Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government values the work of SOPA and the important contributions made by older people, and we were pleased to provide funding for the National Assembly and Parliamentary reception in what was a highly competitive process. We were unable to support aspects of SOPA’s application that did not demonstrate a direct impact on older people and that duplicated the work of other funded projects. The Scottish Government remains committed to working with SOPA and will continue to support the sector to build capacity to ensure a positive impact on equality progression for older people.

The number of (a) live births and (b) terminations of pregnancy with Down’s syndrome since 1999 are provided in Table 1a and Table 1b.

For (a) live births, the data has been sourced from the Scottish Perinatal Infant Mortality and Morbidity Reports (SPIMMR), using data collated from the Scottish Stillbirth and Infant Death Survey. The last SPIMMR report published by ISD was in March 2014 for stillbirths and infant deaths registered in 2012. Since all infants were followed up for one year after birth to allow detection from hospital inpatient records and NRS death registrations, the latest available data is for 2011. In January 2013, the Scottish Stillbirth and Infant Death Survey was replaced by a revised UK survey, MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies Reducing Risk through Audit and Confidential Enquiries across the UK).

Table 1a

Down's syndrome1 in live singleton births (ICD10 code: Q90 Down's syndrome)

Notes

i) These data are derived from the congenital anomaly data published in the Scottish Perinatal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity Report (SPIMMR) collected via the Scottish Stillbirth and Infant Death Survey (SSBID).

ii) In order to determine the number of live births, the number of stillbirths with Down's syndrome (reported to SSBID) have been removed form the table above.

iii) The last SPIMMR report published by ISD was in March 2014 for stillbirths and infant deaths registered in 2012.

iv) Since all infants were followed up for one year after birth to allow detection from hospital inpatient records and NRS death registrations, the latest available data is for 2011.

Table 1b

Termination of pregnancy with Down's syndrome (ICD10 code: Q90 Down's syndrome)

Civil legal aid is available without a means test or any requirement to pay a contribution for proceedings in relation to an order under sections 53, 57, 60, 62 or 63 of The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 where the order relates:

· only to the adult’s welfare (“welfare-only orders”); or

· to the adult’s welfare, property and finances (“combined orders”).

There is no specific legislation that covers the carrying of open containers of alcohol in public. However, powers for local authorities to create and amend byelaws are contained in section 201 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Local authorities can and do use these powers to create byelaws that make it an offence to carry open containers of alcohol in designated public places. Where such byelaws are proposed, they are subject to confirmation by the Scottish Ministers.

Enforcement of the criminal law is an operational matter for Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

The Scottish Government issued an updated circular on byelaws concerning the consumption of alcohol in public places on 4 August 2014. The circular, Byelaws Prohibiting the Consumption of Alcohol in Designated Public Places, was sent to the Chief Constable of Police Scotland as well as local authorities and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

The circular provides advice to local authorities on applying to the Scottish Ministers for confirmation of byelaws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in public places and also contains details of four ‘model’ offences which include an ‘open container’ offence. As part of the application process the local authority must consult Police Scotland to ensure that they are content with the proposed byelaws.

The circular is available for downloading from the Scottish Government's website at http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0045/00457061.pdf.

The consultation document 'A Healthier Future - Action and Ambitions on Diet, Activity and Healthy Weight' was published on 26 October 2017, with consultation running until 31 January 2018.

In addition to our on-line process, we will engage directly with a wide range of stakeholders including through regional workshops with the health and third sector; activities with young people; and a series of meetings with industry bodies and others.

I would welcome a response from the Committee to the consultation and would be happy to discuss our proposals and hear the views of all its members. This follows my attendance at the Committee’s evidence session on 16 December, where I encouraged the Committee to contribution to shaping our new strategy.

We will be considering our spending priorities as part of the forthcoming Scottish budget considerations following the Chancellors Autumn Budget Statement.

We are however concerned about the transparency of the Soft Drinks lndustry Levy. To ensure Scotland gets its fair share, we plan to engage with the UK Government and seek further clarification on how the levy is allocated to the Scottish Government.

We welcome the public support for action on promotions. In our Programme for Government, we made a commitment to take action to restrict the promotion of the marketing of products high in fat, sugar and salt and are presently consulting on this proposal, following publication of our new strategy, 'A Healthier Future - Action and Ambitions on Diet, Activity and Healthy Weight'.

I welcome the findings of the ScotPulse poll and am encouraged that 59% of respondents back the idea of a ban on junk food adverts. We are currently consulting on action to restrict non-broadcast advertising on products high in fat, sugar and salt.

We will also continue to call on the UK Government to ban junk food advertising before the 9pm watershed.