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We are jointly funding a £250,000 endometriosis research project with the charity Wellbeing of Women. The research project, which will primarily be run by researchers at The University of Edinburgh, will look at the drug dichloroacetate in the management of endometriosis-associated pain.

Additionally, in January 2023 our Chief Scientist Office announced funding for the ENDOCAN project, led by researchers at The University of Edinburgh. Through a large scale UK-wide trial, the research will investigate whether a cannabinoid can reduce endometriosis-associated pain. Funding of £299,509 has been committed to this 30 month project.

The Chief Scientist Office also invited applications to the Applied Health Research Programmes Funding in March this year. Applicants will be informed of the outcome in December 2023.

Public Health Scotland (PHS) publishes incidence and mortality data on leukaemias, Hodgkin lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma annually.

PHS previously published survival data on these same cancers. However in the 2023 release, a different approach was taken to assess the short-term impact of COVID-19 on cancer survival for a select few cancers. It utilised a much smaller cohort than the usual methodology which meant an estimate of survival for rarer cancers could not be calculated. Some estimates for blood cancers are available for the 2016-2020 cohort upon request to PHS.

In future cancer survival publications, these same blood cancers will be included again, as survival publications will revert back to previous methodology.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to introduce such a register. We are working with Local Authorities, Health Boards and other public sector partners to understand the extent to which RAAC is present in buildings and any actions necessary in response.

This is a matter for NHS National Services Scotland National Services Division. The information requested is not held centrally.

Local authorities are responsible for the provision of local waste services and are, therefore, best placed to comment on their readiness to comply with the ban on sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill in 2025.

We continue to provide procurement support to help local authorities that need it to secure contracts in preparation for the forthcoming ban. As part of this support, Zero Waste Scotland is working with local authorities to provide technical, legal and procurement advice on their contracts.

Through this support, we understand that 22 local authorities have contracts in place for 2025 that comply with the landfill ban, these are: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, City of Edinburgh, City of Glasgow, Dundee City, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Fife, Highland, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, Shetland, and South Lanarkshire.

The Scottish Government’s International Network of offices regularly support and create opportunities across the culture sector, making links for the sector within the territories in which they are based and ensuring that cultural activity is central to their presence.

The Scottish Government is also currently scoping promotional opportunities across the cultural sector as part of our work to develop our new International Culture Strategy.

The strategy was announced in 2023-24 Programme for Government. It will set out how we will support the culture sector’s international ambitions and ensure that barriers to achieving those ambitions are addressed. We expect to publish the new strategy by the end of March 2024.

We recognise that international activities such as touring are vital to many creative professionals. The Scottish Government therefore continues to call on the UK Government and EU to negotiate an extensive and generous mobility agreement that would allow creative professionals to continue to move freely between the UK and EU.

We continue to work with our partners to minimise the barriers to international working, in addition to providing support to Arts Infopoint UK, a mobility scheme which provides a practical source of information on artist mobility.

The Scottish Government is opposed to the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and recognises that the Act as drafted would restrict the right to seek asylum in the UK, putting people in need of protection at risk and undermining the UK’s international obligations to recognise refugees in the UK.

Scottish Ministers are currently engaged with officials to assess and identify any mitigations available, informed by engagement with stakeholders, including through a summit held in June 2023.

Limited information has been made available by the UK Government about planned implementation of the Act. This makes it challenging for the Scottish Government and our partners to consider what action it may be possible to take.

As asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament, the Scottish Government cannot lift or amend measures introduced by the Illegal Migration Act in relation to access to asylum in the UK. The Scottish Government also cannot amend restrictions placed on people seeking asylum while they await a decision, including long standing UK Government policies to restrict the right to work and access to public funds.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with our partners to support people seeking asylum through the New Scots refugee integration strategy. We are undertaking engagement designed in partnership with the Scottish Refugee Council and COSLA to inform the refresh of the New Scots refugee integration strategy.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan and Workforce Action Plan were published on 7 November 2023; alongside an Easy Read version of the Delivery Plan and the Workforce Action Plan Summary of Phase 1 Activity.

The documents are available at the following links:

Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan – https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835215098

Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan Easy Read - https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835214800

Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan – https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835215104

Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Action Plan Summary of Phase 1 Activity - http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781835215104/documents/

The Scottish Cancer Registry does not capture whether a cancer was detected following presentation at an Accident & Emergency (A&E) department. The details in the Scottish Cancer Registry and the lack of clinical information included in the A&E attendance data leaves the relationship between cancer diagnosis and A&E attendance uncertain.

Public Health Scotland completed a study to describe emergency and non-emergency routes to cancer diagnosis in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. A decision on whether to include an expanded list of cancers in the emergency vs. non-emergency routes to cancer diagnosis reporting will be made ahead of a planned publication in March 2024. However, this would be using the emergency/non-emergency definitions and so presentation at A&E would not specifically be defined as a route to diagnosis.

Scottish Government is committed to improving health and tackling inequalities, working together with partners to ensure that inclusion strategies strengthen efforts to reach those at higher risk or from under-served communities.

The national flu Programme and Health Boards continue to recognise and support the needs of minority ethnic communities in planning and delivering the programme. Support includes translated resources in a wide range of languages, outreach clinics in community venues and collaborative working with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) mobile vaccination units to reach those who experience barriers to uptake.