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The Scottish Government’s Neurological Care and Support Framework 2020-25 sets out our vision to ensure everyone with a neurological condition, including Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), can access the care and support they need to live well.

Under the Framework we have funded Action for ME and partner organisations to promote and disseminate an online learning module authored by Dr Nina Muirhead, on ME/CFS for GPs and health professionals, which aims to support person-centred care, informed by good practice and current research.

In June 2021, the Scottish Government presented the online learning module to the Scottish Deans Medical Education Group who agreed to review the module with the view of introducing it into the medical schools’ respective curricula.

In addition to Scottish Government activities, we understand that NHS Education for Scotland are currently finalising a Practice Based Small Group Learning CPD module for GPs, Pharmacist and Nurses working in General Practice/Primary Care.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18105 on 5 June 2023. 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.

NHS Boards are expected to work towards implementation of PlGF-based testing locally, as decisions on which of the four recommended PlGF-based tests to use will depend on local factors, including analyser availability, geography and cost. The SHTG guidance is clear in its economic evaluation that use of PlGF-based testing can drive cost savings as well as improving outcomes for women and their babies, particularly where a diagnosis of preterm pre-eclampsia is less clear.

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

In Scotland, as part of the wider child health programme , height and weight measurements have always been carried out in Primary 1 only. We are aware that this differs in other parts of the UK.

The purpose and key components of the Scottish programme are similar to that of the National Child Measurement Programme in England: to inform local planning and delivery of services for children; gather population-level data to allow analysis of trends in growth patterns and obesity; increase public and professional understanding of the importance of healthy weight in children and be a vehicle for engaging with children and families about health and weight.

We continue to keep under review whether an additional measure at an older age would be beneficial to improving children’s health.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18221 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

Our seas must remain a source of prosperity for the nation, especially in our remote, coastal and island communities. It is vital that those communities help shape the creation of Highly Protected Marine Areas, which is why we chose to consult early on in the process.

We recognise there is considerable strength of feeling on this issue – from those who support it and those who have concerns. We are currently analysing responses to the public consultation and will consider these very carefully as we develop next steps.

We are also committed to ensuring that any future decisions on the creation of Highly Protected Marine Areas is informed by a robust process, supported by impact assessments, which provide a clear and transparent assessment of the economic, social and environmental effects of the policy.

In the meantime, I have committed to visiting coastal and island communities in the coming months to hear directly from those people who may be affected.

We will continue to engage directly with coastal and islands communities before any sites are proposed and we will work with those communities throughout the site selection process to ensure their concerns and views are listened to and understood.

The Warmer Homes Scotland successor will be a demand led scheme, i.e. the number of households supported will depend on the number of households contacting the scheme, which reduces the accuracy of any estimates of households that will benefit. Substantial changes in customer volumes are not anticipated in the new scheme in comparison to Warmer Homes Scotland.

Budgets for the scheme will be set annually in line with the Scottish Budget allocation process. For example, if the budget in a given year was £60m, we envisage between 3788 – 4252 households may be supported.

The successor scheme will have a widened eligibility criteria which will allow a broader range of households to access the scheme. The scheme will adopt PAS 2035 standards, delivering whole house retrofit and with a greater emphasis on zero direct emission heating so households will on average benefit from a higher level of interventions per household.

The support offered through WHS sits alongside other help, such as our Home Energy Scotland grant scheme and our Area Based Schemes which provide local delivery of energy efficiency improvements.

The successor scheme to Warmer Homes Scotland will launch on 2 October 2023.

The Scottish Government has today published Cash-First: Towards Ending the Need for Food Banks in Scotland. This sets out our human rights approach to tackling food insecurity and details nine actions that we will take in collaboration with partners over the next three years to improve the response to financial hardship and reduce the need for emergency food parcels.

Scotland is the first nation in the UK to have such a plan and the actions will help to identify measures that move us closer towards our longer term ambition of a Scotland without the need for food banks.

The Scottish Government has not established a Land Tax Working Group and does not have plans to do so at present. The Medium Term Financial Strategy set out that the Deputy First Minister will establish and chair an external Tax Advisory Group this summer, building on our inclusive approach to tax policymaking. The outcomes of this engagement will feed into the Budget 2024-25 and the development of the Government’s longer-term tax strategy.

As with the development of all new trade arrangements, the Scottish Government has sought to engage with the UK Government at Ministerial and official level throughout the negotiation process for accession to the CPTPP to ensure that Scottish interests are identified and taken into account.

The Scottish Government’s position, as set out in the Vision for Trade, is that human rights impact assessments, including workers’ rights, should be carried out at the outset of preparations for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations and updated throughout the process. It is disappointing that this was not undertaken prior to accession to CPTPP.

We will continue to make the case that FTAs, including CPTPP, should be used to create constructive engagement on human rights, including workers’ rights, with a view to raising standards, establishing or promoting forums for dialogue and sharing best practice.