Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not collect information about local fostering and adoption services. Rather it provides the legislative framework for fostering and adoption services in Scotland through the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 and the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009, which set out the functions and duties of local authorities in the services they provide. Responsibility for managing services that respond to the individual needs of the children who come into care, lies with local authorities.

Information on looked after children and young people, including those in foster care and those who have been adopted, is however collected from local authorities through the Scottish Government’s annual Children’s Social Work Statistics at: and the Care Inspectorate’s Adoption and Fostering Statistical Bulletin .

Since its establishment in 2015, the North Coast 500 has delivered economic benefits to the area.

An initial impact review of the North Coast 500 was commissioned by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in 2017, and this found that the route had attracted an additional 29,000 visitors, and an additional £9 million visitor spend ( http://www.hie.co.uk/common/handlers/download-document.ashx?id=a79fc94d-cfce-4eca-aa9b-21b31ee9c331 )?.

More recently a VisitScotland Visitor Barometer (Quarter 3 2018) reported 52% of businesses on the route having increased visitor numbers compared to 2017, and 63% reporting increased turnover during the same period ( https://www.visitscotland.org/research-insights/about-our-industry/industry-barometer ?).

Both of these figures exceed those from the wider Highlands. A further review of impacts on the North Coast 500 will be carried out by HIE during the 2019 season, to identify longer-term trends since 2015-16.

Sustainability is a key consideration in the development of the NC500 route. Acknowledging the increasing demands on services and infrastructure, the North Coast 500 Working Group has sought to coordinate public sector resources to help address concerns over waste disposal facilities, public conveniences, parking provision, digital connectivity and route maintenance.

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 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.

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.

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.