Chamber and committees

Fostering and adoption services in Scotland are reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Through the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, the Scottish Government established Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland, known as the Care Inspectorate to independently review, regulate and improve social care and social work services, including adoption and fostering services. The Care Inspectorate’s A Review of Care Services for Children, Young People and Some Adults 2014-17, published 5 February 2019 indicated that overall, the quality of adoption agencies and fostering services was high with almost all services evaluated as good or better across all quality themes.

In February 2017 the First Minister commissioned the Independent Care Review, which is looking at legislation, practices, culture and ethos of the care system across Scotland. It is listening to young people with experience of care and their families and providers of care and particularly, children and young people in care now, to inform its recommendations to improve both the quality of life and outcomes of young people in care, including in relation to fostering and adoption. It is scheduled to report in early 2020. When the report is published the Scottish Government will carefully consider the recommendations.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22151 on 27 March 2019. 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 .

During the parliamentary scrutiny of the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019, I committed to establishing a seaweed review steering group to be drawn from key environmental agencies, non-governmental organisations and sectoral stakeholders. Membership would be wide ranging and advise on a work programme which takes into account the environmental implications of the removal of seaweed from the marine environment by any method but also considers the socio-economic opportunities seaweed could bring.

To ensure a broad range of interests are represented, invitations have been extended to organisations from various sectors representing conservation, science, enterprise, biotechnology, fisheries and the seaweed industry association with the aim of ensuring all seaweed interests are represented, including hand harvesting and cultivation. The group is expected to meet for the first time in May when the terms of reference and forward work programme will be agreed.

A no deal Brexit is likely to be catastrophic for Scottish agriculture, and could have a particularly severe impact on trade, especially for the sheep sector. Analysis from the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute shows that in the longer term, if trade with the EU defaults to World Trade Organisation tariffs, while some sectors may see a rise in farmgate prices the price for sheep meat could fall by 30%. If the UK unilaterally reduced its tariffs, there would be substantial price falls in the longer term across all agricultural sectors – 45% for beef, 29% for sheep meat, 10-12% for dairy products, and 9-12% for pigs and poultry.

In addition, any depreciation in the exchange rate would make imports (including input costs) more expensive, although this would be beneficial for exporters.

A no deal Brexit would also have a major impact on the availability of labour within the industry - the latest estimates from Food Standards Scotland suggest that around 75% of the vets in Scotland’s abattoirs are non-UK EU nationals, while across the industry in 2017 there were over 9000 non-UK EU national seasonal migrant workers on which the horticulture industry is heavily reliant.

The Scottish Government, along with the rest of the UK is advised on all aspects of screening by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) an independent expert advisory group. The UK NSC currently recommends that women should be screened routinely for cervical cancer between the age of 25 and 64. This recommendation was based on evidence about the effectiveness and benefits of screening women in this age range. Women younger than 25 and older than 65 cannot self-refer into the cervical screening programme. The current evidence does not support screening women out with the eligible population as this risks causing more harm than benefit.

The cervical screening test is not a test for cancer. If a woman has symptoms which could be suspicious of cancer, she should not have a cervical screening test carried out. Diagnostic tests are required and assessment of symptoms would be carried out according to the local protocol with referral to gynaecology if required. This would be regardless of age.

The Scottish Government, along with the rest of the UK is advised on all aspects of screening by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) an independent expert advisory group. The UK NSC currently recommends that women should be screened routinely for cervical cancer between the age of 25 and 64. This recommendation was based on evidence about the effectiveness and benefits of screening women in this age range. The current evidence does not support screening women out with the eligible population as this risks causing more harm than benefit.

There is an agreed clinical pathway for those women who have previously had a diagnosis of abnormal of pre-cancerous cells which may mean they are called for screening more regularly. Women return to the routine screening pathway when deemed clinically appropriate.

If a woman has symptoms which could be suspicious of cancer she should raise this with her GP as soon as possible.

The Scottish Government takes advice from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group which advises Ministers and the NHS in the four UK countries about all aspects of screening policy.

The UK NSC are currently reviewing the evidence for HPV self-sampling as an additional test to address non-attendance within the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. We await advice from the UK NSC and will carefully consider any recommendations provided.

Local authorities are independent bodies and as such are responsible for their own workforce planning.

The Scottish Government sent a questionnaire to all Scottish public bodies, including all Scottish local authorities, in July last year to determine how prepared they were to respond to the workforce impacts of leaving the EU, and to consider what support might be needed to identify or address any issues. The responses to that questionnaire indicated that local authorities were actively preparing and looking at ways to mitigate the workforce impact of the UK’s exit from the EU.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work closely with local government and the rest of the devolved public sector to help ensure that we are all prepared for Brexit.

The Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the Northern Isles Ferry Services was issued to CalMac Ferries Ltd, Förde Reederei Seetouristik GmbH & Co. KG (FRS) and Serco NorthLink Ltd on 17 January. The ITT will be published on Transport Scotland’s website today.

Pentland Ferries has lodged a Petition for Judicial Review of a decision of the Scottish Ministers, published in the OJEU on 27th September 2018, to subsidise the provision of public services in relation to Northern Isles Ferry Services to or from harbours located at Aberdeen, Kirkwall, Lerwick, Scrabster and Stromness. In addition, Pentland Ferries have lodged a related complaint with the European Commission.

The Scottish Ministers will defend their position in relation to the continued provision of subsidy in support of these lifeline ferry services. The procurement process will continue as planned, pending the outcome of the Judicial Review and complaint to the European Commission.