Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally.

The Cancer Research UK endorses many of our current plans, such as evaluating our tobacco control action plan and providing ongoing smoking cessation support across all healthcare settings.

Smoking prevalence in Scotland continues to fall and we are confident that we will meet our deadline of creating a tobacco-free generation by 2034.

Attitudes to smoking are clearly changing, but we will leave no stone unturned in cessation and prevention. We look forward to discussing the recommendations with Cancer Research UK.

The Scottish Government is working with NHS Health Scotland to prepare for this season’s flu public marketing campaign, which is likely to include TV and radio advertising as well as posters, leaflets and other support materials to help raise public awareness.

Vaccine for the childhood flu programme is procured by colleagues in Public Health England on behalf of each of the Devolved Administrations.

As in previous years, the vaccine recommended by the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisations for the 2020-21 childhood flu programme is the live attenuated nasal influenza vaccine. There is only one vaccine manufacturer who supply this vaccine.

In December 2018 the Minister for Mental Health announced £4 million of funding to expand the CAMHS workforce. NHS Education for Scotland agreed individual workforce development plans with each Board to increase service capacity including elements of education, training, supervision and coaching. The funding was deployed to meet several priority needs (neurodevelopmental, crisis response/unscheduled care, specialist CAMHS, early intervention, and other local pressures). As of 21 February 2020 NHS Boards have recruited 74.5 whole time equivalent multidisciplinary staff with this funding.

Local Transport Note 1/07 Traffic Calming, published by TSO for the Department for Transport and devolved administrations is applicable in Scotland. Scottish Government advice on traffic calming measures can also be found in Designing Streets - A Policy Statement for Scotland, Cycling by Design, and Roads for All Good Practice Guide.

The National Concessionary Travel Scheme for Older and Disabled People provides travel concessions on buses. Local authorities have discretion under the Transport Act 1985 to offer local travel concessions on other modes of transport if they wish. The terms and conditions of any local concessions scheme are for individual local authorities to determine.

15 out of 19 (79%) of the social landlords that provide Gypsy/Traveller sites report that they have met the minimum site standards. The following table provides a breakdown by local authority/Registered Social Landlord. The Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) continues to monitor, assess and report on landlords’ achievement of and ongoing compliance with the minimum site standards. SHR is engaging with landlords to ensure that progress is being made on sites that do not currently meet the standards.

Hedgehogs are listed on schedule 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), which makes it illegal to kill or capture them with certain methods.

One of the principles in Scottish Planning Policy is that the planning system should seek benefits for biodiversity from new development where possible, including the restoration of degraded habitats and the avoidance of further fragmentation or isolation of habitats.

Planning authorities, and all public bodies, have a duty under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 to further the conservation of biodiversity. This duty must be reflected in development plans and development management decisions.

While there is some evidence of a decline in hedgehog numbers, the available information is not sufficient to suggest that the species is in danger of extinction in Scotland. Steps being taken to halt the decline of hedgehogs in our towns and cities include the promotion of green space and green networks, for example through the Green Infrastructure Strategic Intervention managed by Scottish Natural Heritage.

Professional dog walkers, like dog owners, are subject to a number of laws relating to dog welfare and control. The majority of dog walkers are likely to operate sensibly and responsibly; however, the profession itself is currently unregulated and the Scottish Government recognises that issues may arise. We will consider whether there may be a need to bring dog walkers under tighter regulation in any future plans for companion welfare legislation.