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I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

The reduction in violence amongst prisoners remains an on-going priority for the SPS. Attempts to prevent violence are reviewed through the analysis and assessment of emerging trends across the prison estate which in turn, supports the SPS Violence Reduction Strategy.

The Strategy contains a number of physical security counter measures which includes the use of body scanners, cell sense detectors and mobile phone signal denial technology. These measures are used in addition to officer searching, dog unit tactical searches, intelligence gathering and joint operations with Police Scotland. These operations can be proactive by using intelligence to prevent violence or post incident to enable investigation or analysis of an event. Case conferencing is also used to prevent bullying alongside family conferencing and victim support which are integral in SPS’ approach to reducing violent incidents.

All staff are also provided with appropriate training in order to detect, deter, de-escalate and, if necessary, protect themselves, prisoners and others from violent acts. Operational Staff are trained in Control and Restraint techniques which are a recognised safe system of work designed to enable staff to manage violent situations in an appropriate manner where intervention is necessary. Staff will wherever possible use communication skills and other non-physical techniques to gain the co-operation of prisoners in an attempt to de-escalate a situation.

As part of our commitment to ensuring policies, processes and procedures reflect best practice and support Scottish Government’s commitment to creating a safer and stronger Scotland, the existing SPS Violence Reduction Policy is currently under review; the policy will be fully refreshed and implemented nationally by the end of 2016. Further reviews will take place bi-annually thereafter.

It is not possible to centrally quantify the number or contribution of nurses across Scotland that are involved in the provision of care to asthma patients.Asthma care services are delivered in a variety of settings in both primary and secondary care, and nurses involved in the delivery of those services may be directly employed either by NHSScotland or by general practices.Furthermore, nurses can be involved in delivering specialist care either wholly or as part of their role. Whilst some GP practices employ a dedicated asthma nurse, in others this function is covered by the practice nurse. In a hospital setting, patients may be seen by an asthma nurse or a specialist respiratory nurse.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-01436 on 9 August 2016. All answers to Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The Scottish Government has done no specific work to assess the costs of periods to women and girls. However there are undoubtedly genuine costs for women and girls associated with feminine hygiene and over an entire lifetime these could be significant.Feminine hygiene is not a health issue. Menstruation is normal. Where it becomes abnormal – excessive or infrequent – and potentially does become a health issue, treatments exist to help with this.While there is undoubtedly embarrassment and taboo about periods, we are not aware of any research evidence identifying particular stigma in relation to periods in Scotland.The Government currently has no plans to introduce free access to feminine hygiene products. However, we have invested in a range of other services to support people on low income or facing an acute income crisis. This includes the £33 million a year Scottish Welfare Fund which provides a safety net for vulnerable people on low incomes; investment in a range of advice services specifically designed to maximise income, support the transition on to new benefits, support lone parents and tackle unmet debt and financial capability; and our £1 million a year Fair Food Fund which will support community projects that help people access affordable food and develop skills, confidence and social networks.We are aware that food banks in Scotland will often provide sanitary products, usually as part of a broader offer of other personal hygiene products such as nappies or soap.

The Hamilton Business Improvement District (BID) has received £75,525 in funding from the Scottish Government. This consists of:

A BID Seedcorn Development Grant of £20,000 in 2011 to develop the BID’s business proposal and prepare it for ballot.

Funding from Zero Waste Scotland of £35,000 in 2013 to fund a project manager to oversee a waste and recycling project aimed at ensuring businesses in Hamilton had the opportunity to recycle as much of their recyclable materials as possible from their premises as well as help them save money and ensure compliance with the new Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

Funding from the Town Centre Communities Capital Fund of £20,525 in 2015 to enable the BID to install town centre Wi-Fi infrastructure and associated software.

We continue to support the development and growth of BIDS through our contract with Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) Scotland. We encourage all operational BIDS to engage the services of BIDS Scotland to discuss local challenges to help identify further support available.

The Scottish Government continues to fund Scotland’s Towns Partnership (STP) to
co-ordinate learning and share good practice on town centre activity in Scotland. STP have agreed to meet with Hamilton’s Community Planning Partnership along with Architecture and Design Scotland to discuss how to progress Hamilton’s town centre regeneration strategy.

The Scottish Government recognises the impact bereavement can have on people’s lives, whether young or older, and where children and young people in particular are concerned it is supporting a broad programme of action to improve services including: Work across NHS Scotland to improve training and education for staff, patients, families and carers. Led by NHS Education Scotland, new education resources and a bespoke “Support Around Death” website for professionals are in place; The provision of funding to support third sector organisations who play a vital role in informing, supporting and counselling, including: Cruse Bereavement Care Scotland and their work to assist with the re-integration of children and young people into society after a bereavement; and Richmond’s Hope, to extend their successful Edinburgh based model of child bereavement services to the west of Scotland with a new Glasgow centre due to open next month; Through the Named Person provisions of Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC), providing a clear point of contact for children, young people and parents making it more straightforward to get help and advice; The establishment of more efficient and receptive support services around mental health services for bereaved children and young people as part of the additional £150m investment in mental health services over the next 5 years;Specific action is planned as part of the new Mental Health Strategy, which will be published later this year, aimed at ensuring that young people have good mental health and that agencies act early enough when issues such as grief and bereavement emerge and impact young lives.

The Scottish Government is in the final stages of developing guidance on the provision of healthcare in schools. This guidance provides advice to NHS Boards and education authorities on a range of issues including intimate care. The guidance has been developed with a range of key stakeholders including representatives from the Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland. It will be published shortly for full public consultation. Finalised guidance will be published following the consultation.

The Scottish Government is committed to preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls, which includes ensuring a strong Justice response to protect victims and tackle perpetrators. Women and girls are protected from harassment and abuse through the criminal law, such as the general offence of threatening and abusive behaviour. Our courts do take into account all the facts and circumstances of a case before deciding an appropriate sentence in a given case. This means that where an offence is committed against a backdrop of misogynistic behaviour, the court can take this into account if they so choose. We regularly publish data, including the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey which provides details of people’s experiences of harassment and abuse.

Under Equally Safe, our violence against women girls strategy, officials have had discussions with women’s organisations regarding the issue of misogynistic hate. We will consider carefully what more can be done to tackle this, and we will continue to liaise with Police Scotland and others on how we can work together to tackle all forms of violence against women and girls. We anticipate that the findings of the Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime, Prejudice and Community Cohesion will be published in the autumn, once Parliament returns from recess.

The Scottish Government supports a number of measures, both local and national, to successfully tackle air pollution and its impacts on health. These measures, which are applied across the country, include the establishment of a statutory framework and clear strategic aims for both air quality and transport; supporting the development of renewable energy; providing grant funding for local authority actions; and providing advice and information through the Scottish Air Quality Website and Scotland’s Environment Web.

These initiatives will continue to be taken forward in the context of Cleaner Air for Scotland - The Road to a Healthier Future - Scotland's first distinct air quality strategy which was published in 2015. The strategy sets out six key policy objectives, including one for health which is for 'A Scotland which protects its citizens from the harmful effects of air pollution, reducing health inequalities'.