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We will publish both the stakeholder roundtable notes and the consultation findings later this year, which will inform the potential content and scope of any policy proposals and our consideration of appropriate next steps for this work.

The content of future legislative programmes for the remainder of this Session is subject to Cabinet consideration and will be announced in Programme for Government in the normal way.

We will publish both the stakeholder roundtable notes and the consultation findings later this year, which will inform the potential content and scope of any policy proposals and our consideration of appropriate next steps for this work.

If we are to take forward any restrictions on alcohol advertising and promotion, further more detailed consultation would take place alongside engagement with stakeholders.

We will publish both the stakeholder roundtable notes and the consultation findings later this year.

Neither the Scottish Government nor Health Boards hold data on privately paid prescriptions provided by independent healthcare providers.

As the Bank is a non-departmental public body, ministers meet with the Chair and senior officials on a regular basis. These meetings address the Bank’s progress against its strategic aims and how its investment activity across its three missions can support government priorities.

The First Minister met Chair Willie Watt and new CEO Al Denholm on 2 May This was an introductory meeting.

A full list of all ministerial engagements and when they have met the Bank can be found

The Ministerial-led working group last convened on 26 th October 2022 and the minutes of this meeting will be published within the coming weeks. The working group was formed to consider short, medium and long term actions to address anti-abortion activities which take place outside of healthcare facilities providing abortion services.

A significant proportion of the group’s work was to consider the use of Local Authority bye-laws to potentially deliver the zones. The Scottish Government was committed to supporting councils to use bye-laws to implement safe access zones, but Local Authorities concluded that national legislation would be a more appropriate route, and the work to consider bye-laws has now concluded.

We are now clear that delivering national legislation is the best and most secure route to ensure buffer zones are delivered and sustained. We are therefore fully focused on supporting the drafting and development of Gillian Mackay MSP’s national Abortion Service Safe Access Zones (Scotland) Bill. We will continue to take forward discussions with stakeholders to ensure that robust and effective legislation is introduced as soon as possible.

Although there are no plans for a final report of the working group’s findings to be published, the group agreed that the Scottish Government should commission research into the impact of protests and vigils in Scotland. This research is ongoing, and a final report on this will be published following its completion.

The Scottish Government has no plans to establish an independent review of governance of its portfolio of strategic commercial assets.

The Scottish Government is working in partnership with Ferguson Marine Port Glasgow (Holdings) Ltd to review the Framework Document, which sets out governance arrangements between the parties.

The Scottish Government cannot comment on live legal proceedings. As usual in relation to legal action, the Scottish Government has taken legal advice and considered the position in connection with the Section 35 Order. It is too early generally to determine any impact of possible changes the UK Government might be considering to the Equality Act.

The Scottish Central Government Energy Efficiency Grant scheme will invest, as a minimum, capital funding of £30 million in 2023-24 to enable the delivery of heat decarbonisation projects across the public sector, including the NHS, and £1.5 million of resource funding to enable the building of a pipeline of investment ready, strategic heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency projects across the public sector. Since the scheme was relaunched in 2022-23, Health Boards have successfully applied for over £13 million.

In addition, the Scottish Government has funded Health Boards to prepare initial net-zero route maps which will be used as a basis for planning the decarbonisation of the NHS estate.

More information on NHS Scotland’s approach to decarbonisation is set out in the NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy 2022-2026 which is available here:

Tackling poverty and protecting people from harm is one of three critical and interdependent missions for the government – alongside our focus on the economy and strengthening public services.

The Scottish Government is taking a wide range of action to tackle and reduce poverty, with almost £3 billion allocated both last year and this to support policies which tackle poverty and protect people as far as possible during the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Key actions, which will benefit people from a minority ethnic background, include continued investment in the delivery of more affordable homes, providing free transport for over two million people in Scotland and delivering five family payments including the Scottish Child Payment, which was increased in value to £25 per child per week as of November 2022.

In addition to these key anti-poverty actions, we are also taking action targeted to supporting people from a minority ethnic background. This includes f unding local community organisations such as BEMIS, CEMVO and SAREC, who work predominantly with minority ethnic householders, and have been able to offer targeted support to vulnerable households. This includes issuing direct hardship payments and ensuring they are supported to access welfare support they are entitled to.

The Scottish Government also published ‘A Fairer Scotland for All: An anti-racist strategy’, in December 2022, which includes guidance, advice, and examples of good practice for employers in order to address the issues and disadvantages experienced by people from racialised minorities. The strategy is a key component to reaching the ambition of a becoming a leading Fair Work Nation by 2025.