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We understand the distress and pain that migraines cause and want to ensure that everyone living with this debilitating condition can access the best possible care and support.

The Scottish Government awarded a further £135,501 to the Migraine Trust in October 2023 through our Neurological Care and Support: Framework for Action for 2023-2024 towards their work with pharmacists in NHS Grampian to help people manage their symptoms and treatments more effectively.

The Agriculture Bill has now been published and introduced to Parliament.

Engagement with stakeholders will continue during the Bill process, and the Scottish Government looks forward to hearing and seeing the evidence that organisations and individuals provide as part of Stage 1 of the bill process.

This week the Scottish Government has launched a further stakeholder engagement programme on the bill measures and tiered approach, which will include interviews, surveys, workshops, testing and trials, and anyone can take part. More information is available here .

The Scottish Government expects the highest shipping safety and crew welfare and employment conditions on vessels accessing Scotland’s ports and coastal waters.

Ferry operators are responsible for crewing arrangements whilst complying with the appropriate employment legislation and standards. Shipping safety and seafarer welfare and employment conditions are matters reserved to the UK Government.

The Maritime Labour Convention sets out the minimum working and living rights for seafarers with the onus on operators' good practice. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency are responsible for auditing vessels to ensure compliance. The recently introduced Seafarers’ Wages Act also ensures that UK seafarers on ferry services are paid the UK National Minimum Wage whilst working in UK waters.

The Scottish Government advocates Fair Work policy and believes there must be respectful and meaningful dialogue between employers and employees and their trade unions, to ensure employees are treated fairly.

Any prospective ferry operator would need to ensure their proposal meets all requirements under UK employment law. While employment law remains reserved, we will use our Fair Work policy to promote fairer work practices across the labour market in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not held recent discussions with the UK Government regarding future roll-on/roll-off ferry links between Rosyth and ports in northern Europe.

Scottish Ministers have maintained that the Scottish Government wishes to see Scotland’s sea connections to Europe enhanced and are happy to consider any approach. Discussions have taken place between Transport Scotland officials and a number of prospective interested parties in recent years.

The Scottish Government has made clear on a number of occasions its intention to maintain direct payments in support of active farming, and to continue to fund farming and food production in a way that delivers for climate and nature.

The Scottish Government recognises the disruption and harm to businesses from theft and antisocial behaviour, and Police Scotland and partners are taking action to tackle and reduce it.

As the First Minister made clear in the chamber on 5 October 2023, while the latest recorded crime data for shoplifting shows an increase, the level remains below pre-pandemic levels.

The Scottish Government fully supports the innovative Scottish Partnership Against Acquisitive Crime, which is led by Police Scotland and includes a number of other organisations including retailers.

The Partnership is taking a collaborative approach to preventing and deterring crimes such as shoplifting through the sharing of best practice and intelligence, alongside enforcement activity.

Anyone affected by this kind of incident should report it to Police Scotland who remain focused on keeping our communities safe from harm.

As at 28 September 2023, no whole organs (including brains) are being retained following a post mortem examination instructed by the Procurator Fiscal.

Human tissue samples are obtained in the majority of post mortem examinations instructed by the Procurator Fiscal, but only where necessary to assist in confirming the deceased’s cause of death, identify inherited genetic conditions or to establish identification through DNA.

It is a matter for the pathologist conducting the post mortem examination to decide whether it is necessary to obtain tissue samples in order for them to instruct further tests or examinations to clarify the cause of death. The pathologist will make the decision whether any organs require to be removed during the examination for further testing, either whole organs, or small samples from organs. At the conclusion of the Procurator Fiscal’s investigation, by virtue of the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 any blocks and slides prepared for the purposes of histopathology (examination of the tissue under a microscope to detect any signs of disease, damage or other abnormalities) are considered to be part of the medical records of the deceased person. No samples that are retained are kept by COPFS and they are instead retained by the NHS.

COPFS keeps a record of all cases where a pathologist has decided that it is necessary to retain a whole organ during a post mortem examination. This record also includes details of when an organ is returned to the family of the deceased at the conclusion of examinations.

It is not possible to provide an exact figure of the number of other samples currently being retained.

From May 2022, Health Boards are responsible for providing Community Treatment and Care (CTAC) services, including ear wax removal, to support GPs to do the job they are trained to do and to give patients access to a wider range of expert advice for their care. While we have made good progress in implementing CTAC and other multidisciplinary team (MDT) services, we know that service gaps remain.

We are therefore introducing an additional phased investment programme over the next 18 months, working with a small number of areas, at different stages of implementation, to demonstrate what a model of full implementation of CTAC, as well as pharmacotherapy services, can look like in practice. The evidence obtained through this programme will then inform a long-term investment proposition for these services.

We will also ensure that content on NHS inform is underpinned as far as possible with current clinical evidence.

Scottish Government guidance is reviewed and updated regularly to ensure that information for the public and organisations/businesses aligns to current policy.

The Scottish Government Marketing Resource Centre is the central repository for stakeholder resources which reflect that no Covid restrictions are now in place. Material for the Stay Well campaign is available via the resource centre from stakeholder toolkits. Any out-of-date resources are removed from circulation. If a stakeholder was to visit the resource centre for relevant materials, they would only have access to valid guidance.