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The Scottish Government seeks legal advice on an ongoing basis as appropriate and I can confirm that legal advice has been sought on this matter.

Scottish Government policy is that legislation should apply to the Crown in the same way as any other person unless there is a legitimate reason for a different approach. It is the Scottish Government’s intention that we will make clear in a Bill’s accompanying documents how provisions in a Bill apply to the Crown and why Crown consent is required.

Prior to 29 September 2022, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) did not recommend screening for lung cancer. Therefore, there is currently no lung screening programme in Scotland or indeed data on the number of people who have been screened for lung cancer in Scotland.

Given the range of symptoms which can be presented by Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), we know there’s no ‘one-size fits all’ response. Our approach is to support people with ME/CFS to access care and support in a setting that is appropriate and as close to their home as practicable.

We are working to support and develop Scotland’s multi-disciplinary primary care workforce, and have increased the Primary Care Improvement Fund to recruit multi-disciplinary teams from £155 million in 2021-22 to £170 million in 2022-23. This will help towards giving people living with ME/CFS access to a wider range of healthcare professionals through their local practice.

In July 2022, we published a Scottish stakeholder review of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on ME/CFS. This review involved engaging with stakeholders to discuss how we implement the NICE guidance in Scotland and identify priorities for service improvement in ME/CFS care.

In June 2022 the National Clinical Director wrote to health boards , including primary care and AHP leads, and integration authorities to highlight:

• that the finalised NICE guideline on ME/CFS had been published
• key changes in recommended practice regarding Graded Exercise Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• key points from the NICE Implementation Support Statement.

Officials are partially updating the Scottish Good Practice Statement on ME/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to incorporate the key changes in practice from the NICE guideline and are currently working to publish this on the Scottish Government’s website.

The recommendations for the Scottish Government included within the Equality and Human Rights Commission report, Housing and Disabled People: Scotland’s Hidden Crisis are being taken forward as part of the implementation of our Housing to 2040 strategy published in 2021. The specific recommendations regarding Relevant Adjustments to Common Parts (Disabled Persons) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 and guidance to local authorities on setting targets for wheelchair accessible housing were completed in advance of the publication of Housing to 2040.

As part of delivery of the Housing to 2040 route map we will work with stakeholders to identify the most effective ways to match availability of accessible housing and demand from those who require an accessible home.

The Scottish Government has not carried out any analysis on the number of lung cancer cases that could be diagnosed sooner with a national screening programme, but has kept up to date with emerging evidence that led to the UK National Screening Committee’s recent recommendation to move towards the implementation of targeted screening programme for lung cancer in adults aged 55–74 with a history smoking.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10989 on 3 October 2022. 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 .

The Scottish Government allocates annual Capital Resource Limit funding of over £140 million across all NHS Boards for essential backlog maintenance, statutory works and equipment purchases. Decisions on the allocation of this funding to specific items of equipment are made by each Board based on an assessment, taking account of clinical requirements, lifecycle replacement and risk.

This is a matter for individual Health Boards. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government at present. An NHS Scotland medical equipment management system is however planned to be in place during 2023, and it is intended that information of the type requested will available through the system.