Chamber and committees

This question relates to operational matters that are the responsibility of the Scottish Court and Tribunals Service (SCTS) corporate body. The question has been passed to the Chief Executive of the SCTS who reply in writing within 20 days.

There were no babies reported with a diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in Fife in the last five years.

The facility to record Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is available on the Scottish Birth Record (SBR). However, some under-reporting of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is considered to exist, although the extent of the under-reporting is not known. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome will be present at birth although it may not be detected until later, and unless the baby requires admission to hospital subsequent to the birth episode, the condition may go unreported.

1. Significant work on raising awareness of FASD has been undertaken over the past two years. A number of activities aimed at preventing FASD, and diagnosis, so far have included:

• Training midwives to ask pregnant women about their alcohol intake and offer appropriate advice and support if required.

• Organising education events for health, social care and education

• Launching an eLearning resource for health professionals

• Setting up the Maternal and Child Fetal Alcohol Harm Care Pathway Group, the main aim of which is to develop a care pathway for children who have been affected by this condition, from pre-birth to the end of primary school.

• Developed and launched a diagnostic tool to allow for consistency of diagnosis and more accurate recording of the numbers of children living with this condition.

• We have taken steps to learn and share what is happening in other countries. Experts from Manitoba, Canada have twice visited Scotland (2013 and March 2017) to share their expertise of diagnosing FASD using a team approach. 150 medical professionals were trained in using the Manitoba model in 2013 and 70 paediatricians and clinical psychologists were trained this year

• Held a one day event for caregivers of children with FASD.

The Scottish Government is aware of the pressures facing general practice and are fully committed to supporting a model of sustainable general practice.

On 10 March, I announced an additional £71.6 million will be invested in direct support of general practice, helping to transform the way services are delivered in the community. This forms the first stage of the Scottish Government’s commitment to provide an extra £250 million in direct support of general practice per year by 2021 - increasing the overall investment in primary care by £500 million.

As part of this, I have increased the GP recruitment and retention fund this year from £1 million to £5 million, enabling expansion and continued support to existing and new initiatives across Scotland.

One existing initiative is The Scottish Rural Medicine Collaborative – a ten board collaboration involving NHS Fife. The project will bring together recruitment strategies and support networks for GPs working in remote and rural areas.

The development of Fife's tourism sector is supported through the work of a range of our public bodies, for example, VisitScotland's marketing campaigns, including working with the industry to build on the success of film and TV shot there, such as Outlander; business and destination support from Scottish Enterprise; training and development through Skills Development Scotland; and promotion and protection of cultural heritage and historic properties through Historic Environment Scotland. In August I announced £500,000 Scottish Government funding for the 'Reaper' repair restoration at Anstruther which is another example of supporting tourism attractions and of course the opening of the Queensferry Crossing is putting a spotlight on Fife worldwide.

Regulation of the sale and ownership of quad bikes and other similar single-person operated vehicles has not been devolved to Scottish Ministers and remains an issue that is reserved to the UK Government.

The DVLA is responsible for the registration and licensing of vehicles; however, it has confirmed it does not control any aspect of the private sale of motor vehicles.

The legislation governing the registration of quad bikes has not been devolved to Scottish Ministers and remains reserved to the UK Government.

Information about the scheme is available on the UK Government website and the DVLA leaflet, INF 85, "Protect your off road vehicle". The UK Government has confirmed to the Scottish Government that it does not hold any records relating to the DVLA's voluntary registration scheme for quad bikes.

Information on the number of acid attacks over the last five years is not held centrally. Where someone uses acid or other corrosive substances to attack another person, a range of general criminal offences can be used to prosecute including the common law of assault. The statistics for assault held do not differentiate when corrosive substances have or have not been used.

Depending on the facts and circumstances of a given case, anyone carrying corrosive substances in public can be prosecuted for carrying an offensive weapon and anyone who uses a corrosive substance to attack another person can be prosecuted for a number of offences such as assault. Under the common law of assault, courts have powers to sentence up to life imprisonment

The Scottish Government always keeps the criminal law of Scotland under review and will consider carefully what, if any, steps may be needed in this area.

The following tables provide mean and median gross annual earnings for full-time employees in the Mid Scotland and Fife parliamentary constituencies, broken down by age and by gender.

Table 1a: Median annual earnings (£) for full-time employee jobs^1,2 by gender/age grouping

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016, Office for National Statistics

Table 1b: Mean annual earnings (£) for full-time employee jobs^1,2 by gender/age grouping

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

- x denotes estimates which are considered unreliable for practical purposes.

1. Covers employees on an adult rate of pay who have been in the same job for more than a year.

2. The estimates are from ‘workplace’-based analysis and therefore include all those who work in the constituency area regardless of where they live.

The following tables provide mean and median gross annual earnings for full-time employees in Scotland for 2016 by Scottish parliamentary region, broken down by age and gender.

Table 1a: Median annual earnings (£) for full-time employee jobs^1,2 by gender/age grouping

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016, Office for National Statistics

Table 1b: Mean annual earnings (£) for full-time employee jobs^1,2 and by gender/age grouping

Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2016, Office for National Statistics

Notes:

- x denotes estimates which are considered unreliable for practical purposes.

1. Covers employees on an adult rate of pay who have been in the same job for more than a year.

2. The estimates are from ‘workplace’-based analysis and therefore include all those who work in the Parliamentary Region, regardless of where they live.