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The Scottish Government does not hold specific information on these issues, however information regarding the impact of migraine on workplaces and the economy have been published by organisations such as the Migraine Trust.

There has been significant contact at official level on this issue. When devolved Scottish authorities award a contract from a framework advertised and awarded under the terms of the Procurement Act 2023, then relevant elements of the rules established by that Act will apply to the call-off procedure. Similarly, when non-devolved Scottish authorities award contracts from a framework agreement awarded under the Scottish regulations, then relevant elements of those rules will apply to the call-off procedure. Regulations made under section 115 of the Procurement Act 2023 will set this out.

Devolved Scottish and other UK authorities can continue to work together to procure jointly. The applicable rules will be determined by which authority is designated as the lead authority for the procurement exercise as outlined in Section 114 of the Procurement Act 2023.

Widespread stakeholder participation is essential if we are to successfully develop a new National Marine Plan for Scotland that helps deliver our statutory targets, supports sustainable economic growth and protects our marine environment. We remain committed to our vision for engaging stakeholders throughout the development of NMP2 and we want everyone who uses, relies on or has an interest in Scotland's seas to have the opportunity to contribute when considering Scotland’s marine space.

In developing the NMP2, we are adopting a blue economy approach - considering our marine economy, local communities, and the environment altogether. The timeline for the development of the plan has been designed to allow for sufficient opportunity for meaningful engagement with stakeholders throughout the process. A public consultation on the NMP2 Planning Position Statement will take place in late 2024 allowing stakeholders to submit their views. A further public consultation for the NMP2 Draft Plan will take place in late 2025.

The timeline also allows for the NMP2 team to host events dedicated to cross-sector discussion and collaboration. Our first National Marine Planning Forum took place on 15 June 2023, providing an opportunity for everyone with an interest in the plan to input into its development at an early stage and discuss the key themes to be addressed in the plan. A further NMP2 forum will be held in winter 2024 specifically designed to bring together stakeholders and promote cooperation between sectors. The forum will facilitate discussions between stakeholders pertinent to the cross-sector issues that exist in the marine environment and give stakeholders the opportunity to collaborate and devise solutions to these issues that can influence NMP2. The NMP2 team will actively seek this feedback at the forum with the intention of integrating it into future policy development from NMP2.

A Steering Group has been established to provide advice on the statutory assessments and Sustainability Appraisal for NMP2, which are used to understand potential impacts on marine sectors and the marine environment from the proposals in the plan. The Steering Group is formed of stakeholders from various sectors who regularly meet with NMP2 officials to advise on the development of the statutory assessment and Sustainability Appraisal.

The Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate will be sharing draft outputs, as noted in our revised Statement of Public Participation and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy, as they become available so we can collaboratively develop the plan with communities as part of our commitment to considering the Just Transition principles in the marine planning process.

By including a staged approach to our engagement for NMP2, and by speaking to people who use or rely on Scotland’s seas, the Marine Directorate can take time to better understand their needs and use these experiences and knowledge to create a new plan that works well for the people of Scotland.

This engagement has included the first National Marine Planning Forum and sector-based workshops, with future engagement planned around the consultation on the NMP2’s forthcoming Planning Position Statement (PPS) and draft plan.

We want all people with epilepsy to be able to access the best possible care and support. Since October 2020 we have committed almost £650,000 towards projects which specifically improve the health and wellbeing of people with epilepsy.

In 2022-23 Scottish Government funded Epilepsy Scotland to work with NHS Lothian in piloting mental health screening and intervention for people with epilepsy.

We are working hard to improve support for those whose mental health is affected by long term physical health conditions, such as epilepsy, and in 2023 published a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy jointly with COSLA, which incorporates a focus on wellbeing and prevention.

One of the Strategy’s priorities is that “People with mental health conditions, including those with co-existing health conditions, experience improved quality and length of life, free from stigma and discrimination.”

Our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults has been a key development on prevention and early intervention in recent years, addressing a number of mental health and wellbeing concerns. It has a focus on at risk groups including those with a long-term health condition or disability.

The Procurement Act 2023 does not generally legislate for the procurement activities of devolved Scottish authorities, and there is no provision within the Act for the Scottish Government to simply adopt it, though the Scottish Ministers will use the powers conferred on them by the Act appropriately, for example to implement international agreements, or to set out provision in relation to cross-border procurement.

The Scottish Government has already taken significant steps to reform public procurement practice in Scotland. The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 already requires contracting authorities in Scotland to consider the economic, social and environmental wellbeing impact on their area of procurement activity, increases transparency by requiring contracts to be advertised on one single advertising portal, requires authorities to set out anticipated contracts over the next two years in an annual procurement report and requires authorities to consider community benefits in major contracts.

This was achieved in a way which was consistent with EU law. It remains the view of the Scottish Government that Scotland is best served by aligning with EU law where it is practical and sensible to do so.

As noted in the answer to PQ S6W-30096, planned engagement with stakeholders will commence in the next few months. This will include assessing the various views offered in the responses received to the previous Scottish Government consultation on occasional licence policy.

As noted in the ‘Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 - fee review: consultation responses’ document on the Scottish Government website, some respondents suggested a scalable fee structure. i.e. the level of the occasional licence fee should be dependent on the size of the event.

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

Short-term settlements from the former UK Government, lack of inflation proofing and reduced capital allocations have resulted in the Scottish Government being forced to take difficult decisions that have negatively impacted our ability to deliver land-based climate change measures such as woodland creation and peatland restoration at the scale required. There is currently no UK Government agricultural funding commitment from 2025.

The UK Government must commit to urgent, meaningful engagement on a sufficient, ring-fenced, multi-year programme funding settlement. The Scottish Government has sought early engagement with the UK Government to work towards a reset in the relationship, with an emphasis on the value of regular engagement and collaboration, while respecting devolution.

The Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (IMG EFRA) met on 16 September 2024, its first meeting with the new UK Government and the first meeting since September 2023. It was a positive meeting between Ministers from the Four Nations with an agreement on a shared programme of work.

The current agricultural funding allocation is a historical percentage based on decades old agricultural production figures. We need to come to a position that provides the long-term assurance required for our respective Agricultural Reform Programmes and to meet our shared nature and climate obligations.

The National Marine Plan 2 (NMP2) will provide the coordinated overarching planning framework for sustainable development. It will incorporate within the planning framework policy developed in relevant areas - such as marine environmental protection, climate change mitigation and adaption, energy and fisheries - and consider the interaction between these policies in planning decisions. This includes the pathway to deliver net zero and the approach to delivering a green recovery established in the Climate Change Plan 2018 – 2032.

The Marine Directorate will explore, with stakeholders, the potential options for spatial policies as part of the NMP2 process, taking into account the need for protection of the marine environment to serve as a strong platform providing opportunities for sustainable development of our existing and growing marine sectors. NMP2 is intended as a high-level strategic framework which would not contain detailed marine spatial plans or measures.

There is a Sectoral Marine Plan supporting offshore wind development, which provides the spatial framework for the sustainable development of this sector in our seas.

The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) is a strategic leadership group that brings together the Scottish public sector and the offshore wind industry. SOWEC has five subgroups that are administered by individual group leads and are tasked with dealing with different industry challenges.

The Scottish Government does not hold a complete list of the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) sub-group members as this is held by individual sub-group leads.

A range of organisations across the sector have been involved to date, including: BP, college sector, Copenhagen Offshore Partners, Crown Estate Scotland, Dundee Council, EDF Renewables, Equinor, ESB, Energy Skills Partnership, Floatation Energy, Forth & Tay Cluster, Fred Olsen, Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), HIE/DeepWind Cluster, Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm, Mainstream, Muir Mhor, Nadara, Net Zero Technology Centre, Northland Power, Ocean Winds, Orsted, RenewableUK, RWE, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Renewables, ScottishPower, Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Funding Council, Shell, Simply Blue Group, SSE Renewables, University of Strathclyde and Vattenfall.