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In August 2021, the Scottish Government published Reset and Rebuild, a recovery plan for sexual health and blood borne virus (SHBBV) services. This plan was co-produced with NHS and third sector partners, to take stock of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on SHBBV services and people that use them.

The Scottish Government’s SHBBV plan for 2023-2026, which is due to be published towards the end of summer 2023, will include a focus on improving access to SHBBV services across Scotland.

In addition, as noted in response to S6W-19566 on 26 July 2023, work is on-going to understand and put in place the necessary governance and infrastructure to support a national online testing service for sexually transmitted infections and bloodborne viruses.

The Scottish Government has also provided funding to support the development of an ePrEP pilot and a national publicity campaign to address HIV stigma to be developed by a multi-agency partnership.

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

As indicated in response to S6W-19566 on 26 July 2023, a national project to develop an online sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing pilot has been underway since 2021 and is hosted by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, with development work being undertaken across a number of Board areas.

Scottish Government officials are currently working closely with Public Health Scotland and NHS Boards to understand the scope of what is needed in terms of timescales, necessary governance and infrastructure to support a national service.

The upcoming Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus plan, due be published towards the end of summer 2023, will also have a focus on improving access to STI and blood borne virus testing across Scotland.

The Scottish Government recently invited funding bids from across Scotland for projects aimed at contributing to the priorities set out in the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Strategy, including improving the accessibility of testing services.

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

A national project to develop an online STI testing pilot has been underway since 2021 and is hosted by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, with development work being undertaken across a number of Board areas.

The Scottish Government provided £0.5 million for an initial pilot in NHS Lothian which has seen over 1500 testing kits ordered online, with demand outstripping availability. Scottish Government officials are currently working closely with Public Health Scotland and NHS Boards to understand the scope of what is needed in terms of timescales, necessary governance and infrastructure to support a national service.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19568 on 26 July 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers .

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

Prisoners are charged £5.00 to use the Prisoner PIN phones for 100 minutes when calling a landline and are charged £10.00 when they call a mobile phone for 100 minutes.

There have been no changes to these prices in the last 4 years.

Potential impacts of the re-development of Ardrossan harbour on ferry services to Arran are being considered as part of service continuity planning in collaboration with project partners, including the Isle of Arran Ferry Committee.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on discontinued bus services. The registration and deregistration of services falls under the remit of the Office of the Traffic Commissioner.

Information on the number of pupils and cases of exclusions is collected and published every two years. Statistics on the number of pupils excluded by local authority from 2007-08 to 2020-21 are available in Table 2.3 here:

Cases of exclusion have fallen from a high of 44,794 in 2006-07 to 8,323 in 2020-21. There was a particularly notable decrease in exclusion between 2018-19 and 2020-21, with cases of exclusion falling 44%. This decrease is partly attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 99% of all exclusions were for a fixed period of time (referred to as temporary exclusions), with pupils expected to return to their original school when the exclusion period is completed.

We are committed to delivering the Coming Home recommendations to reduce inappropriate out-of-area placements and delayed discharges experienced by people with learning disabilities and complex care needs. We continue to work closely with COSLA and the local partners which have statutory responsibility for providing and commissioning appropriate services to meet their population’s needs.

In terms of progressing the recommendations, Dynamic Support Registers have been developed and launched, and local partners are now populating these. The Registers will provide an overview of the position across Scotland and help local areas to plan for people with learning disabilities and complex care needs to live in their home communities. We know that a number of local areas are already using these registers.

The Practitioner Peer Support Network to support local areas to share best practice will go live soon and we are also progressing work to establish a National Support Panel, to support local areas to share best practice and ensure genuine change is delivered.

The following table shows the number of unique forestry grant scheme cases with a capital or Single Application Form claim within the past 5 financial years and the total associated authorised financial claims.

Number and Value of cases claimed: Capital & Single Application Form (SAF) for the Financial Year’s 2018-19 – 2022-23