Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08571 on 30 May 2022. 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.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08581 on 31 May 2022. 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.

As this relates to knowledge held by existing members of South of Scotland’s Board, I have asked Professor Russel Griggs, Chair of South of Scotland Enterprise to respond to you directly.

The Scottish Government believes that all women have the right to access comprehensive universal healthcare, including abortion services, without fear or intimidation.

The Scottish Government is currently looking at how to tackle protests and vigils that intimidate women as they access healthcare services, and are seeking to make progress as soon as practicable.

In light of the recent protests outside of sexual health clinics, if an individual feels uncomfortable attending an appointment, they should contact the clinic directly to discuss their concerns.

South of Scotland Enterprise sought to attract applicants with a wide range of interests relating to ‘land-based industries’. Grouping these together was designed to attract applicants with experience of working or advising in industries such as agriculture, farming and forestry or who had experience of contributing to the economy and/or society through their involvement with the land-based sector. The application pack made clear that applicants were not expected to have worked in a management post or at a senior level. Rather, applicants might have a natural aptitude in these areas or they might have gained relevant knowledge and skills by being active in their community.

The Scottish Government welcomes Coeliac Awareness Week and remains committed to enhancing diagnosis and care for people with coeliac disease in Scotland.

We have developed a new Scottish Coeliac Disease Pathway (2020) in partnership with people living with the condition, the charity Coeliac UK and clinicians. This has been shown to accelerate correct diagnosis and access to appropriate treatment (gluten-free diet and lifestyle) as detailed in the Coeliac Disease Pathway Report . It is our expectation that all Health Boards will fully implement this pathway in order to improve services and ensure that, with dietetic person-centred support, people with coeliac disease take control of their condition and manage its impact on their health and quality of life.

We have also invested £70 million in support of our Endoscopy and Urology Diagnostic Recovery and Renewal Plan . This includes a commitment to promote and implement guidelines for non-biopsy diagnosis for coeliac disease, which is expected to reduce waiting times for diagnosis for this condition.

The new pathway embeds the successful Scottish Gluten-free Food Service, which is unique in the UK. The service provides gluten-free food prescriptions and also annual coeliac disease health checks via community pharmacy. Annual coeliac disease health checks have re-commenced now that COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. They provide pharmacy, general practice and patients with an efficient and safe means of referral back to coeliac services for dietetic and clinical advice as required.

Primary care teams are further supported through information resources on NHS Inform which have been co-produced by people with coeliac disease, clinicians and Coeliac UK.

Food security levels in Scotland have been measured using the Scottish Health Survey since 2017. Survey respondents are defined as being food insecure if they answer positively to the question: ' During the last 12 months, was there a time when you were worried you would run out of food because of a lack of money or other resource?'.

Sample sizes for local authority areas are too small to publish statistics annually, however, by combining data from multiple years (2017-2019), local authority level figures can be produced. Statistics are publicly available on the Scottish Health Survey dashboard: Scottish Health Survey (shinyapps.io) .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-08581 on 31 May 2022. 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.

Since the Scottish National Investment Bank opened for business in November 2020 it has committed £206.9 million in 16 investments in line with its strategic missions.

Details of the each of the Bank’s investments, including the alignment to missions, are published on the Bank’s ‘Our Portfolio’ page: https://www.thebank.scot/our-portfolio/ .

Many of these investments support our net zero targets and some meet more than one mission.

We do not hold information about incentive schemes for coeliac disease and irritable bowel syndrome centrally. We do not have plans to establish national incentive schemes at this time.