Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-26499 on 23 April 2024. 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 recognises that childcare costs can be a challenge for many parents and carers, particularly those experiencing poverty. Data from the nationally-representative Scottish Household Survey in 2022 showed that of households with at least one child aged 0-11 years 14% found it difficult or very difficult to afford childcare, although 53% of households found it very easy or easy. Across the full year, almost three quarters of households (73%) had no childcare costs, with around a fifth (19%) spending less than 10% of their average monthly income. A further 5% spent between 10 and 20% of their income on childcare.

The Scottish Government is continuing to invest nearly £1 billion a year in high-quality, funded early learning and childcare. Scotland is the only part of the UK to offer 1,140 hours a year of funded ELC to all three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds. This offer has been in place since 2021 and, if families paid for this themselves, it would cost them around £5,800 per eligible child per year. We also remain committed to designing and building a system of School Age Childcare that supports parents, particularly on low incomes, to have secure and stable employment. This is why, over the next year, we will work with Local Government and other partners to develop the infrastructure and services needed to provide childcare in specific communities in six local authority areas: Shetland, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Inverclyde, Glasgow and Dundee. This work will enable us to begin to create and test, for the first time, what an all-age childcare system will look like for Scotland. We are taking a person-centred and place-based approach to designing this system – that means involving children, parents and providers in co-designing services to meet their needs.

The Scottish Government is reviewing the Competition & Markets Authority’s ‘Housing Markets Study’ which was published on 28 February 2024. The report recommends consideration by the Scottish, Welsh and UK governments of standardised approaches to bond calculations, inspections, and approvals. We are considering the recommendations for Scotland and will respond in a way which respects the Verity House Agreement.

SEPA’s 2018 National Flood Risk Assessment set out the numbers of properties at risk of flooding now and in the future. The numbers have not changed since that assessment, which are that 284,000 properties are at risk of flooding now and by the 2080s this number is expected to increase by 110,000 through climate change.

Improving resilience to flooding is a priority for the Scottish Government and we continue to work with, and support, local authorities to fulfil their obligations to deliver flood risk management. To support flood protection measures, the Scottish Government provides £42 million each year to local authorities. In August 2020, the Programme for Government also committed an additional £150 million over 5 years to support flood risk management actions.

It is clear that climate change must become a core consideration in decision making for our places and communities if they are to achieve a level of flood resilience. We will consult on a Flood Resilience Strategy for Scotland this spring. The Strategy will initiate a transformational change to flood management to adapt our places and set Scotland on a long-term course towards a sustainable level of flood resilience.

Modelling undertaken by Sheffield University looked at how alcohol consumption in Scotland changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and the longer-term implications over 20 years of these changes for public health. This found that on average, people in Scotland who were drinking within the UK low-risk drinking guidelines of 14 units/week reduced their alcohol intake in 2020, while those drinking above the guidelines increased their drinking by an average of 2 units/week.

The modelling then explored 4 illustrative scenarios for how these changes in drinking persisted, or not, from 2022 onwards and compared these to drinking having remained at pre-pandemic levels throughout. In the best-case scenario where it was assumed that alcohol consumption reverts to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, it was estimated there would be an additional 663 deaths, 8,653 hospital admissions, 22,122 years of life lost and £10.9million in NHS hospital costs over 20 years. Where it was assumed that consumption changes during the pandemic would persist in the long-term, it was estimated there would be an additional 7,924 deaths, 91,332 admissions, 239,002 years of life lost and £111.2million in hospital costs over 20 years.

This harmful health impact of the pandemic on alcohol-related outcomes was estimated to fall disproportionately on the most deprived groups, further increasing existing inequalities in health.

The Public Health Scotland (PHS) evaluation into the impacts of Minimum Unit Pricing found the largest estimated reductions in deaths and hospital admissions, during the study period that were wholly attributable to alcohol consumption were seen in men and those living in the 40% most deprived areas.

• The evaluation found the largest estimated reductions in deaths and hospital admissions, during the study period that were wholly attributable to alcohol consumption were seen in men and those living in the 40% most deprived areas

The Scottish Government continues to take whole population and targeted approaches to tackle alcohol-related harms. We have laid legislation seeking the agreement of Parliament to continue Minimum Unit Pricing, and set the price per unit at 65 pence. Members of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee voted to approve those orders on 26 March 2024 and I am pleased that there is cross party support for this policy.

We will continue to engage with all stakeholders, including public health organisations and the alcohol industry, around potential restrictions to alcohol marketing. This will take the form of targeted engagement, with the aim of consulting on a more specific set of proposals later this year.

We have asked Public Health Scotland to investigate the reasons behind the apparent 40% reduction in the number of people accessing specialist alcohol treatment.

We are working with stakeholders to develop a National Service Specification, informed by the forthcoming UK alcohol treatment clinical guidelines. They will aim to provide clarity on the types of treatment and recovery services available.

Public Health Scotland published a summary of evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol consumption and harm in Scotland and England looking at data up to around 2021. This found that, overall, alcohol consumption decreased following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, changes in drinking behaviours were polarised with some increasing their alcohol consumption and others decreasing . This was associated with drinking behaviour before the pandemic: those who increased their alcohol consumption tended to drink more before the pandemic, and those who decreased consumption tended to drink less. Over the COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol-related hospitalisations decreased, and alcohol-related deaths increased – potentially due to changing patterns of consumption and to the decrease in access to services over the pandemic.

More recent data shows that:

• For all adults, prevalence of hazardous or harmful drinking has generally decreased over time, with levels dropping from 34% in 2003 to 22% in 2022.
• In 2022/23, there were 31,206 alcohol-related hospital admissions (stays) in Scotland, a decrease of 11% since 2021/22.
• In 2022, 1,276 people in Scotland died from alcohol-specific causes, a 2% increase from 2021 and the highest number of annual deaths recorded since 2008

It is not possible to know the extent to which these trends are attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, increases in alcohol-specific mortality since 2019 are observed across many other countries including all 4 nations of the UK, other European countries, the US and Canada. It is widely observed, including by The Office for National Statistics, that these rises are likely in part to be the result of increased alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public Health Scotland’s evaluation has found that the evidence points to minimum unit price having a positive impact on health outcomes. It is estimated to have cut alcohol consumption, alcohol-attributable deaths and likely to have reduced hospital admissions during the study period.

The Scottish Government is committed to introduce legislation to end conversion practices in Scotland that is as comprehensive as possible within devolved competence.

Conversion practices, which aim to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, are damaging and destructive acts that violate people’s human rights. Whilst our proposals will protect people from the harms of conversion practices, our approach also recognises and respects established rights and freedoms. This includes freedom of thought, conscience and belief and private and family life as well as parents exercising their rights and responsibilities in relation to their children.

Our public consultation, containing detailed proposals, ran for 12 weeks and closed on 2 April 2024. Responses to that consultation will now be analysed and considered.

Future legislative programmes will be announced in relevant Programmes for Government in the usual way.