Chamber and committees

 Liothyronine (T3) is licenced and available for use in the UK in 5 microgram, 10 microgram and 20 microgram strengths.

All medicines are prescribed based on clinical need. Doctors and other prescribers should always discuss treatment options with individuals. Prescribing decisions are based on national clinical guidelines which outline recommendations for effective practice based on current evidence.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

Decisions on the accommodation and management of transgender people in SPS care are fully informed by a robust risk assessment. This risk assessment process requires full consideration to be taken of the person’s gender identity; criminal history, mental health, responsivity during any previous time in custody and engagement with criminal justice partners as well as their own personal safety and any current risk presented to any specific gender group.

Where an individual is identified as presenting a risk to the wellbeing of others, this is fully considered and informs the decision making process relating to their accommodation and management.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

SPS works with a range of third sector criminal and social justice partners and stakeholders in Scotland. The internal SPS working group will seek external advice from our partners and stakeholders. The advice provided, along with the responses from our consultation from interested parties, will inform our decision making and policy development.

The Scottish Government funds Network Rail in Scotland to operate and maintain a high performing rail network. However, Network Rail is a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Government, over which the Scottish Government does not have direct control. Therefore this is an operational matter for Network Rail to respond directly to the member on.

The Scottish Government funds Network Rail in Scotland to operate and maintain a high performing rail network. However, Network Rail is a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Government, over which the Scottish Government does not have direct control. Therefore this is an operational matter for Network Rail to respond directly to the member on.

I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

SPS is committed to open consultation as part of the review of the ‘Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy for those in our Custody’ .

Consultation will commence once proposals have been developed by an internal SPS working group being set up to lead on the policy review.

Every person entering custody is risk assessed on an individual basis taking account of their circumstances and need. This assessment also gives consideration to the supervision and management arrangements needed to ensure others within the same accommodation area are appropriately cared for.

Through the provision of a core grant to YouthLink Scotland, and through the National Voluntary Organisations support fund, the Scottish Government supports many youth projects in North Lanarkshire. This support along with the Cashback for Communities funding, has provided training in community based youth work. This training provides information on how to include the most marginalised young people within communities and is delivered to local authority staff (including Culture NL) and voluntary organisations in North Lanarkshire.

With funding and support from the Scottish Government, YouthLink Scotland has supported workforce development in North Lanarkshire and the rest of Scotland.

The Active Scotland Outcomes Framework describes Scotland’s ambitions for sport and physical activity. The Active Scotland strategy Delivery Plan, published in July 2018, commits to ensuring that everyone has opportunities to achieve, irrespective of disability, and seeks to remove barriers to participation by working with equalities groups. It also commits to supporting opportunities for sporting participation and physical activity for people with learning disabilities and autism.

In April this year, the Scottish Government launched the Supporting Disabled Children, Young People and their Families website. As part of the development of the resource, a young disabled person’s focus group was invited to meet with policy officials to ask them the best way to involve them with this work in a meaningful way. The website includes a section on Community Life with links to various programmes that are available https://www.gov.scot/publications/supporting-disabled-children-young-people-and-their-families/pages/community-life/

The Scottish Government also recognises the positive difference volunteering makes to communities across Scotland for volunteers and beneficiaries. In April 2019, the Scottish Government launched ‘Volunteering for All’ volunteering framework to increase participation for all. It recognised the need to reduce barriers to participation and the importance of inclusive volunteering. The Youth Volunteering Innovation Project (YouthVIP) was established to develop a set of recommendations aimed at encouraging more people to volunteer over the next ten years and to enhance volunteering in Scotland. The Scottish Government will be developing and launching a Delivery Plan for the outcomes framework over the next year. This will build on the recommendations in the Framework and will take into account some of the recommendations from the YouthVIP team.

We recognise that effective solutions to the problems and barriers faced by young disabled people must be drawn from the lived experience of young disabled people. We are committed to working with young disabled people to develop policies and the approaches required to solve problems and dismantle barriers.

Involvement in youth work activity can have a positive impact of the health and well-being of young people in a variety of ways by providing opportunities, support and developing social connections.

This is why the Scottish Government is investing in the development of a New Youth Work Strategy as part of our programme for government 2020. The strategy is currently being co-produced with young people from a range of social circumstances, including those facing barriers to inclusion through disability. There is a focus within this for young people facing barriers to have their voices heard though the consultation process. Through the current Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention Fund, we have invested £56 million, in the last 4 years, to support a wide range of third sector organisations, many of which support young people and adults facing barriers to inclusion.

The Scottish Prison Service continues to respond to the increasing prison population effectively, and we will continue to work closely with the SPS to actively monitor the situation.

The SPS has robust contingency measures in place to ensure the safety and security of staff and those in its care are maintained. The SPS’s decision to temporarily suspend their Throughcare Support Service was an operational matter, and was taken in order to reassign experienced officers to mainstream duties within prisons.

I have established a Prisons Resilience Leadership Group of senior officials from a range of justice agencies to ensure co-ordinated action is being taken across the justice system in response to the prison population. These actions include: the extension of the presumption against short-term sentences from 3 to 12 months; increasing the availability of electronic monitoring in the community; and reviewing and updating guidance for the release of prisoners on Home Detention Curfew.

Given the complex range of factors increasing our prison population, it is vital that Parliament continues to back these progressive justice reforms .