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There are no plans to remove the ban on the sale of raw milk in Scotland.

Raw drinking milk (and cream) has historically been recognised as a high risk to public health due to its association with a number of food poisoning outbreaks, mainly Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli O157 infection, and 12 potentially associated deaths in Scotland.

To mitigate this risk mandatory pasteurisation of raw cows’ drinking milk was introduced in Scotland in 1983, and extended to drinking milk from all farmed animals in 2006. Since these controls were put in place illnesses linked to the consumption of raw milk in Scotland have virtually disappeared.

Food Standards Scotland advises Ministers on food safety matters and have confirmed that mandatory pasteurisation is consistent with the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food advice, who recommend pasteurisation as the key critical control point in the prevention of milk borne disease. It is also in line with the recommendations of the E.coli Task Force Report from 2001, commissioned after 21 people died in a major food poisoning outbreak in Wishaw in 1996, which highlighted the raw milk ban in Scotland as a positive step in protecting consumers from the risks of E.coli O157. Mandatory pasteurisation also protects the wider community, as milk borne pathogens such as E.coli O157 are known to be transmitted through person to person contact.

The most recent scientific review, published in January 2015, was conducted by experts from the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Biological Hazards. This scientific opinion on public health risks associated with raw milk in the EU concludes that raw milk can be a source of harmful bacteria – mainly Campylobacter, Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) - including E. coli O157 - and Listeria monocytogenes. The EFSA opinion identifies further hazards but these are not considered to be a significant risk in Scotland or the UK.

Given the historical evidence and weight of expert scientific opinion in favour of mandatory pasteurisationto protect public health, there are currently no plans to lift the ban on direct sales of raw drinking milk in Scotland. http://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/business-and-industry/industry-specific-advice/dairy

The advice that has been issued since the introduction of the smoking ban in relation to Bothies has been consistent and is as follows.

Bothies are not listed under schedule 1 of the smoke-free Regulations and therefore are not covered by the legislation. Whilst it could be argued that some definitions contained in schedule 1 could perhaps capture bothies, in our view it would be stretching the interpretation particularly with regard to criminal offences.

There is of course nothing to prevent the owners or those in charge of bothies to impose their own smoke-free policies and we would encourage them to do so.

In June we published an updated Tobacco Control Action Plan seting specific actions to address health inequalities and cut smoking rates in the communities where people find it most difficult to quit. A link to the plan is attached.

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2018/06/9483

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Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare, hereditary skin disorder affecting 1 in 250,000 people. Specialist UV protective clothing is not available on prescription for people with rare genetic skin disorders such as XP. Only drugs and devices included on the Scottish Drug Tariff can be prescribed by an appropriate health care professional.

With regards to the process, it is for the manufacturers of medicines and devices to consider submitting their products for inclusion in the Scottish Drug Tariff based on their business and commercial operations. Any medicine or device shall only be included in the Scottish Drug Tariff following an appropriate assessment including the clinical benefits and cost effectiveness.

Local prescribing formularies are put in place by the NHS Board and are based on range of issues including the local general population, prevalence, clinical decisions and appropriateness for the patient concerned.

As explained in my answer to S5W-17582 on 23 July 2018, the treatment and supervision for this condition is highly specialised and is best delivered through specialist hospital services which can provide expert advice to fit the particular needs of the patient concerned.

All answers to written 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 provides funding for sporting facilities through the National Agency for Sport, sport scotland. Since 2007, sport scotland has invested over £168m in sporting facilities across Scotland through their Sports Facilities Fund (SSF).

The facilities already in place, along with future plans, are driven by community demand and encompass all kinds of facilities rather than purely all weather pitches. The guidelines for the SFF were updated earlier this year and can be found at https://sportscotland.org.uk/funding/sport-facilities-fund/ . They now highlight that sport scotland want to support projects that clearly demonstrate an impact on one or more of their priorities for improvement. These priorities include ‘Equalities and Inclusion’, highlighting projects that “widen access, provide opportunity or remove barriers to participation in areas of socio-economic disadvantage or rural parts of Scotland” (as well as another bullet point on projects that widen access for under represented groups that share protected characteristics).

Recent examples of all weather pitches funded through SFF in the Aberdeenshire area include:

- £200,000 awarded to Westdyke Community Club in 2017 for a project to install an all weather football pitch at Lawsondale Sports Centre.

- £186,600 awarded to Aboyne Tennis Club in 2017 for a project to upgrade court surfaces and install floodlights.

- £100,000 awarded to Fetterangus Community Association in 2018 for a sports pavilion project providing good quality changing for Buchan Ladies, the local women and girls football club.

The Scottish Government is investing an additional £20 million per year, for the lifetime of this Parliament, to help reduce the harms caused by alcohol and drugs. We will be writing to stakeholders in the coming weeks with details of how this investment will be allocated to support new and innovative approaches which responds to the needs of patients in a more joined up person centred way.

