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The Scottish Government does not hold information on how much funding has been provided for endometriosis (b) treatment and (c) care in the last 14 years and how much will be allocated in each of the next five years. This is the responsibility of local NHS boards through their existing NHS budgets.

(a) Research

In recognising the importance of research to improve diagnosis and treatment the CSO has invested £162,000 in a study on laparoscopic treatment of endometriosis based at the University of Edinburgh. It is also funding a £30K Postdoctoral Clinical Lectureship: Precision treatment and drug repurposing to reduce endometriosis-associated pain in women.

Additionally, the CSO contributes financially to United Kingdom-wide research programmes that are run by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which enables researchers in Scotland to apply to those programmes. NIHR have invested £6.8 m to support 4 additional studies on endometriosis, being led from Scotland.

CSO also provides funding (about £66k p.a.) for the NHS Research Scotland Reproductive Health and Childbirth Research Speciality Group to support delivery of high-quality clinical research in Reproductive Health and Childbirth in Scotland, which includes supporting research studies on endometriosis.

Applications looking at the underlying causes, diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis are welcomed. In common with all other applications, these would go through CSO's standard independent peer review process.

Population estimates by the Scottish Parliament are held by National Records of Scotland and I refer the member to the following link: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/population/population-estimates/2011-based-special-area-population-estimates/spc-population-estimates.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00274 on 15 June 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.

The Scottish Government has initiated a range of discussions with the UK Department for International Trade about Scotland’s role in the development of future UK trade arrangements, as set out in our paper of that name published in August 2018. We have also used these meetings to outline Scotland’s economic and other interests in future trade agreements. We have provided the UK Government with detailed analysis of our interests to inform trade negotiations with Australia, New Zealand and other countries. However, the Scottish Government does not receive full information about, and is excluded from the process of developing, the UK negotiating mandate across all areas of potential trade agreements. The recent exclusion from the process of developing the UK Government’s market access offers to Australia, despite the potentially devastating impact of this on the Scottish rural economy, highlights the deficiencies in the current engagement process. The Scottish Government should be involved in all stages of the negotiation process across all areas of trade agreements.

Drivers can locate public charging points by accessing the ChargePlace Scotland website here https://chargeplacescotland.org/live-map/ . This gives real time information on each publically available charge point, including its availability status. There are other third party websites and mobile apps which also provide drivers with similar information, such as Zap-Map here Map of charging points for electric car drivers in UK: Zap-Map or PlugShare here PlugShare - EV Charging Station Map - Find a place to charge your car! .

The Scottish Government through the Energy Savings Trust delivery a number of initiatives that help community transport groups switch to the use of low-carbon vehicles. Details of schemes are as follows:

Plugged-in Communities (PiC) programme.

This programme aims to provide access to electric vehicles and the associated infrastructure to low-income communities in the form of shared-use electric vehicle car clubs and is available to housing associations as well as third sector organisations.

Applicants are also encouraged to apply for funding through the ChargePlace Scotland programme which is also administered by Energy Savings Trust to cover the cost of charge point installation as part of their application.

The E-bike Grant Fund

This fund is delivered by Energy Savings Trust on behalf of the Scottish Government and supports local authorities, public sector agencies, education institutions, active travel hubs and community groups to adopt e-bikes and cargo bikes as more sustainable alternatives to car journeys through providing grants of up to £25,000.

Climate Challenge Fund (CCF)

The Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) has, since 2008, provided total funding of over £111 million to support more than 1,150 community-led climate action projects across Scotland, including a significant number that have promoted active and sustainable travel.

Community Climate Asset Fund (CCAF)

The £3.2m Community Climate Asset Fund (CCAF), launched late last year, benefited 279 community-based organisations, enabling 31 to specifically purchase e-vehicles.

Through our new framework of community climate action hubs and Climate Action Towns, we will continue to support communities to make the transition to low carbon and climate resilient living.

