Chamber and committees

Legislation on plain, standardised packaging will improve public health by regulating the marketing of tobacco. It will not regulate intellectual property. We will undertake a full business and regulatory impact assessment to accompany the introduction of a Bill on standardised packaging.

The Scottish Government will undertake a full Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment to accompany the introduction of a Bill on plain, standardised packaging of tobacco products.

As made clear in the recent report of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health (March 2013), enforcement agencies do not rely on pack design to test whether packs are illicit. Instead they use a number of security features found on existing packaging, including coded numbers and covert anti-counterfeit marks, all of which would also be present on plain, standardised packs. The report of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health can be accessed here: http://www.ash.org.uk/about-ash/all-party-parliamentary-group-on-smoking-and-health/appg-documents#IllicitTrade.

A recent report from the National Audit Office on tackling tobacco smuggling (June 2013) showed a reduction in the market share for illicit tobacco products between 2000-01 and 2010-11, from 21%to 9 % for cigarettes, and from 61% to 38 % for hand rolling tobacco. We remain committed to tackling illicit trade and will continue to work with the HMRC on this matter. The National Audit Office report on tackling tobacco smuggling can be accessed here:

http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/10120-001-Tobacco-smuggling-Executive-summary.pdf.

The Public Health Research Consortium (PHRC) published a systematic review of the evidence on plain, standardised tobacco packaging to accompany the UK consultation last year. That report can be accessed at:

http://phrc.lshtm.ac.uk/project_2011-2016_006.html.

This review, based on findings from 37 individual studies, concluded that there is evidence to support the propositions that standardised packaging would reduce the attractiveness and appeal of tobacco products, increase the noticeability and effectiveness of health warnings and messages, and reduce the use of design techniques that may mislead consumers about the harmfulness of tobacco products.

The review also found that plain, standardised packaging was most likely to be effective in preventing the uptake of smoking among young people.

A review of a further 17 recent research studies was published by Stirling University in September of this year. It confirmed the main findings of the earlier PHRC review on the benefits of plain, standardised packaging. That review can be found at:

http://www.stir.ac.uk/media/schools/management/documents/Plain%20Packaging%20Studies%20Update.pdf.

Findings from Scotland’s evaluation of smoke-free legislation were published in 2010 and provides an overview of findings from 2005 to 2009.

The information can be accessed here:

http://www.healthscotland.com/scotlands-health/evidence/smokefreelegislation/findings.aspx

A study sponsored by NIHR Public Health Research Programme is currently being conducted by the University of Stirling. The aims of the study are to assess the impact of measures in The Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 that ban point of sale tobacco displays and advertising on young people's exposure to tobacco advertising, their attitudes towards smoking and their smoking behaviour. The before and after study is due for completion in 2017.

In addition NHS Health Scotland will conduct an analysis of data relating to tobacco retail sales. This analysis will complement the work conducted by the University of Stirling.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15685 on 27 June 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The First Minister has not met with the Australian High Commissioner. The Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs met with the Australian Deputy High Commissioner on 20 November last year. A number of issues were discussed including:

The Scottish 10 digital scanning of the Sydney Opera House;

The forthcoming return of the clipper, the City of Adelaide, to the city of Adelaide and;

The 2014 year of homecoming.

The following table provides details of the make, model and overall procurement cost of the Government Car Service fleet.

Note: 1. Individual costs are not quoted due to commercial in confidence restrictions.

The Special Advisers Office subscribes to a range of newspapers and specialist periodicals for communication and research purposes. The office shares newspapers across private offices whenever possible to ensure value for money.

The Scottish Government operates a central contract for the purchase of newspapers and journals. The following tables list the current newspapers and journals that the Special Advisers Office subscribe to along with the cost:

Information on how many NHSScotland staff are employed in nursing and midwifery positions, and at what cost, in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 is shown in the following table.

Source: ISD Scotland, Scottish Workforce Standard System, as at 31st March 2013

Notes:

1. Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) represents the average WTE worked over the financial year. This will not match the published ISD national statistic, as this is an average over the year and the National Statistic is taken as a snapshot at a particular time.

2. Gross charge is defined as all payments received by the employee plus the additional employer costs (NI and Pension Contributions).