Chamber and committees

Any consultation on mandatory calorie labelling for food and drink purchased out of home would consider all relevant matters.

Gambling has the potential to negatively affect physical, psychological health, and the social functioning of the people who gamble and others around them.

We will continue to consider evidence on what works best to address the issue of gambling harms in Scotland. We are working closely with Public Health Scotland, the third sector and those with lived experience to develop a person-centred approach to treatment for problem gambling and the reduction of gambling related harms. We are collaborating with many organisations across the country to help inform a Scotland focussed gambling strategy to reduce the harmful impacts of problem gambling in our communities.

Anyone with concerns about problem gambling can find advice on NHS Inform or can consult their GP. Out of hours, advice and support can be obtained from NHS24 on 111 or from Breathing Space on 0800 83 85 87.

The international travel restrictions in Scotland currently apply to people arriving into or returning to Scotland. Anyone travelling to another country should make sure they comply with the relevant procedures where they are visiting. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advice on travel to Spain can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain .

The Scottish Government continues to advise caution when it comes to international travel. Given the risk of importing new cases variants, Scottish Government guidance remains that people considering travel to other countries should think carefully if it is essential. Travellers arriving in Scotland must follow the rules that apply depending on whether they have arrived from a Red, Amber or Green country. Spain is currently on the Amber list. The list of countries is kept under review and subject to change. Countries are classified based on analysis by the Joint Biosecurity Centre, according to a methodology agreed by the four UK Chief Medical Officers.

Children under 11 coming to Scotland don’t need to undertake a pre-departure test or mandatory testing on day 2 and 8 after arrival. Children between 11-18 do need to take these tests. Children of all ages are required to self-isolate for 10 days after arriving from an Amber country. Guidance is available online here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-international-travel-quarantine/pages/overview/ .

Work is due to start with the Office of Product Safety and Standards and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ Environmental and Modelling Group to consider air cleaners further as there is no recognised standard for their efficacy. This work is necessary before innovation funding could be provided to support the development, verification and deployment of high-quality air cleaning devices. Manufacturers who have approached NHS National Services Scotland have been directed to the Innovation Portals for NHS Scotland and NHS England.

The Out of Home sector has an important role to play in providing access to affordable, healthier food and in helping people make informed choices.

Our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan includes specific actions to help families make healthier choices, including when eating out. As part of this, we are considering consulting on mandatory calorie labelling for food and drink purchased out of home.

The Delivery Plan is at https://www.gov.scot/publications/healthier-future-scotlands-diet-healthy-weight-delivery-plan/ .

Electric scooters (e-scooters) are effectively illegal to ride on streets and in other public places due to a number of pieces of UK-wide and Scottish legislation.

Last summer, the UK Government made some amendments to UK legislation to allow limited trials of rentable e-scooters to take place in local authority areas – aiming to gather evidence on effects of their use in a controlled environment. These amendments were made on a fast-track basis to facilitate rapid progression of trials in English local authorities. The UK Government did not factor-in time in planning the trials for the Scottish Parliament to consider and potentially implement the changes to Scottish law that would be required in order for trials to take place in Scottish local authority areas.

The UK Government has signalled its intention to publish proposals in 2022 for potential further legalisation of e-scooters beyond the current trials. Scottish legislation continues to apply in Scotland which makes use of e-scooters on roads or cycle paths illegal. The Scottish Government will continue to monitor trends as a matter of course in order to inform future policy.

Open with Care: supporting meaningful contact in care homes was published on 24 February and sets out how indoor and outdoor contact should gradually increase while minimising COVID-19 risks to residents, staff and visitors. We have been providing testing kits to care homes to facilitate visitor testing and the guidance sets out how visitors may be supported in being tested and that providers provide testing facilities for indoor visiting. We are currently reviewing whether the roll out of community testing now makes it possible for visitors to test prior to their visit to care homes, subject to care homes discretion.

The guidance recommends that the frequency and duration of meaningful contact should be maximised where possible. The guidance does not stipulate that visits should be restricted to 30 minutes but recommends that the frequency and duration of meaningful contact should be maximised where possible. Care homes can access advice and support from local oversight partners when considering relaxations to visits to ensure everything is safe and suitable for all.

As detailed in my Answer to Question S6W-00352 on 10 June 2021, the Open With Care National Oversight Group is monitoring implementation of the guidance, identifying any additional support that might be required, and will report on progress in due course.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Children and young people who require inpatient support for an eating disorder will be admitted to either one of the 3 regional Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) inpatient units, as outlined below, or be admitted to a paediatric ward.

• 24 beds - Skye House Regional Adolescent Unit, Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow
• 12 beds - Dudhope House, Dundee
• 12 beds - Young People’s Unit, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh

Similarly, adults who require inpatient support will be admitted to general adult mental health wards locally, or to one of the 3 adult specialist inpatient units in Scotland:

• The Regional Eating Disorder Unit at St John’s Hospital, Livingston, which is a 12 bed unit.
• The North of Scotland Eating Disorder Unit (Eden Unit), Royal Cornhill Hospital Aberdeen, which is a 10 bedded specialist eating disorder unit.
• There are also 4 specialist eating disorder beds in general adult psychiatry ward in Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow.

The UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (“SAGE”) Environmental and Modelling Group (“EMG”) published a paper on 4 November 2020 on the “ Potential application of air cleaning devices and personal decontamination to manage transmission of COVID-19 ”, to which NHS National Services Scotland contributed on behalf of the Scottish Government. Work is due to start with the Office of Product Safety and Standards and the SAGE EMG to consider air cleaners further as there is no recognised standard for their efficacy.

The Open with Care guidance, published on 24 February 2021, recommends a minimum of two indoor visits per resident per week (where they so wish), as long as certain conditions are met. This was a starting point to enable care homes to increase the frequency, duration and quality of visits through local assessment and support from local oversight arrangements. The guidance should be adopted to reflect the Protection Level of each care home’s local authority area.

Additional advice on supporting residents to make outings and overnight stays away from the care home was published on 17 May www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-
adult-care-homes-visiting-guidance/ . The general principle is that when a resident wishes to go on outings away from the care home, that these should take place in line with general population COVID-19 permissions relevant to the local area, unless there is clear evidence justifying a more restrictive approach.

The Open With Care National Oversight Group is monitoring implementation of the guidance, identifying any additional support that might be required, and will report on progress in June .