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We are aware that the percentage of eligible young people holding cards providing free bus travel under the new Young Persons’ Scheme varies between local authorities. There will be a variety of reasons for this, including different levels of local awareness and interest in the scheme and also variations in how different local authorities handle applications which come to them rather than through the national online portal, getyournec.scot, and Transport Scotland’s Pass Collect app (for people between 16 and 21 who already possess an active NEC or Young Scot NEC card). We estimate that the number of cards produced and dispatched for South Lanarkshire as of 19 April 2022 represented 14% of the eligible population.

We are working with our delivery partners, including the Improvement Service and local authorities, to identify and support improvements to both online and offline processes to maximise the uptake of scheme and get cards issued faster. One such measure, which we are encouraging, is to coordinate applications through schools on behalf of pupils. Some authorities are already doing this, including – we understand – South Lanarkshire for pupils moving up to secondary school.

We introduced temporary Special Leave measures at the beginning of the pandemic to support our NHS colleagues and help the service manage infection levels.

Since March 2020, NHS Staff who have been absent due to COVID have been paid in full as if they had been at work.

Prior to any changes made in the future as we move towards living with Covid, we will engage with both NHS Scotland Employers and Staff Side representatives to ensure an effective and smooth transition back to standard Sickness Absence terms and conditions .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07711 on 19 April 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.

The Scottish Government has made a commitment to reduce the disability employment gap – the difference between the employment rates of disabled people and non-disabled people - by at least half, by 2038. We set out this ambition as part of our wider disability employment strategy, “ A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan ”. To halve the disability employment gap by 2038 will require around a 1 percentage point reduction in the gap every year.

Table 1 shows the disability employment gap for January 2016 – December 2016 to January 2021 – December 2021, sourced from the Annual Population Survey.

In 2016, our baseline year, the disability employment gap was estimated to be 37.4 percentage points. It is estimated to have reduced by 6.3 percentage points over the five years between 2016 and 2021, to 31.0 percentage points in 2021 – which is, on average, more than a 1 percentage point reduction each year. Based on performance and the labour market context to date, this suggests that we are on track to achieve our ambition to halve the gap by 2038. The reduction in the disability employment gap over this period was due to a larger rise in the employment rate of disabled people relative to the increase in the employment rate of non-disabled people.

Table 1: Disability Employment Gap, 2016 – 2021, Scotland

The number of CT scans split by NHS board for financial years 1999-00 to 2019-20 is available in SPICe – Bib number 63296. Data for financial year 2020-21 is unavailable due to a limited data collection for the Cost Book publication for 2020-21. For CT scan figures for 2020-21 please contact the individual NHS boards directly.

Notes

1. The number of CT scans is only collected by Public Health Scotland for the 'Costs Book' publication as part of the SFR 5.11 Radiology Services data collection process. This data is submitted to PHS by NHS boards from their local systems for radiology. This information is not quality assured by PHS data management teams and there is no other national collection of CT scan examinations by PHS.

2. The data collection for radiology services changed in financial year 2008-09 from collecting attendances to examinations. This may have a small impact on comparing activity up to 2007-08 with activity from 2008-09 onwards. This should be considered when making year on year comparisons.

3. CT scan examinations for NHS Western Isles for the years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2019-20 have been provided directly by NHS Western Isles due to an issue with the cost book SFR 5.11 submission for NHS Western Isles in those years. The figures for the NHS board and NHSScotland for those years will differ to the published information where all radiology service examinations in NHS Western Isles were submitted under 'other'.

4. For more information on the Costs Book publication please see the following web pages:

? 2019/20 Costs Book page

? 2009/10 to 2018/19 Costs Book archive

? 1999/00 to 2008/09 Costs Book archive

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-07634 on 21 April 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-07634 on 21 April 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 am deeply concerned by the impacts that price rises are having for off-gas-grid customers and we are determined to address the higher levels of fuel poverty found in many of Scotland’s remote rural and island areas.

That is why the new fuel poverty definition takes account of the additional costs associated with living in remote and island communities. We are committed to continuing to spend more per head on energy efficiency in remote rural areas, to bring down energy costs and we are providing support through the £10 million Fuel Insecurity Fund, including for households reliant on solid and liquid fuels such as heating oil.

Following on from recent discussions with the heating oil trade body, UKIFDA, officials have engaged with the UK Government to raise concerns about the recent unprecedented rises in heating fuel costs for off-gas-grid customers in parts of Scotland, however the UK Government has indicated that there are no plans to regulate the sector.

The Scottish Sarcoma Network is tasked with ensuring equity of care for all patients in Scotland with sarcoma, and for conducting audits of the quality of care provided to improve quality of life for all patients.

Sarcoma clinical management guidelines (CMGs) include the investigations and staging performed by radiology, and the guidelines outline the recommended treatment pathway for patients, promoting the equitable provision of high quality care. Guidelines are not designed to substitute the role of the clinician, but to support the most appropriate treatment decisions taken within the multi-disciplinary team.

These CMGs are based on UK, European and global guidelines and are being reviewed by the network, with bone, soft tissue, gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) and cutaneous (skin) CMGs currently in review, and breast and head and neck CMGs in development.

Lastly, the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) enables all radiologists to work together, and scans indicating a suspicion of sarcoma can be discussed with a sarcoma specialist radiologist.

The earlier cancer is diagnosed the easier it is to treat. This is why the Scottish Government continues to invest in our £44m Detect Cancer Early (DCE) Programme, which adopts a whole systems approach to diagnosing and treating cancer as early as possible. An additional £20m has been committed to the programme over this parliamentary term.

The Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer were published in 2019 and support primary care professionals in identifying patients with potential symptoms of cancer who require urgent assessment by a specialist. These include guidelines for suspected sarcoma.

In addition, Scotland’s first three Early Cancer Diagnostic Centres are now live in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Fife. These Centres provide primary care with a new referral route for patients with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer (i.e. weight loss, fatigue, nausea), which do not meet site specific Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer.