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We are unable to identify the total number of people who have been diagnosed with endometriosis in the population from routine healthcare data, and therefore cannot provide figures for the required breakdowns (NHS board, age cohort and “deep endometriosis”).

An independent review of Adult Disability Payment will commence in summer 2023. We will consult with stakeholders on the specific details of undertaking the review, including on the appropriate duration, and will provide an update in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6T-00019 on 26 May 2021. The answer is available on the Parliament's website at: Official Report - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Government has recently announced a suite of measures to continue to support NHS dentistry, including a vital funding package of up to £5M for improved ventilation in dental premises, and an extension of free PPE for the dental sector, which from July will increase by up to 50%. This builds on the continued phased remobilisation of NHS dental services, ensuring that as many patients can be seen within the current set of infection, protection and control measures required for the safe operation of dental treatment.

NHS dental services are largely provided by independent dental contractors. Information on appointments is held by each individual dental practice.

I refer the member the answer to question S6W-00372 on 15 June 2021.

The money we provide to NHS boards is provided to fund drug and alcohol services.

In 2018-2019 Health Boards received £53.8m to support the delivery of alcohol and drug services. In addition –

Health Boards received £17m from Programme for Government allocation.

In 2019-2020 Health Boards received £53.8m to support the delivery of alcohol and drug services. In addition -

Health Boards received £17m from Programme for Government allocation.

In 2020-2021 Health Boards received £53.8m to support the delivery of alcohol and drug services. In addition -

Health Boards received £17m from Programme for Government Allocation.

£3 million in additional funding was made available to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to support work to reduce drug deaths in Scotland.

Additional funding information will be available on the DDTF website shortly.

We have declared that a national mission is required to tackle drug-related death and have committed additional funding of £50 million per year over the next session of parliament. This is in addition to baseline funding.

Details of funding to NHS Boards can be found here - Alcohol and Drug Partnerships: funding allocations - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Details of additional funding through Local Improvement Fund can be found here –

Local Improvement Fund: allocations - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Details of Additional funding for ADPs in 2020/2021 can be found here - Alcohol and drug partnerships: additional funding 2020-2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The principal means of meeting the 2035 rail service net zero target will be to continue the Scottish Government’s rolling programme of electrification. Thanks to a programme of investment delivered by the Scottish Government consistent with this approach, some 75% of Scottish rail passenger journeys are already on electric trains. Regrettably, only 45% of rail freight movements in Scotland are electric, chiefly due to the lack of electrification to key freight terminals and ports at the English end of the freight journey.

Concerning investment in Hydrogen trains, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00852 on 1 July 2021. 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 .

There are 3 specialist endometriosis centres in operation in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow all of which serve patients outside the NHS board area in which they are based.

The SPCB provides the staff cost provision to enable Members to employ up to the equivalent of 4 full time staff. Individual Members have flexibility to decide how to use their staffing budget, including setting staff salaries within the agreed pay ranges and overall capped provision limit set by the SPCB. It is for Members as the employer to decide how they employ their staff so long as it is within the rules of the Scheme and the job families and salary ranges set out by the SPCB. Members also set their own hours of work.

The Zero Emission Train (ZET) project is currently on target to run during COP26 in November at Bo’ness. It is managed by world-leading hydrogen-technology company Arcola Energy and the £3.5 million project will fully test Hydrogen powered traction options, which will be required where electrification is not appropriate.

Rail Industry partners are working to test the integration of alternative traction power supply equipment within a live train environment through this Hydrogen Accelerator initiative overseen by St Andrews University. As a result, issues associated with creating, approving and then enabling a hydrogen-fuelled train will be addressed as well as growing the local supply chain for future decarbonisation fleet requirements in Scotland.

Protective measures, and the Levels Approach, are informed using a range of data on epidemiological conditions and health system capacity. Numbers of Covid-19 cases being just one of these considerations. PCR tests are the key diagnostic tool in identifying infected persons. They are highly accurate and represent the gold standard for Covid-19 testing. They work by detecting the Covid-19 virus from a swab sample taken from the nose and or throat. There are a variety of PCR tests used in Scotland, all of which are rigorously tested and are regulated and approved by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The Scottish Government are aware that, as with any medical test, there is a margin of error and that false results can occur. This margin however is very small.

Further information regarding the RT-PCR test can be found in Public Health Scotland’s frequently asked questions document: https://hpspubsrepo.blob.core.windows.net/hps-website/nss/2961/documents/1_covid-19-laboratory-testing-faq.pdf .

Further information regarding how the various protective measures are informed can be found here: Coronavirus (COVID-19) protective measures: indicators and data - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)