The Scottish Government through the Energy Savings Trust (EST) deliver the Domestic Charge Point Fund to assist with costs associated with installation of a home charger, this provides enhanced support to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV’s) Electric Vehicle Home charge Scheme (EVHS).

As part of EVHS, OZEV currently offers applicants £350 towards the cost of a home charge point and EST will provide up to £250 further funding on top of this, with an additional £100 available for those in the most remote parts of Scotland where the cost of installing charge points has historically been higher.

The installation of domestic charge points is carried out by accredited installers approved by OZEV and EST, currently there are 491 installers able to install charepoints across Scotland a map of these installers can be found on the EST website https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/grants-and-loans/domestic-charge-point-funding/ . The map displays the installers main office, the location of these offices doesn’t not affect their ability to install a charge point as some companies will employ engineers working remotely.

To date Scottish Government has provided grant funding to install over 8,849 domestic charge points across Scotland which further supports Electric Vehicle (EV) uptake.

In addition to governance arrangements for the entire EST programme, which includes a detailed annual work plan setting out agreed outcomes and deliverables, accountable governance owners within TS and EST, quarterly Board meetings alongside progress, risk and financial management controls, officials monitor the provision of domestic charge points at monthly intervals with EST, and evaluate the performance of the scheme annually.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-01146 on 1 July 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

There are no plans at present to consult with SPS staff about the potential introduction of a four-day working week (32 hours), at no loss of pay.  However, parliamentary officials have held informal discussions with the trade unions about the 2021/22 pay award for SPS staff and are aware that this is an issue which trade unions are raising with the public sector.  The SPCB recently agreed to instruct parliamentary officials to enter into formal pay negotiations with the TUS with both sides committed to securing and communicating a deal as soon as possible. 

a) Assessment of the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; The Scottish Government continues to monitor evidence on the Four Harms of COVID-19. These are the direct impact of COVID-19, other health impacts, societal impacts, and economic impacts.

We are using this information to inform decisions about COVID-19, including how we move through phases of the Coronavirus Route Map .

The virus will impact different groups of people in different ways, and our society will be affected in different ways over time. We’re carefully monitoring the data and regularly update new evidence to COVID-19 in Scotland (data.gov.scot) .

b) Assessment of the potential impact of COVID-19 vaccines on i) Menstrual Cycles; The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have reviewed reports of menstrual disorders and unexpected vaginal bleeding suspected as adverse reactions to vaccination with the three COVID-19 vaccines currently being used in the UK: Pfizer/BioNTech, COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca and COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna.

These reports have also been reviewed by independent experts of the Commission on Human Medicines’ COVID-19 Vaccines Benefit Risk Expert Working Group and members of its Medicines for Women’s Health Expert Advisory Group.

A range of menstrual disorders has been reported as suspected adverse reactions after all three of these COVID-19 vaccines including heavy bleeding, delayed periods and unexpected vaginal bleeding. The number of reports of menstrual disorders and vaginal bleeding is low in relation to both the number of females who have received COVID-19 vaccines to date and the background rate of menstrual disorders generally.

ii) Menstrual Health; The current evidence does not suggest an increased risk of either menstrual disorders or unexpected vaginal bleeding following vaccination with the vaccines reviewed (Pfizer/BioNTech, COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca or COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna). The advice from the NHS remains that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks for most people. The MHRA will continue to closely monitor reports of suspected menstrual disorders and vaginal bleeding with COVID-19 vaccines.

Healthcare professionals are advised that anyone presenting with menstrual disorders and/or unexpected vaginal bleeding following COVID-19 vaccination should be treated according to clinical guidelines for these conditions, as usual.

The safety of all vaccines and medicines is monitored by the MHRA on a UK-wide basis. This includes reports from the Yellow Card Scheme which allows health professionals and patients across the UK to flag up suspected adverse reactions to any vaccine or medicine, as well as reports from worldwide use and on-going scientific evidence.

If a woman is concerned about changes to her period, she is advised to speak to her GP, especially if she experiences bleeding after menopause.