Chamber and committees

NHS Boards fund the treatment of hepatitis C from their overall baseline funding as provided by the Scottish Government. This funding is confirmed following the approval of the Scottish Government’s annual Budget Bill with spending plans outlined each year in the Draft Budget or Scottish Spending Review.

The latest Spending Review covered financial year 2017-18. NHS Boards are currently in the process of preparing 3-year financial plans as part of the annual Local Delivery Plan process. It is a matter for NHS Boards to plan for the provision of Hepatitis C treatments in line with their financial plans.

The current funding and procurement model has allowed significant progress in regards to the treatment of hepatitis C in Scotland, demonstrated by an ambitious target of 1800 initiated treatments in 2017-18 and a 22% reduction in hepatitis
C-related liver failure in 2015.

The information requested in relation to the number of people being diagnosed with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) in Scotland over the past ten years is not held centrally. However, the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Trust estimates that it affects approximately 1% of the population.

The NHS Choices website provides clear and accessible information on the causes, symptoms and diagnosis of hiradenitis suppurativa. This can be accessed at the following link: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hidradenitis-suppurativa/Pages/Introduction.aspx

We are committed to ensuring that Scotland delivers on its obligations to disabled people under the UNCRPD and other human rights treaties. A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People – our Delivery Plan for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) - published in December 2016 sets out both ambitions and actions aimed at transforming the lives of disabled people in Scotland. The Plan was produced with the active engagement of disabled people and the organisations that represent them and they will continue to be engaged in its delivery and challenging its effectiveness.

The Scottish Government is committed to working in partnership with Scottish civic society to explore the benefits of further incorporating internationally-recognised human rights into the law of Scotland. That commitment applies to the UNCRPD as well as to other human rights treaties. We are determined to build on established good practice and to put human rights at the heart of both policy-making and delivery. We will continue to pursue the vision we share with civic society of a Scotland where disabled people can live with human dignity and enjoy their human rights in full.

Scotland’s record in realising the rights of disabled people will be examined, alongside overall UK performance, by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in August.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on arrests and it is not possible to derive information on religious hate crimes from the recorded crime database. With regards to people being charged the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) have published information up to 2015-16 on hate crime charges reported to them by the police:http://www.crownoffice.gov.uk/publications/equality-and-diversity

This report contains details on the number of charges where a decision is awaiting on how to proceed and where it was decided not to proceed to court. The reasons given for why cases were not proceeded to court ("no action") are presented in Table 8. It is not possible to derive a local authority breakdown from the COPFS database.

Neither the Scottish Government or the COPFS hold information on the faith group, gender, race or country of origin of the victim.

Statistics on the number of people proceeded against and convicted for crimes with a religious aggravator recorded by local authority is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre - Bib number 58574. Statistics are presented on a financial year basis up to 2015-16 and are not available on a monthly basis thereafter.

The following table shows the sentencing information requested. Please note that the statistical sources in this answer are not directly comparable due to timing differences. For example, the COPFS figures measure individual charges at the case marking stage while the sentencing information are representative of closed cases that have reached a final verdict in court. This means information relating to an individual could be recorded in different years depending on the stage of the justice system. In addition, a court case can cover more than one charge or count of recorded crime but the sentencing statistics only count the main charge in a case.

People convicted with a religious aggravator recorded against the main charge, by main penalty 2007-08 to 2015-16

Source: Criminal Proceedings Database

The Scottish Government does not hold data on arrests but it is possible to derive information on racial hate crimes from the recorded crime database. Crimes of racially aggravated harassment and racially aggravated conduct recorded by the police broken down by local authority is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre - Bib number 58575.

With regards to people being charged the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) have published information up to 2015-16 on hate crime charges reported to them by the police: http://www.crownoffice.gov.uk/publications/equality-and-diversity

This report contains details on the number of charges where a decision is awaiting on how to proceed and where it was decided not to proceed to court. The reasons given for why cases were not proceeded to court ("no action") are presented in Table 8. It is not possible to derive a local authority breakdown from the COPFS database.

Neither the Scottish Government or the COPFS hold information on the faith group, gender, race or country of origin of the victim.

Statistics on the number of people proceeded against and convicted for crimes with a racial aggravator recorded, broken down by local authority, is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre - Bib number 58575. Statistics are presented on a financial year basis up to 2015-16 and are not available on a monthly basis thereafter.

The table below shows the sentencing information requested. Please note that the statistical sources in this answer is not directly comparable due to timing differences. For example, the COPFS figures measure individual charges at the case marking stage while the sentencing information are representative of closed cases that have reached a final verdict in court. This means information relating to an individual could be recorded in different years depending on the stage of the justice system. In addition, a court case can cover more than one charge or count of recorded crime but the sentencing statistics only count the main charge in a case.

People convicted with a racial aggravator recorded against the main charge, by main penalty 2007-08 to 2015-16

Source: Criminal Proceedings database

This information is not held centrally.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) publishes statistics on accidental dwelling fires, however this data is not broken down into specific causes.

These statistics are available on SFRS’s website, and can be found at this link: http://www.firescotland.gov.uk/about-us/fire-and-rescue-statistics.aspx

The SFRS has a statutory duty to promote fire safety across Scotland. In the Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2016, Scottish Ministers require SFRS to contribute fully to improving the safety and well-being of Scotland’s communities and to ensure that there is a clear process for working with partners to identify the risks faced by communities and individuals so that activity can be targeted using a risk-based approach.

The SFRS considers how best to reduce dwelling fires, including those caused by electricity, what the focus of its preventative action will be, and with which partner organisations it will work to achieve this.

In addition to a programme of fire safety awareness campaigns and community safety engagement events, the SFRS carried out 71,743 Home Fire Safety Visits in 2015-16. The SFRS website also carries safety information for householders on a range of issues, including home appliances and electrical safety.

Meningococcal B (MenB) vaccination was introduced to the routine UK immunisation schedule on 1 September 2015 for infants due to receive their primary immunisations starting at two months of age (i.e. babies born from 1 July 2015). The vaccine is offered alongside other routine immunisations at two and four months of age, with a booster dose at 12 to 13 months.

Information Services Division (ISD) publish the latest childhood immunisation uptake rates each quarter. The first quarterly cohort of children eligible for MenB vaccine reached 12 months of age in the quarter 1 July to 30 September 2016. These uptake rates by 12 months of age are published by NHS Board at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Child-Health/publications/2016-12-13/child_imms_LatestRates_Quarter_316.xlsx

Annual uptake rates and uptake of the MenB vaccine at later standard reporting ages, such as 24 months of age, will be added to the routinely published statistics when the first full birth cohorts eligible for the vaccine reach these ages.