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There were no crimes of female genital mutilation recorded by Police Scotland in 2020-21.

Scottish Government officials have a weekly call with NHS Tayside’s Cancer Team to track all patients on an urgent suspicion of cancer (USC) pathway and update on service delivery, including workforce.

To support Cancer and Diagnostic services the Scottish Government has invested £10 million to support cancer services during and beyond the pandemic. This will support increased access to cancer diagnostics and staffing. A further £9 million will also be allocated this year to support diagnostic imaging capacity. We have also invested in mobile units located in NHS Highland and NHS Tayside to increase capacity.

The following table shows, in relation to deaths in prison where the deceased was aged 25 or younger, the average and longest time taken to conclude an FAI in each of the last five years. Days are calculated from the date of death to the date evidence at the FAI was concluded.

We are engaging HM Treasury and HMRC to ensure that VAT is not applied to deposits charged under Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Any cost associated with VAT would be part of the operating costs of DRS, and would be borne by drinks producers in line with the principle of producer responsibility.

There has been no discussion between the UK and Scottish Governments over the introduction of a digital sales tax in Scotland. The Scottish Government is closely monitoring the UK Government’s planned forthcoming consultation on the arguments for and against an online sales tax, as announced in its final report to their fundamental review of business rates published alongside the UK Budget on 27 October.

In December 2019 we published "Neurological Care and Support - a National Framework for Action". Over 5 years we will invest £4.5 million to implement the Framework’s 17 commitments.

Some of these commitments aim to improve access to new medicines for people living with progressive forms of MS, such as our commitment to support the neurological research agenda by promoting the work of the Chief Scientist Office, third sector organisations’ research and Scottish neurological research networks; and encouraging opportunities for people with neurological conditions to become involved in research trials.

In September 2020, the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) accepted siponimod (Mayzent®) for routine use in NHS Scotland. Mayzent® is the first oral Disease Modifying Therapy (DMT) for active secondary progressive MS. The SMC Horizon Scanning Team have also identified several DMT’s in development for the treatment of progressive forms of MS which are predicted to enter the UK market within the next 5 years.

The Scottish Government meets with COSLA and local authorities on a regular basis to cover a range of issues, including current and future budget pressures. Negotiations on the annual local government finance settlement are conducted between the Scottish Government and COSLA, on behalf of all 32 local authorities.

Statistics on uncollected council tax are published at Statistics on council tax collection rates are available at Statistics on council tax collection rates are available at Council Tax Collection Statistics, 2020-21 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Scottish Ministers, alongside Scottish Government officials, have been in regular contact with the UK Government to bring forward legislation to implement the Ivory Act 2018 later this winter. The ban is then expected to come into force in Spring 2022.

The Scottish Government is required to obtain approval from the Scottish Parliament to proceed with proposals by Scottish Ministers to consent to the making of UK secondary legislation affecting devolved areas. I wrote to the Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment Committee in September with notification of our intent to proceed with this secondary legislation. Formal consent to proceed with the legislation is then possible, once the Committee has given it due consideration.

Reported incidents of spiking are likely to be recorded by the police as either (i) crimes of administering a substance for sexual purposes under section 11 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, or (ii) drugging (assault). The former is recorded when a person intentionally administers a substance, or causes a substance to be taken, with the purpose of stupefying or overpowering, to enable any person to engage in a sexual activity involving the victim. The latter is similar in that a crime is committed when drugs are feloniously administered with intent to produce stupefaction, however there doesn’t need to be further intent, and it is not necessary that any injury to the victim is caused.

The data we receive from Police Scotland does not include information on the circumstances of individual crimes. We are therefore unable to identify how many of these crimes specifically involve drink spiking or spiking by injection.

Number of crimes of administering a substance for sexual purposes recorded by the police, by local authority, 2016-17 to September 2021

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on draft policy options for the installation of electric vehicle charge points in a number of different building types, including an option that sets out a minimum requirement for all new residential buildings with parking spaces.

The consultation ( Scottish Building Regulations: Proposed changes to Energy Standards and associated topics, including Ventilation, Overheating and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure ) can be found on the Scottish Government's website.

We aim to publish a consultation response in early 2022.