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Information on funding awarded to projects from the Regional Food Fund in each year since it was established is published on the Scotland Food & Drink website and can be found at the following link: https://foodanddrink.scot/regional-food-growth/regional-food-fund/

In February 2018, the then-Chief Medical Officer wrote to NHS Scotland Medical Directors about public interest in the use of mesh implants, including in hernia repair. Medical Directors were asked to ensure that clinicians offer patients all appropriate options for surgery, as well as the option of no surgery. In addition, the importance of shared decision making, informed consent and listening and acting upon patients concerns was noted.

The Scottish Government commissioned a review by the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) of primary inguinal hernia repair in men. SHTG published their report in early 2020 and this concluded that, compared to non-mesh procedures, using mesh resulted in lower rates of recurrence, lower rates of serious adverse events and similar or lower risk of chronic pain. The advice for NHS Scotland was that surgical mesh should be used in elective repair of inguinal hernia in adult males.

Further to this, the Scottish Government asked SHTG to examine hernia repair more broadly, to include women, and to review the outcome of mesh versus non-mesh surgery in a variety of groin or abdominal wall hernias. SHTG have published their report today which is available online at: Elective surgery using mesh to repair primary or incisional hernias in adults (shtg.scot) . This states that the current evidence supports the continued availability of surgical mesh for elective repair of primary ventral hernias, incisional hernias, and primary inguinal hernias in adults in Scotland. This notwithstanding, SHTG also recommends that consideration should be given to patient preference and that patients should have access to alternative hernia treatment options such as non-mesh (suture and natural tissue) repair. Once again, the importance of shared decision making and informed consent has been emphasised.

The Chief Medical Officer has written to Board Chief Executives and Medical Directors to draw their attention to the report’s findings. The Scottish Government will continue to work with Health Boards, Specialist Associations and the relevant Royal Colleges on the issues raised within the report.

The independent review of NHS Lothian Paediatric Audiology Services has today been published on NHS Lothian’s website.

The report outlines an unacceptable level of failure in paediatric audiology treatment in NHS Lothian, which will have a lasting impact on the lives of some of our most vulnerable children.

Given the catalogue of failures and ongoing risks in Audiology health provision at NHS Lothian and in consultation with officials, I have decided to place the Board into Stage 3 of the ‘Board Performance Escalation Framework’ for Audiology performance and service delivery. This will ensure that a Formal Recovery Plan with tailored support, clear milestones and responsibilities is developed by NHS Lothian in partnership with the Scottish Government to bring about the necessary improvements.

I have already expressed my deep displeasure to NHS Lothian and my expectation that they must continue to enact the recommendations in this report as a matter of urgency.

I applaud the involvement of the National Deaf Children’s Society in providing support for those affected. I have accepted an invitation to meet and discuss how any key lessons can be applied Scotland wide.

I intend to keep Parliament fully informed on this matter.

NHS health boards lead on the local delivery of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. Vaccination centres have frequently changed throughout the programme, with some facilities being repurposed, and drop-in clinics being made available as we have had to exercise flexibility.

As such, the Scottish Government do not hold the requested level of information as the number changes frequently.

Further Information regarding the number of vaccination centres operating in each health board area, and their opening hours can be found on NHS inform.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. The recruitment and deployment of Police Officers and Police Staff is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland.

Scottish Government statistics show that we have a higher number of officers than at any time during the previous administration. We currently have 17,232 officers, with Scotland having around 32 officers per 10,000 population compared to around
‎ 23 per 10,000 population in England and Wales.

The Chief Constable regularly reviews the size and shape of the policing workforce in light of changing demands. Local police divisions have a core complement of officers who are always dedicated locally to community and response policing, and they can additionally draw on specialist expertise and resources at a regional and national level – providing the right people in the right place at the right time to keep people safe and to meet the needs of our communities.

The Scottish Government aims to publish data at local and regional levels including parliamentary constituencies wherever it is possible and appropriate to do so. A large amount of data is already published at the level of parliamentary constituencies by the Scottish Government via its Official Statistics open data platform statistics.gov.scot .

In some cases however it may not be possible or appropriate to publish data at this level. In some cases data may not be collected at a level that allows for aggregation at parliamentary constituency level, it may not be possible due to issues of confidentiality, or due to concerns around the robustness of estimates produced for some areas. The collection and publication of statistics should also be proportionate to the requirements of the users of statistics, including the level at which decisions are made or services are delivered.

Such decisions about the appropriate level of geography at which to collect and publish data are made on a case by case basis and are done so based on user engagement activity and in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics . This approach is also consistent with the Government Statistical Service Geography Policy and the upcoming Government Statistical Service Subnational Data Strategy.

The Care Inspectorate’s most recent data showed that as of December 2019, 4,752 childminding services were operating. This is a decrease of 356 from 2018, reflecting a downward trend in recent years.

We are funding research by Ipsos MORI to explore the factors contributing to the decline in childminding numbers, and to identify actions to ensure there are sufficient childminders to meet demand for this unique form of childcare. The study will publish in early 2022.

Additionally, we continue to progress Our Commitment to Childminding Report, working alongside the Scottish Childminding Association and other partners to highlight childminding, not only as a choice to parents, but as a positive career opportunity.

I am pleased to confirm that, after due consideration, the Scottish Government will make an offer to Optometry Scotland regarding a 3% uplift to General Ophthalmic Services fees for the year 2021/22, backdated to 1 April 2021, as well as a commitment to continuing discussions with them regarding a process for future reviews of such fees.

The Scottish Government meets with representatives from NHS Boards, including NHS Lothian, on a regular basis to discuss a range of matters relating to drug and alcohol treatment. Most recently this has included a number of discussions about the additional funding being made available to support the widening of access to residential rehabilitation and the embedding of the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards.

As part of these discussions Scottish Government officials met with the General Manager of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital & Associated Services on the 24 November 2021.