through the Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus grant were deployed to support the Commonwealth Games. In addition Network Support Grant Plus funding is only provided for services actually run, and payment recovery will take place when the scheme ends for any service kilometres that did not operate.