Chamber and committees

The Equality Act 2010 gives a right to equal pay between women and men for equal work which applies to all employees, including those employed in the private sector. Disputed claims for equal pay are usually heard by the Employment Tribunal and it is for the tribunal to determine whether or not to uphold an equal pay claim. If an Employment Tribunal upholds an equal pay claim, it may:

• Make a declaration as to the rights of the parties in relation to matters to which the proceedings relate;
• Order an award by way of arrears of pay or damages in relation to the complainant.

The Scottish Government expects all employers to fulfil their legal obligations and encourages employers to adopt fair working practices, including through the Scottish Business Pledge. Later this year, the Scottish Government will publish a Fair Work Action Plan which will identify additional measures that the Scottish Government can take to promote Fair Work.

The Scottish Government continues to support women to breastfeed as the normal nutrition for babies. We have invested over £15.8 million directly to NHS Boards for implementation of the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Framework, of which breastfeeding support is a key component.

We support the national implementation of the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative across four main areas; maternity, community, neonatal and Higher Education Institutions. Each area must meet the appropriate standards to achieve accreditation and compliance is routinely audited and reported to Scottish Government. It is for each NHS Board to plan services to meet the needs of its population. Most health boards have infant feeding advisors and/or peer support coordinators who will provide support to mothers and train other professionals such as midwives, health visitors and support staff to provide the right support at the right time, including in their own home. Currently, 90% of NHS Boards have full community accreditation with one board in the final stage of this process.

I refer the member to the answer to question SW5-16409 on 16 May 2018. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

For medical abortions, NHS Boards in Scotland do not allow women to take mifepristone and misoprostol on the same day as this is a less effective method of termination than when misoprostol is taken 24 to 48 hours after taking mifepristone. Women from Northern Ireland have access to the same hospital-based abortion services as those for women resident in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to understanding victims’ experience of the justice system in Scotland to ensure that improvements can be made that will make the most difference to those who need it.

In October 2017, Justice Analytical Services in the Scottish Government called for proposals to help build the evidence base on people’s experiences of the justice system. The proposals received have been assessed, and details of the proposals which will be funded will be made public in due course.

Police Scotland continue to monitor the situation and have confirmed that protestors have been compliant with them and have not entered the grounds of the hospital to protest.

However, the Scottish Government recognises that the protests can often be distressing for women attending hospital for an abortion and I have asked to be kept informed of this situation.

The management of prosecutions, including rape, is a matter for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service whilst the management of court business is a matter for the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service.

Within COPFS, all sexual offence cases are dealt with by specialist prosecutors. The way in which this work is undertaken has been reorganised, with a view to speeding up case preparation; and to reducing the time which it takes to bring cases to trial.

In November 2017, the Inspectorate of Prosecutions made twelve recommendations for further improving the way in which COPFS handles sexual offences; the Lord Advocate accepted all of those recommendations; a number of which have been implemented already and work is in hand towards implementation of the others.

Victims of traumatic crimes deserve to know that they will receive appropriate support and assistance through the criminal justice process, whilst also ensuring fair trials for those accused of serious crimes. The Scottish Government is committed to working with a number of partners including Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women’s Aid to identify ways to reduce the trauma and improve the experience of victims within the criminal justice system.

The Scottish Government does not collect statistics on the number of foster carer de-registrations. Local authorities or independent or voluntary fostering service providers hold this information.

The Care Inspectorate have been collecting some information on foster carer de-registrations from 2015 and according to their Fostering and Adoption Statistical Bulletin 2016-17 , between 1 Jan 2016 and 31 Dec 2016, 382 foster carer households de-registered (9% of all registered at the start of the year) compared with 318 de-registrations in 2015 (8% of all registered at the start of the year).

http://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/4140/Fostering%20and%20adoption%202016-17%20statistical%20bulletin.pdf ..

The Scottish Government does not collect statistics on the number of foster carer registrations. Local authorities and independent or voluntary service providers hold information on the number of foster carers they have registered with them.

The Care Inspectorate have been collecting some information on foster carer registrations since 2015 and according to their Fostering and Adoption Statistical Bulletin 2016-17, there were 430 new foster carer households approved in the year up to 31 December 2016 (down 7% from 464 households in 2015). The Care Inspectorate do not hold information on foster carer registrations prior to this.

http://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/4140/Fostering%20and%20adoption%202016-17%20statistical%20bulletin.pdf .

The Scottish Government does not collect statistics on the number of foster carers who re-register as supported carers under the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. This information is held by individual local authorities or independent or voluntary service providers.