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Our 2023 Tobacco and Vaping Framework includes action to raise the age limit for the sale of tobacco, and review what action is needed to limit the appeal of vapes to children, young people and non-smokers. Key to this work were the proposals consulted on in the four nations “Smokefree Generation and Tackling Youth Vaping” consultation.

I am pleased to announce that today, the four-nation government response to this consultation has been published.

The response sets out our intention to regulate, through a UK-wide Bill, on raising the age of sale for tobacco year-on-year so that a child born in 2009 or younger can never legally be sold tobacco products. The Bill will also provide a number of powers to tackle youth vaping in Scotland, including restrictions on flavours; regulating point of sale displays; regulating product packaging and presentation.

We will continue to work with UK Government and other Devolved administrations to develop legislation, and will engage with Parliament as appropriate and necessary during this process.

I recognise the cross-party interest in these measures, so commit to a providing an opportunity for discussion with Parliament through a ministerial statement, the date of which will be confirmed as soon as possible.

Under the established major service change process in the NHS (outlined in the national Planning with People guidance), this proposal, which was agreed by the Board of NHS Ayrshire & Arran at its meeting on 9 October 2023, is subject to Ministerial approval.

Having carefully considered all the available information, I have today written to the Chair of NHS Ayrshire & Arran to confirm that I am approving the Board’s proposal to retain the interim changes to local Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) services. The Board has made a compelling case for retaining the change that has been made, which is supported by the clear majority of local stakeholders. The proposal is fully consistent with both the aims and ambitions of our new cancer strategy and the tiered, clinically risk-assessed approach under the West of Scotland Strategic Review of SACT services. As such, I am content that the Board has adopted an appropriate, clinically-based risk approach to maximise local access to services, as far as possible.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring everyone who is eligible to vote can do so and is working with partners to look at potential new ways to increase registration levels amongst under-represented groups including young people.

Curriculum for Excellence provides opportunities for young people of all ages and stages to develop their political literacy skills. This is most likely to feature in the social studies curricular area, which, helps young people develop as responsible, informed citizens with a global outlook covering important topics, including democracy and voting.

To support schools and teachers there is an extensive range of materials and resources to draw on, including the “You Decide” Political Literacy resource from Education Scotland, which provides guidance on how to ensure that learners use their voice, participate and contribute to decision-making processes.

The Electoral Commission provides free, impartial resources for schools and youth groups to use to support young people to develop their understanding of the voting process. Their resources include a series of lesson plans linked to the curriculum and interactive activities and videos, which cover topics such as how to register to vote, what happens at the polling place and how to find information about candidates.

The Commission also works with education partners to run a campaign called Welcome to Your Vote Week each year to encourage schools and other organisations to have conversations with young people about democracy. They can get involved in a range of ways, including organising a voter registration event or democracy day. In 2023, 150 schools and youth organisations participated.

The Commission recently began a partnership with Children in Scotland to bring together young people from across Scotland to inform its future work and ensure it meets the needs of young people, including the messaging that will help drive registration levels.

Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) send Invitations to Register to all those on the schools lists that are eligible to register. EROs report good engagement with schools, particularly those run by local authorities, where they get a good response to invitations to register. The reduction in franchise age to 16 means that all attainers to the local government register are in full time education as they will be under the age of 16. Most EROs are also supplied with lists of all students at Scottish Universities who are resident and eligible to register.

Adult Disability Payment provides support for people who have a long-term disability or health condition. To be entitled for Adult Disability Payment an individual must have had needs relating to their disability or health condition for 13 weeks before entitlement can begin, although they can apply before the 13-week period is complete. This means that, if they are awarded Adult Disability Payment, payment can be backdated to the date they became eligible.

Where an individual has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, their application is fast-tracked and they are automatically eligible for the highest level of award without being required to meet the 13-week period.

The application process for Adult Disability Payment has been designed with disabled people to ensure it is as straightforward as possible and support is available to help people apply.

As set out previously, since 29 August 2022 women aged 71 to 74, and those 75 and over with a history of breast cancer, were able to register for self-referral appointments by contacting their local breast screening service. From 1 st December, all women aged 75 and over regardless of their history with breast cancer, will be able to register for self-referral appointments by contacting their local breast screening service, if they have not been screened in the last three years,. As a result, all women aged 71 and over will now be able to self-refer for breast screening, in line with procedures in place before the pandemic.

The impact of the restart on programme capacity and wait times will continue to be monitored closely to ensure there is no adverse impact on those who are invited for screening and for whom there is the clearest evidence of benefit.

The SPCB provides a free school engagement programme.

Our Education Services staff deliver sessions and tours at the Parliament, online, and visit schools across Scotland.

Digital and outreach education sessions are popular and especially appreciated by those who don’t want to travel to Edinburgh or who find coming to Edinburgh to be too challenging.

Last school year, we reached schools in 69 out of 73 constituencies, and we are continuing work to grow our engagement with schools.

In June, the SPCB commissioned a review into how best to deliver our education services in the most effective and inclusive way post Covid.

As part of this review, our education team is engaging with schools from across Scotland to fully understand their barriers to accessing our services.

Evaluations from the last school year show that the barriers include cost but also things like time and staff availability.

The SPCB will consider the matter again early in 2024.

I am pleased to announce that today we have launched our new Tobacco and Vaping Framework - roadmap to 2034.

Our high-level Framework will focus on both tobacco and vaping, with actions underpinned by a series of shorter 2-year action-focused implementation periods.

This will allow for flexibility within the Framework, developing and adapting actions to react to an ever-evolving policy area, and ongoing tobacco, nicotine and vaping product development.

At the heart of the Framework is our renewed commitment to the 2034 tobacco-free generation that was set in 2013. This is the cornerstone of the work of the Framework.

Our first action under the Framework includes the launch today of an information campaign on the risks of vaping to children and young people.