Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government’s consultation on a National Care Service closed on 2 November, and received around 1,300 written responses. There was also significant digital and face to face engagement with members of the public throughout the consultation period.

Written responses will be published, where permission has been given, along with summary notes of points raised at the engagement events. An independent contractor has been appointed to undertake a detailed analysis of the responses and we expect to publish the analysis report in early 2022.

NHS Boards are expected to ensure that patients, including those living with severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) have access to a range of professionals to provide the appropriate management of their condition. We would further expect clinicians to have good awareness of guidance relevant to their practice area and apply these taking account of individual circumstances and discussions with the patient.

In light of the final National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline for ME/CFS being published, we are considering how best to review and update existing Scottish guidance, and will be reviewing the need for specialist services as part of this work.

We are regularly engaging with our stakeholders, including the third sector, people with lived experience and clinicians working in this area, to drive forward care and the development of pathways. We plan to undertake a structured programme of stakeholder engagement in early 2022 to initiate the revision of Scottish guidance and to identify opportunities for improvement.

We have recently supported the creation of a Priority Setting Partnership by the James Lind Alliance and Action for M.E. to agree the top 10 priorities for future research on ME/CFS. This approach brings patients, carers and clinicians together to identify and prioritise research uncertainties in the field of ME/CFS, before disseminating the results to research funders.

We are investing £4.5 million of funding to implement the Neurological Care and Support Framework. Commitment 13 of the Neurological Care and Support Framework involves supporting neurological research, and we welcome proposals for ME/CFS research.

We are investing £4.5 million of funding to implement the Neurological Care and Support Framework. Through the framework, we have funded Action for ME to produce an online CPD learning module on ME/CFS for GPs and health professionals in Scotland, which aims to support person-centred care, informed by good practice and current research. In June 2021, officials presented the module to the Scottish Deans Medical Education Group, who agreed to consider introducing into medical school curriculums.

We are also liaising with NHS Education Scotland who have committed to producing a Practice-Based Small Group Learning module on ME/CFS following publication of the final National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, and we understand that this work is now underway.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04189 on 22 November 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.

The Woods In and Around Towns (WIAT) programme provides support to expand and sustainably manage Scotland’s urban woodlands while encouraging people to use and enjoy them. The programme supports activities in socially deprived communities and contributes to improving people’s health and well-being, sequestering carbon and helping our urban communities adapt to a changing climate.

The programme facilitates collaboration between local authorities, the private and the community sector to deliver initiatives ranging from the Central Scotland Green Network, Clyde Climate Forest and recent Lost Woods Project that provided the opportunity for children from all of Glasgow’s primary schools to take part in a mass tree planting scheme.

Under the current Forestry Grant Scheme the average annual funding available for the improvement and management of existing urban woodland is £750,000-£900,000 and for the creation of new woodland in areas covered by the Central Scotland Green Network, which is a focus area for the programme, is £8 million.

The total value of approved projects under these grants is:

The following table incudes how much the UK Government has provided to the Scottish Government for capital expenditure in real terms each year since 2007-08, excluding Financial Transactions.

In 2021, the Scottish Government commissioned a study from the Plant Health Centre on the implications of gene editing for plant health, including environmental impacts, at a cost of £18,441 to date.

Otherwise no funding has been committed specifically to research on the benefits and costs of gene editing since 2016. The Scottish Government has access to a wealth of expertise in its advisors, including the Chief Scientific Advisor for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, who follow the latest scientific evidence and are qualified to comment on the impacts of gene editing.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04189 on 22 November 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.

Public Health Scotland collect and publish data on the coverage of health visitor 6-8 week reviews pertaining to each financial year. In 2019-20, of children who became eligible for their 6-8 week review, coverage was 91.4% and in 2020-21 coverage was 91.8%.

Information for 2019/20 is available on the Public Health Scotland website in their Annual Report on Child Health Pre-School Review Coverage - https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/child-health-pre-school-review-coverage/child-health-pre-school-review-coverage-2019-to-2020/ .

The Annual Report on Child Health Pre-School Review Coverage for 2020-21 is not yet published but updated statistics on 6-8 week coverage can be calculated using data published alongside the Public Health Scotland Infant Feeding Statistics - https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/infant-feeding-statistics/infant-feeding-statistics-financial-year-2020-to-2021/ . It should be noted that health visiting data from previous years are updated within each annual infant feeding publication, and can change slightly from earlier publications due to increased data completeness. This is mainly due to late submission of data rather than reviews being carried out very late.

Data up to and including August 2021 are available on the Public Health Scotland (PHS) wider impacts dashboard - https://scotland.shinyapps.io/phs-covid-wider-impact/ .

Public Health Scotland data does not show exactly when each review took place, only that an eligible child received the review. It is therefore not possible to say how many reviews took place between the first 6-8 weeks of a baby’s life. In determining the extent of coverage for the first visit, Public Health Scotland will calculate the percentage of eligible children who received the review by the time the data is extracted. Further detail on how coverage is calculated can be found within relevant Public Health Scotland publications.

Scottish Ministers received updates on Defra’s public consultation on changes to the regulation of genetic technologies in England at the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on 28 June 2021 and 13 September 2021. You may view the minutes for these meetings at https://www.gov.scot/collections/inter-ministerial-group-for-environment-food-and-rural-affairs-communiques/ .

Officials from the four UK administrations also meet on a regular basis to share information on topics of mutual interest, including the area of GMO regulation. These conversations have included updates on Defra’s public consultation and planned changes to the regulation of genetic technologies in England in relation to gene editing.