Chamber and committees

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

HMP Glasgow will have a design capacity of 1,344 prisoner places which includes 120 cells designed to accommodate two people.

While the Scottish Government sets the strategic policy for the NHS in Scotland, it is NHS Boards and healthcare professionals locally who have responsibility for both service delivery and ensuring people receive the right care for them, taking into account relevant guidance, local service needs and priorities for investment.

The Health and Social Care Standards set out the expectation that care should be provided by health and social care professionals based on the most relevant evidence, guidance and best practice, as is appropriate to their profession and patient group.

In May 2023 the Scottish Government published an analysis of survey data of heath boards' arrangements for the care and support of individuals with ME/CFS, which sought to map ME/CFS support and service provision and review awareness and implementation of the 2021 NICE guideline.

We have since gathered updated information on ME/CFS care from every health board in Scotland and are currently preparing to publish an updated report later this month.

In February 2023, Education Scotland published the report of its thematic review on approaches to recording and monitoring of bullying incidents in schools. This report can be accessed at: Approaches to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying in schools (education.gov.scot).

In January 2024 Education Scotland published an online resource following a second phase of its thematic review, which looked at good practice in preventing and responding to bullying behaviour. This resource includes examples of schools responding to increases in prejudice-based behaviours. Information and case studies can be accessed here: Preventing and responding to bullying | Bullying | Resources | Education Scotland.

The findings from the thematic inspection are informing the work of the Racism and Racist Incidents workstream. This includes the development of resources which are focused on preventing and responding to racism and racist incidents, including strengthening approaches to recording and monitoring, and developing guidance on a whole-school approach to anti-racism.

The Scottish Government is aware that supplies of various ADHD medicines continue to be intermittent. The supply of medicines and associated legislation are a reserved matter for the UK Government and the Scottish Government continues to engage with them on all medicine supply issues. At present, information provided by the UK Government indicates that some ADHD medicine shortages will continue into early 2025.

Scottish Government officials continue to monitor the situation for any further developments and are maintaining a close dialogue with all Health Boards to help manage these medicine supply disruptions. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO)

for Scotland is a member of a UK-wide Medicines Shortage Response Group that supports the management of medicine shortages. In addition, the CPO will be holding a roundtable meeting with key stakeholders in Scotland on 12 November 2024 to better understand the impact of ADHD medicine shortages locally and to determine if there is any further action that can be taken to strengthen our response.

Scottish Government through its national Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) has formed a Specialty Delivery Group for Liver Disease with the first meeting on 6th November 2024. Early Detection is one of the pathways being prioritised.

The Early Detection Pathway has already been passed through the first Gateway in the CfSD delivery pathway. The challenges are around how individual boards can implement this before the National Laboratory Information Management System.

There has been progress in developing the Early Detection pathways in individual boards using the technology as currently available while others are using the their Referral Advice to Primary Care with increased use of the FIB-4 and Fibroscan with advice for Lifestyle changes and repeat investigation as required.

The See Hear Strategy is supported by Scottish Government See Hear funding of £320,000 yearly, shared across each local authority area and based on population size, to deliver local implementation of the Strategy. This is in addition to Section 10 grant awards made in 2024-25 and totalling £102,475 to support sensory loss projects that meet recommendations in the Strategy.

Future funding of the Strategy will be subject to the outcome of the Scottish Budget which is due to take place on 4 December.

I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-22870 on 22 November 2023 which details the amount of funding used to support the Strategy since its publication in 2014. 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.

Schools and education authorities should ensure any allegations of racism are investigated fully and any necessary action taken.

A consistent and uniform approach to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying in schools was introduced in 2019. The Bullying and Equalities Module on SEEMiS, the school’s management information system, was updated to reflect the new approach. The Bullying and Equalities Module should not be interpreted as being focused solely on bullying; it is designed to capture a range of behaviours related to equalities and includes ‘Racism or racist incident’ as a category.

Our work on Racism and Racist Incidents, which is part of the Anti-Racism in Education Programme, alongside work to refresh Respect for All, the national anti-bullying guidance, will provide further guidance for schools on recording and monitoring racist incidents and instances of prejudiced-based bullying.

The Graduate Apprenticeship Enhancement Group was established in spring 2024 to make recommendations on the development of future policy and a delivery model for GAs in line with Scotland’s economic growth opportunities, skills need, and the wider reform of the post-16 education landscape. The Group's membership includes the Scottish Funding Council, Skills Development Scotland, Colleges Scotland, Universities Scotland, and representation from businesses.

The Group’s work is evidence and data informed and is taken forward through workstreams. It will include engagement with employers and their industry representatives, public sector partners and apprentices. The Group anticipates completing its work over the winter.

In May 2023 the Scottish Government published an analysis of survey data of health boards’ arrangements: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Services in Scotland: Findings from an analysis of surveys issued to NHS Boards in Autumn 2022 (www.gov.scot) for the care and support of individuals with ME/CFS, with the aim of establishing a clearer picture of variations in service provision around Scotland.

The report sought to map ME/CFS support and service provision, review implementation of the 2021 NICE guideline and identify barriers to this, and highlight areas of good practice or where further support is needed to embed the guidance.

We have since gathered updated information on ME/CFS care from every health board in Scotland and are currently preparing to publish a revised report later this month.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on Scotland’s draft palliative care strategy Palliative Care Matters for All. The consultation is open until 10 January 2025 and builds on extensive stakeholder engagement to develop a framework to support delivery and build on existing work to support those in need of palliative care and their families. Through our draft palliative care strategy, we are committed to working with Health and Social Care Partnerships (HSCPs) and adult independent hospice organisations to develop a national guidance framework to support and improve consistency of local planning and commissioning of independent hospice services through Integrated Joint Boards (IJBs).