Seòmar agus comataidhean

The current functions of SQA will continue and staff working in those functions will continue to carry out their work, as they currently do. We recognise and appreciate the valuable skills, experience and knowledge held by all staff across SQA, and a primary consideration in the reform process will be in making the most of these attributes in the future. As decisions are made about the roles that are needed in the successor bodies, a process will be taken forward to enable matching of current staff to roles - this process will be designed with the input of staff and trade unions and the underpinning commitment to protecting terms and conditions, and no compulsory redundancies as a direct result of reform, will be in place.

We will continue to work closely with staff, facilitated through existing arrangements including via recognised trade unions, to develop the transitions framework and timeline for implementation and to consider impact on groups of staff and individual posts, including identifying suitable redeployment opportunities if they are needed. TUPE and/or COSOP will apply, and as the activities currently carried out by existing bodies move to new bodies, the staff carrying out those activities who are deemed to be in scope of transfer will transfer.

Further detail on programme structures will be published in spring.

The Scottish Government is committed to understanding the health inequalities faced by people experiencing homelessness, and improving the way health and housing services work together to promote an integrated and holistic model of care.

GP registration is the main way to gain access to the vast majority of NHS healthcare services. The Scottish Government published patient registration guidance in September 2018 clarifying that patients do not require proof of identity or address to register with a general practice. The inability by a patient to provide identification or proof of address is not considered reasonable grounds to refuse or delay registering a patient.

We know that poor health is both a cause and a consequence of homelessness and that is why homelessness must be seen as both a housing and a health matter. In recognition of the need for collective responsibility across public services to prevent homelessness, we are consulting on plans to introduce new homelessness prevention duties, including on public bodies in health and social care, to ask about a person’s housing circumstances and act where a problem is identified.

Following the roundtable meeting I chaired on 4 November, a further roundtable was convened on 8 December 2021 to discuss the prevalence of spiking crimes and to agree what action should be taken. It was agreed that the key immediate and ongoing activity should focus on ensuring consistent messaging and prevention activity, including training, with the Violence Reduction Unit supporting partners to roll out bystander training for night time industry staff, to both raise awareness and help keep people safe.

Police Scotland have reported a downward trend in recorded spiking incidents since November last year, with no corroborated evidence to support claims of needle spiking. We continue to work with partners and representatives across the sectors to strengthen the response to spiking, and ensure that women feel safe and are supported to report suspected incidents.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of reported incidents of online scams, though estimates are available on the volume of police recorded fraud that was cyber-enabled over 2018-19 to 2020-21 (see the following table). Further detail is available in Table A12 of the 2020-21 recorded crime National Statistics .

As with other types of crime, not all cases of fraud are reported to the police, and cyber-enabled fraud can potentially encompass a wide range of incident types.

At least part of the increase in 2020-21 may be due to the significant impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and government instructions to limit social contact. For example, in their ‘ Crime in England and Wales : year ending March 2021’ release, the Office for National Statistics noted that an increase in fraud and computer misuse offences could reflect perpetrators taking advantage of behavioural changes during the pandemic, such as increased online shopping.

Furthermore, a procedural change was made to the recording of international crime in 2020-21, whereby cases carried out by a perpetrator who was likely to be outside the UK are now included. This change resulted in an estimated 900 additional crimes of cyber-enabled fraud being recorded in the latest year. Estimates for 2021-22 will be published later in the year as part of the 2021-22 recorded crime National Statistics.

Police recorded fraud in Scotland that was estimated to be cyber-enabled.

The National Referral Mechanism is the UK-wide framework for identifying victims of human
trafficking and exploitation and ensuring they receive appropriate support. The NRM is
operated by the Single Competent Authority and Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority
within the Home Office.

NRM data can be accessed via the Modern Slavery: National Referral Mechanism statistics which
contains records back to 2013.

In terms of police recorded crime statistics, there is no single crime of slavery. However multiple
types of crime involve, or can involve, slavery. A list of these is provided below. Further information
on slavery related activity is also available from the Anti-Slavery Commissioner, within their
Annual Report . The data the Scottish Government receives from Police Scotland is a general count
of the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police, split by local authority. We do not receive
further details on the characteristics of these cases, including the number of victims.

Slavery or forced labour

Human organ offences

Immoral traffic

Procuration (excluding homosexual offences)

Procuration (homosexual offences)

Breach of trafficking and exploitation order

Most of these crime types fall under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015.
This came into effect on 31 May 2016, with the first recorded crimes falling in the 2016-17 recording
year (see Table One below). Prior to this act there were no straightforward means to track crimes of
slavery.

Table 2 shows the number of Immoral traffic and Procuration-based crimes recorded in Scotland since
1999 (both of which are classified as crimes associated with prostitution). It should be noted that the
same crimes are shown in Tables 1 and 2 for Immoral traffic over 2016-17 to 2020-21. This is because
the data we hold does not identify which crimes of Immoral traffic relate to the Human Trafficking and
Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, and which relate to earlier legislation.

Table 1 – Recorded crimes under the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015,
Scotland, 2016-17 to 2020-21

There are already significant safeguards in place around deaths in police custody in Scotland. Police Scotland must refer deaths in custody to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner and a fatal accident inquiry must be held, unless the Lord Advocate is satisfied that the circumstances have already been clearly established in other proceedings.

In her review of Police Complaints Handling, Dame Elish Angiolini made specific recommendations relating to deaths in custody. We continue to work with partners to implement these and will consult on those recommendations which are likely to require legislation this year.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) undertake regular inspections of police custody facilities in Scotland.

Furthermore, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has a statutory duty to maintain and manage an Independent Custody Visiting Scheme (ICVS) to monitor the welfare of people detained in police custody facilities throughout Scotland.

This data is not centrally available; aggregated data for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Waiting Times is sent to Public Health Scotland (PHS) from each NHS Board. It does not contain explicit information on the number of young people who have learning disabilities. It reports on the number of referrals for young people to services; numbers waiting to start treatment and total waiting; not accepted for treatment from referral and Did Not Attend status numbers for 1st contact appointments; and the time between referral and first treatment.

PHS are developing a patient level dataset, Child, Adolescent and Psychological Therapies National Dataset (CAPTND) and the Scottish Government has commissioned Directors of eHealth in NHS Boards, working with others, including PHS , to work to improve the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) digital infrastructure. This will enable the recording and extraction of the full CAMHS and Psychological Therapies (PT) National Dataset (CAPTND), which will allow improved reporting on patient characteristics.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-007334 on 25 March 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 .

Women are encouraged to contact their GP practice if they have any worries about possible ovarian cancer symptoms every time cancer symptoms are referred to, including on our public facing website (getcheckedearly.org).

Research is currently being undertaken to better understand the possible barriers and levers to early diagnosis that any new Detect Cancer Early campaigns should focus on. These results are anticipated in April.

Since 2015 we have committed over £500,000 in funding to the Scottish Huntington’s Association (SHA) towards the development of the national care framework for Huntington’s Disease (HD) and in funding towards the organisation’s specialist support services and initiatives to raise awareness of the condition.

I was pleased to meet with the SHA on 10 November 2021 to discuss motion S6M-00923, the progress on the Framework for HD and to understand the provision of specialist services in Scotland. We will continue to work with NHS, third sector partners and people affected by Huntington’s Disease to drive up standards of care.