Seòmar agus comataidhean

We are continuing to progress the implementation of the recommendations of the Women in Agriculture Taskforce. As part of this we continue to deliver solutions that deliver positive change for women living and working in Scottish agriculture through the Women in Agriculture Development Programme.

This financial year (2023-24) we are providing £500,000 to support further activity and opportunities for women in agriculture. We also remain committed to increasing our funding to £600,000 per year over the course of this Parliament.

The Scottish Government and National Records of Scotland do not hold this information. The Home Office publish equivalent figures for the UK, but they are not broken down to individual countries. The latest published data for the UK , from the Home Office, is for the year ending March 2023.

The Scottish Government has funded two successful international projects to help tackle global challenges around period dignity. Funding of £100,000 was provided to Water Aid Foundation to support women in Rwanda, and just under £13,000 was provided to a project through the Freedom From Fistula Foundation in Malawi.

These projects helped communities make and sell reusable period products and generate an income for community members. Funding was also used to donate free products to school pupils in these countries. Both projects were funded in collaboration with international development programmes and through the social justice budget.

Tables 1 and 2 present the number of properties receiving SBBS as at 1 June 2021 and 1 July 2022, in Clackmannanshire and Stirling council areas. These figures are based on the billing data provided by councils to the Scottish Government as at those dates.

Equivalent figures for 2023 are not currently available. These are expected to be published in late 2023.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of properties eligible for the Small Business Bonus Scheme, as we are unable to reliably identify business chains.

Table 1: Properties receiving SBBS relief in Clackmannanshire.

Independent reporters have decided on 493 wind turbine appeals since 2007. 222 of these have been allowed and 271 have been dismissed. The breakdown, in full, of planning authority areas and decision outcomes as requested, is a large statistical document. This information has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under Bib. No. 64333.

The regulations for the licensing, safety and efficacy of medicines are currently reserved to the UK Government and are the responsibility of the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). For a medicine to be routinely prescribed, it firstly needs to receive a licence from the MHRA. It is the responsibility of individual companies to apply to the MHRA for a marketing authorisation (licence). The application process requires a company to provide data demonstrating the quality, safety and efficacy of the medicine.

The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with the UK Government on the licensing of testosterone for women in perimenopause or menopause. AndroFeme ® is not licensed for the treatment of symptoms of menopause in the UK. The prescribing of an unlicensed medicine is a clinical decision by prescribers directly responsible for individual patients. Both its use and the oversight of the patient’s care are the responsibility of the prescribing clinician.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-17049 on 10 May 2023. 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 .

Scottish Government has provided free multi-vitamins to all pregnant women, for the duration of their pregnancy, since April 2017. Annual costs are set out in the following table.

The Scottish Government welcomes the latest statistics publication from Public Health Scotland that reported a small improvement in screening uptake in the most deprived areas in comparison to last year. However, we recognise that there is still work to be done to ensure that screening uptake in the most deprived areas continues to increase.

Over 2021-22 and 2022-23, we provided £2 million towards projects that tackled inequalities within the cancer screening programmes. In 2023-24, an additional £1 million will be provided to build on this work. The Scottish Government has also helped support the development of a National Screening Equity Strategy that will consider the main causes of inequalities and will outline initial actions to address barriers and facilitate access of underserved groups. This strategy is due for publication this summer. More generally, the breast screening modernisation programme board will be taking forward the recommendations from a major review of breast screening, which will address screening uptake as a whole.

With regard to breast cancer quality performance indicators, Public Health Scotland are responsible for publication and are best placed to advise further.