Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill has now been introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

Information on the Bill can be found on the Parliament website here, and all supporting evidence and analysis relating to the Bill can be found 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.

Transport Scotland officials have discussed a number of different propositions for new ferry services to Europe with prospective promoters and port operators. These discussions are conducted with due cognisance of promoters’ commercial considerations. We will continue to work closely with our ports and potential operators in exploring propositions for establishing new services.

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.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21589 on 5 October 2023, which contains data from Public Health Scotland on the number of inpatient and day case admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of dog attack (bite or strike) was recorded, from 2010 to 2022, in Scotland. Public Health Scotland do not collect that data broken down by dog breed type.

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

Work to develop the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill is drawing on a range of officials across the organisation who will contribute to varying extents as part of their wider responsibilities in supporting the Scottish Government. The exact number of officials contributing as part of their wider responsibilities cannot be set out as the Scottish Government has no need to record this information.

I am delighted that the Bill has now been introduced to Parliament. This marks the culmination of a wealth of work undertaken in the past 18 months by Ms Mackay and her team, supported by the Scottish Government. Whilst introduction is a significant milestone for the Bill, I am mindful that it is one step in the Parliamentary journey and there will be considerable work ahead. The Scottish Government will continue to offer Ms Mackay every support as that work progresses.

Letters were issued to individuals at higher risk from COVID-19 in December 2021 and April 2022, notifying them of their potential eligibility for COVID-19 treatments. Registered care home providers also received letters advising them on access arrangements in January 2022 and July 2022. In addition, general information on the arrangements for direct access to COVID-19 treatments in Scotland can be found on NHS Inform .

The Scottish Government also encourages individuals to speak to their GP or specialist clinician about managing their COVID-19 risk, as they are best placed to provide advice on an individuals’ condition and potential eligibility for treatments. The final decision on whether to prescribe a COVID-19 treatment, and which treatment to prescribe, is entirely for a clinician to make.

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.

The Scottish Government is committed to its obligations under the Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

In line with the WHO Guidelines for implementation, the Scottish Government Tobacco Control Team is undertaking a number of measures to support compliance. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Continuing to raise awareness of Article 5.3 across Scottish Government, Local Government and related bodies.
• Asking consultation respondents to make a declaration of any links to the Tobacco Industry within tobacco and vaping consultations, including the 2022 consultation on tightening rules on advertising and promotion of vaping products. and the recent 4-nations consultation on mandating quit information messages inside tobacco packs.
• Sharing UK Government guidance on engagement with the tobacco industry with internal and external stakeholders.

Further information on implementation of Article 5.3 will be included in our refreshed Tobacco Action Plan which will publish later in autumn.

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.