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Monitoring will be expected as part of the grant award process. Successful applicants will be informed in due course.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. We are currently analysing bids to the School Meal Debt Fund and following up with local authorities on the information provided.

Management of the NHS clinical waste contract is a matter for Health Boards, and management of the NHS’s relationship with the clinical waste contractor is a matter for NHS National Services Scotland’s (NSS) National Procurement and Logistics Service.

Information regarding contracts tendered by NSS is publicly available and can be viewed on the Public Contracts Scotland website - Home - Public Contracts Scotland.

Management of the NHS clinical waste contract is a matter for Health Boards, and management of the NHS’s relationship with the clinical waste contractor is a matter for NHS National Services Scotland’s (NSS) National Procurement and Logistics Service. The information requested is not held centrally.

The Design Team is the group of people with lived or living experience of drug harm that has been recruited by Deciding Matters, the small company charged with developing the nature and direction of the Stigma Plan (which was a recommendation of the Drug Death Task Force, rec. 22).

The call for expressions of interest asked for “ 20-24 people broadly representative of Scotland (age, gender, sex, race, disability with lived or living experience of substance use including family or friends of people with lived or living experience) who would like to inform how Scotland tackles stigma related to drugs and alcohol. Participants must be aged 18+” The existing group reflects that and were chosen through a recruitment process run by Deciding Matters.

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

HMP Highland will have a design capacity of 200 prisoner places which includes 12 cells designed to accommodate two people.

The Scottish Government does not hold information to enable it to estimate the annual monetary value of the drugs trade in Glasgow.

The Scottish Government welcomes the significant seizure of illicit drugs and the continuing activity by Police Scotland and other partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce to remove illicit drugs from our communities and reduce the harm they cause.

Since 2018, NHS boards across Scotland have had a legislative duty to provide children and adults who have lost their voice or have difficulty speaking with communication equipment and support, necessary to meet their requirements.

To support and monitor the delivery of this duty, a National Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) advisory group with representation from AAC Executive Leads across all NHS boards including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, was established. Its membership brought together knowledge and influence, as well as specialist expertise to enable best practice to be shared to drive improvement.

In February 2020, the Provision of Communication Equipment and Support Progress Report was published, informed by contributions from the National AAC Advisory Group members, local government, people who use AAC and third sector providers. The report set out progress in the implementation of the legislative duty since commencement in 2018, which included:

• The publication of guidance on the Provision of Communication and Support,
• The development of a National AAC core pathway
• The development of AAC topic related learning modules

More information can be found in the report: Provision of Communication Equipment and Support : Part 4 of the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 (www.gov.scot).

The legislative duty provides flexibility for the development of future communication equipment technology. Through the assessment process health boards should ensure they have justification based on the circumstances of each individual regarding necessity and reasonability, and taking into consideration the needs, views, and choices of each individual, as is the case with other health provision.

Reporting will be considered as part of the grant award process.