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NHS Boards are expected to ensure that patients, including those living with severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) have access to a range of professionals to provide the appropriate management of their condition. We would further expect clinicians to have good awareness of guidance relevant to their practice area and apply these taking account of individual circumstances and discussions with the patient.

In light of the final National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline for ME/CFS being published, we are considering how best to review and update existing Scottish guidance, and will be reviewing the need for specialist services as part of this work.

We are regularly engaging with our stakeholders, including the third sector, people with lived experience and clinicians working in this area, to drive forward care and the development of pathways. We plan to undertake a structured programme of stakeholder engagement in early 2022 to initiate the revision of Scottish guidance and to identify opportunities for improvement.

We have recently supported the creation of a Priority Setting Partnership by the James Lind Alliance and Action for M.E. to agree the top 10 priorities for future research on ME/CFS. This approach brings patients, carers and clinicians together to identify and prioritise research uncertainties in the field of ME/CFS, before disseminating the results to research funders.

We are investing £4.5 million of funding to implement the Neurological Care and Support Framework. Commitment 13 of the Neurological Care and Support Framework involves supporting neurological research, and we welcome proposals for ME/CFS research.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04189 on 22 November 2021. 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 last met trade unions representing bus drivers on 5 October 2021 when these issues were raised and discussed. The Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work, who holds regular roundtable discussions with the STUC and affiliate unions, including those which represent bus drivers, last met with STUC on 7 October and is due to meet them again on 25 November. Ministers value an open and constructive dialogue with our trade union partners and will continue to engage on these issues.

Public Health Scotland collect and publish data on the coverage of health visitor first visits pertaining to each financial year. In 2019-20, of children who became eligible for their first health visitor review, coverage was 97.5% and in 2020/21 coverage was 97.2%.

Information for 2019/20 is available on the Public Health Scotland website in their Annual Report on Child Health Pre-School Review Coverage - https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/child-health-pre-school-review-coverage/child-health-pre-school-review-coverage-2019-to-2020/ .

The Annual Report on Child Health Pre-School Review Coverage for 2020/21 is not yet published but updated statistics on first visit coverage can be calculated using data published alongside the Public Health Scotland Infant Feeding Statistics - https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/infant-feeding-statistics/infant-feeding-statistics-financial-year-2020-to-2021/ . It should be noted that health visiting data from previous years are updated within each annual infant feeding publication, and can change slightly from earlier publications due to increased data completeness. This is mainly due to late submission of data rather than reviews being carried out very late.

Data up to and including August 2021 are available on the Public Health Scotland (PHS) wider impacts dashboard - https://scotland.shinyapps.io/phs-covid-wider-impact/ .

Public Health Scotland data does not show exactly when each review took place, only that an eligible child received the review. It is therefore not possible to say how many reviews took place between days 11 – 14 of a baby’s life (the agreed timeframe for the first visit). In determining the extent of coverage for the first visit, Public Health Scotland will calculate the percentage of eligible children who received the review by the time the data is extracted. Further detail on how coverage is calculated can be found within relevant Public Health Scotland publications.

The Scottish Government is wholly committed to ending Scotland’s contribution to climate change and doing so in a way that is fair for all, ensuring a green recovery and a just transition that supports good green jobs, skills and expertise and leaves no-one behind.

No specific conversations have taken place with the UK Government, or any international parties, during COP26 on this issue. However we are working with industry to assess the transferability of skills across energy sectors to enable easier job transferability. This is being undertaken in conjunction with industry leaders, employers and trade unions. I also intend to meet with OPITO, the global, not-for- profit, skills body for the oil and gas industry, to discuss their work to promote skills transferability for the sector.

I am most grateful to my colleague, Mr Burnett, for raising the important matter of overseas recruitment for social care providers. Regarding the recent funding for NHS boards; this funding cannot be routed to social care providers, who sit outwith the NHS. However, I would be happy to explain to Mr Burnett the work which is ongoing to address recruitment within the sector.

The Scottish Government are working hard to attract more people to a career in the social care sector. For the past two years the Scottish Government has funded an Adult Social Care Marketing Campaign. A further national marketing campaign launched on 8 November to attract more people to the sector.

We believe that Scotland’s social care services benefit greatly from the staff in the workforce who come from overseas. The sector is deeply concerned about the impact that the post-EU Exit loss of freedom of movement will have on recruitment to critical frontline social care roles. Scottish Government and key sector partners will continue to engage with UK Ministers to highlight why Scotland’s social care sector must have access to workers from outwith the UK, to help meet shortfall in workforce capacity and avoid the subsequent impact on our most vulnerable citizens. We also highlight that Scotland’s care workers are qualified, registered and regulated.

We will continue to push for a migration system tailored to Scotland’s needs, including a Scottish Visa, and work with partners and employers to develop proposals that suit their requirements.

The Scottish Government currently directly employs the following number of solicitors, set out below by pay band/grade. SCS - Director is the most senior grade with legal trainees being the most junior grade. It should be noted that there are other individuals who may be qualified solicitors employed in non-legal roles in policy/operational directorates across the Scottish Government but that information is not centrally known or held.

Directorate for Legal Services

In the following table, the data provided covers the period from when the Scottish Government took control of the shipyard to the present day. The table includes a yearly workforce count, and a count taken when the shipyard entered administration on 16 August 2019. The Agency/Contracted count includes workers employed through agencies and contractors working under FMPG management control, including interims.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

The SPS does not hold the requested data. Since 2013, SPS has asked all persons on admission to custody to self-declare any known disability. The response is recorded on SPS’ internal system as either: yes, no or prefer not to disclose. However, the type of disability it is not specifically recorded.

Every individual in SPS custody is interviewed by a Healthcare Professional on admission in order to assess their healthcare needs. Where there is an identified need for additional support or reasonable adjustments whilst in custody, SPS, NHS and our education service partners will work in partnership to facilitate this.

Covid-19 was the highest single cause of excess mortality during summer 2021. Every one of these deaths is a tragedy. All those affected by the virus have our sympathy and we are working to prevent others from experiencing that same heartbreak.

As a result of the Scottish Government’s vaccination programme and increased medical knowledge of the virus, in summer 2021 the mortality rate was far lower, despite greater transmission of the virus. We are now offering boosters to protect the population further.

We are also working to remobilise our NHS safely and will be providing over £300 million in a winter funding package to support the health of people across Scotland this winter.