Seòmar agus comataidhean

In our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan we set out ambitious and wide-ranging action to deliver our vision for a Scotland where everyone eats well and has a healthy weight.

We are taking forward a range of action across five key outcomes: giving children the best start in life; creating a healthier food environment; better access to weight management services; leadership and reducing health inequalities.

We continue to make progress. This includes, among other things:

• We will consult on the detail of proposed regulations to restrict promotions of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt where they are sold to the public this autumn.
• We have updated the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations to give children more access to nutritious food.
• Continued provision of free vitamin D to infants, and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
• Additional investment to support breastfeeding, particularly in the days immediately following birth. We have provided over £9 million of additional funding since 2018.
• eady Steady Baby , Ready Steady Toddler and Parent Club have all been updated to provide parents practical advice on weaning, and at the ages and stages that follow: toddlers, pre-schoolers, and primary school aged children.
• We continue to provide funding to health boards to deliver weight management services for children and young people in line with our national standards , ensuring consistent quality and equity of access to evidence-based support across Scotland.
• Since 2020-21, we have provided additional funding to health boards and their partners for projects to encourage healthy eating and physical activity in families and communities at risk of diet-related health inequalities. This work has included: specialised training for practitioners, increasing physical activity, and support for those experiencing food insecurity.
• We have continued to support pilots in eight local areas to develop and champion a whole system approach to diet and healthy weight. An evaluation was published on 6 December 2022, which is informing the development of resources to support national rollout.
• We continue to provide funding to improve weight management services for adults, in line with our 2018 Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Framework and Public Health Scotland’s standards for tier 2 and tier 3 weight management services .
• In June 2022, Public Health Scotland launched a Challenging Weight Stigma learning hub to increase awareness of and challenge weight stigma and bias within healthcare settings.
• In 2021 we published our Out of Home Action Plan to support people and business to access to healthier options. This includes Food Standards Scotland and Public Health Scotland developing an Eat Out Eat Well Framework and code of practice for children’s menus.

There are no plans to privatise or to change the financing arrangements for Scottish Water. Scottish Water is performing well as a publicly owned corporation; evidence of its performance is clearly demonstrated by the fact that Scottish Water is matching the levels of service provided by the companies in England and Wales whilst ensuring that the average household charge remains lower.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18098 on 5 June 2023. 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

Ensuring Scotland is a place where children eat well, have a healthy weight and are physically active is a public health priority. We continue to implement the ambitious and wide-ranging action set out in our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan to support our aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030, significantly reducing diet related health inequalities. Our actions emphasise prevention to ensure children have the best start in life.

We are focusing on transforming the food environment because this is more likely to be effective in improving children’s diets and reducing health inequalities than only encouraging individual behaviour change. This includes restricting promotions of less healthy food and drink and we will consult on the detail of proposed regulations this autumn. We are also working with Food Standards Scotland and Public Health Scotland to implement our 2021 Out of Home Action Plan .

We are also ensuring that all children and young people have access to balanced and nutritious food and drink options throughout the school day. All local authorities are required to meet the standards set out in the amended Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations . We are providing local authorities with funding to make free school lunches available to all primary school pupils in primaries one to five, children in funded early learning and childcare and eligible pupils in Primary 6 through to S6. We are committed to a pilot of free school meals in secondary schools to support our consideration of further expansion.

Whole Systems Approaches are increasingly being seen as influential in responding to the complexity of public health problems such as childhood obesity. We have continued to support pilots in eight local areas to develop and champion a whole system approach to diet and healthy weight. An evaluation was published on 6 December 2022, which is informing the development of resources to support national rollout.

Alongside this our Good Food Nation policy provides an over-arching framework for clear, consistent and coherent future Scottish food policy which will help our children eat well. A draft of the national Good Food National Plan will be published for public consultation this summer.

We continue to provide funding to health boards to deliver weight management services for children and young people in line with our national standards , ensuring consistent quality and equity of access to evidence-based support across Scotland.

We are also addressing the underlying causes of poor diet and higher weight. This includes ending poverty, supporting fair wages and families, and improving our physical and social environments through initiatives, such as the Scottish Child Payment , Best Start Foods and Best Start Grants.

Implementation of placental growth factor (PLGF)-based tests for pre-eclampsia does not feature in the Women’s Health Plan . Professor Anna Glasier OBE, Women’s Health Champion has not, therefore, met with NHS Scotland, the Scottish Perinatal Network, patient groups or the diagnostics sector to discuss this. Professor Glasier set out her initial priorities in our Women’s Health Plan Report on Progress and has met with various stakeholders on a number of other areas of women’s health, mainly related to the priorities of the Women’s Health Plan.

The Scottish Government expects all NHS Boards in Scotland to take note of the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) recommendations, published on 23 March 2023, and take steps to ensure that any woman who requires access to placental growth factor (PlGF) based tests as part of her maternity care can do so. We wrote to NHS Boards on 23 March, immediately following publication of the SHTG guidance, and will write to NHS Boards again in June, to understand how implementation of PlGF testing is progressing.

Circularity Scotland is a private not for profit company. Decisions regarding advanced payments is a matter for them and it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment in such commercial arrangements between private companies.

One of the many factors the Scottish Government took into account when considering the timing of launch of the Deposit Return Scheme was feedback from stakeholders. We are grateful to all businesses for the investment they have made in preparing for the launch of the deposit return scheme and this investment will be important for the success of the scheme when it launches.

In my statement to Parliament on 30 May 2023, I announced that the Public Health (Restriction of Promotions) Bill will not be introduced. We instead plan to consult on the detail of proposed regulations to restrict promotions of food and drink high in fat, sugar or salt where they are sold to the public this autumn.

My statement is available at Meeting of the Parliament: 30/05/2023 | Scottish Parliament Website .

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has confirmed that an amendment in 2013 to the Health and safety (First – Aid) Regulations 1981 removed the responsibility of the HSE to approve first aid training providers and qualifications. The regulations now require employers to assess the needs for their workplace and ensure that they provide adequate and appropriate first aid to employees who are injured or become ill at work. If an employer’s needs assessment determines that they need trained first aiders, it is the responsibility of the employer to satisfy themselves of the competence of those first aiders.

The regulations apply to employees only, but are accompanied by guidance strongly recommending that non employees are considered when employers decide on the first aid cover necessary for their workplace.

Organisations providing first aid at events must comply with their responsibilities under general health and safety legislation.

HSE also provides guidance on how to manage events safely Events health and safety (hse.gov.uk) .

Zero Waste Scotland is progressing two life cycle analysis reports of the impact of secondary steel production as an update to the published carbon assessment. The other three reports referred to in the answer to question S6W-08343 have been amalgamated into one report. These reports are all expected to be published in 2023-24.

I look forward to meeting with the CEO and speaking with the workforce of Ferguson Marine. My visit to the shipyard will take place during summer recess.