Rates of addiction are not recorded however data is published on problematic drug and alcohol use.

a] https://isdscotland.scot.nhs.uk/Health-Topics/Drugs-and-Alcohol-Misuse/Publications/2014-10-28/2014-10-28-Drug-Prevalence-Report.pdf

b] https://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/scottish-health-survey/Publications

Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships have clear responsibilities for tackling problem alcohol and drug use and promoting recovery and should collectively demonstrate progress against both national and locally relevant alcohol and drug outcomes.

The Scottish Government National Support Team take forward key projects to deliver national strategic priorities. It is also available to support capacity building and sharing of learning and good practice amongst Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) in order to promote the delivery of our national strategic priorities. Examples include:

• National data collection, and support for the use of that data to progress against core outcomes;
•  Support through implementation planning for the Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISY), including adaptions to local delivery systems and IT infrastructure, to ensure full compliance with data entry and national reporting requirements;
• A whole population approach to addressing problem alcohol use, including Minimum Unit Pricing;
• Providing £1.326 million funding to the Scottish Drugs Forum, Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs, Crew and the Scottish Recovery Consortium to strengthening engagement with the sector in relation to policy objectives and workforce development;
•  Developing plans to reduce drug and alcohol deaths and harm.

ADPs are strongly encouraged to use the national support that is available to them as well as utilising local expertise.

The Microsegmentation of the Autism Spectrum Report was commissioned as a recommendation of the Scottish Strategy for Autism. The Scottish Government is committed to implementing the findings and recommendations of this report, published on 22 March 2018, in partnership with Integration Joint Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships. The report is available from the following link: https://www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00533382.pdf .

In response to the question “what the recognised qualifications are for each microsegment”. Following clarification of this question it has been established that the question is “What is the criteria for each microsegment” The criteria is explained as follows:

The eight segments have been developed from the survey data of a sample of approximately 1,000 individuals, combined with the evidence base from the literature. The criteria for each segment are as set out below. The criteria within each main segment for with or without additive risks are also explained below.

Segment 1: Asperger profile. No ID.

Criteria: Individuals who either have a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome or who are diagnosed as having an autism spectrum disorder, with clinically normal language and intellectual development, and without severe early onset symptoms.

Segment 2: Autism/other ASD profile. No ID.

Criteria: Individuals with a diagnosis of childhood autism, atypical autism, or PDD-NOS, or autism spectrum disorder, but without intellectual disability.

Segment 3: Autism/other ASD profile. Mild ID (scores 50-70).

Criteria: Individuals with a diagnosis of childhood autism, atypical autism, or PDD-NOS, or autism spectrum disorder, with mild intellectual disability, that is, with standard scores for intelligence and adaptive functioning falling in the range 50-70.

Segment 4: Autism/other ASD profile. Moderate/severe ID (scores 50-70).

Criteria: Individuals with a diagnosis of childhood autism, atypical autism, or PDD-NOS, or autism spectrum disorder, with moderate or severe intellectual disability, that is, with standard scores for intelligence and adaptive functioning falling below 50.

Within each of the four main segments there are two divisions:

A: those who meet criteria for the profile applying to that segment, but who do not have additive risks, that is, who do not have co-occurring conditions in addition to their autism spectrum disorder.

B: those who meet criteria for the profile applying to that segment, but who do have additive risks, that is, who have one or more co-occurring conditions in addition to their autism spectrum disorder, such as ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder or any other diagnosable mental health disorder.

The Scottish Government continues to work with Scottish local authorities through Zero Waste Scotland, to tackle all forms of fly tipping including asbestos and other hazardous materials. Information about the cost of removing materials that have been fly tipped is not held centrally.

The Scottish Government does not set targets for the treatment of stroke patients. The Scottish Stroke Care Standards, in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit (SSCA), are used to assess the performance of stroke services, at a Scotland wide, NHS Board or individual hospital level, not at the level of individual patients. The standards are set at a level which aims to be both challenging but achievable by hospitals. It is, therefore, inevitable that some stroke services will not meet some standards. This is done to encourage improvements in performance. Once a Standard is routinely exceeded by all hospitals it is recommended it is raised. Stroke services need to use appropriate Quality Improvement methods to optimise their own performance.

Our Stroke Improvement Plan (2014) sets out a comprehensive programme for further reducing the number of deaths from stroke and improving stroke treatment and care across the whole patient pathway. It focuses on providing the best possible care in the acute setting, as well as helping peoples’ longer-term recovery in their own communities. The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme measures progress towards meeting the priorities in the Improvement Plan.

The SSCA shows that last year’s modest improvements were maintained in all four ‘bundle’ standards, the most important overall indictor of the performance of stroke services. NHS boards report self-evaluated performance against the Stroke Improvement Plan priorities, and this shows variability across the country. The Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme National Report 2018 contains the results of the annual Scottish Stroke Care Audit and NHS boards benchmarking against the Stroke Improvement Plan priorities and is available at https://www.strokeaudit.scot.nhs.uk/index.html

A Directors of Planning Thrombectomy Advisory Group is developing a national planning framework for the provision of thrombectomy for stroke for Scotland. The development of the framework will consider all the elements required to deliver the service. It is anticipated that the framework will be completed by spring 2019 and will be submitted to Directors of Planning and follow due process for the planning of NHS Scotland services.