 The next item of business is topical questions, and at question number one, I call Liz Smith. Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government what role the national clinical director has had in relation to the review process for former patients of LGML. Cabinet Secretary, Michael Matheson. The national clinical director is not involved in the establishment of the independent clinical review. While Professor Leitch is part of the same directorate as those officials, he is not one of the officials undertaking this work. The Scottish Government officials are progressing the necessary work to establish both independent clinical review and public inquiry. Once established, those will be carried out and chaired independently of both the Scottish Government and NHS Tayside. Liz Smith. I thank the cabinet secretary for that day. Courier newspaper is reporting this morning that Professor Jason Leitch has been employed by NHS Tayside since September 2012, for which he has been receiving a Scottish Government salary under the service level agreement. As yet, there has not been a full disclosure of exactly what Professor Leitch's role has been in NHS Tayside since 2012, and whether, even on an indirect basis, there has been any activity by Professor Leitch in relation to the LGML case. I wonder if I can press the cabinet secretary to confirm that. Cabinet secretary. I will just explain to you that he is not involved in the setting up of the independent clinical review work. As I stated, and that continues to be the case, that work is actually being taken forward by Professor Craig White, and is at a very advanced stage. In relation to terms of employment, the national clinical director is employed on standard NHS, consulted terms and conditions by NHS Tayside and works for the Scottish Government under a service level agreement. That is typical of the arrangements through which the Scottish Government can draw upon specialist knowledge from the NHS. Most of our clinical advisers working for the Scottish Government are engaged through a service level agreement, also current from a health board in exactly the same way in which Professor Leitch is. Liz Smith. Just for absolute clarity, am I to understand that Professor Leitch has had no input whatsoever on an indirect basis to any of his staff who have been involved in the LGML case? I hope that the cabinet secretary can understand that the most recent revelations in the Covid inquiry have obviously created considerable concerns among the LGML former patients who consider that it would be totally inappropriate if Professor Leitch was in any way involved, even indirectly, with this process. As I have explained, Professor Leitch is not directly involved in this matter. Back in September last year, both the chief medical officer and the national clinical director agreed that the most appropriate way for its establishment to be taken forward would be for officials who already have an established understanding of the issues relating to LGML. That is why the matter was passed to Professor Craig White to take forward the work to establish the independent clinical review process. Michael Marra. The cabinet secretary has focused on the independent one-to-one reviews. Can I ask him when those will begin and, more crucially, when will they end, when will they be completed? Can he also give assurances, given the real resistance from the victims, whether Professor Leitch has been involved in the establishment of the public inquiry and is offering any advice to Government officials regarding that process? The public inquiry and engagement around the public inquiry again has been taken forward by Professor Craig White. As I have previously stated in the chamber, as has the First Minister, it works at a very advanced stage as we have been engaging with the Lord President in order to appoint a chair for the public inquiry alongside that. The appointment of the individual who will be responsible for carrying out the individual clinical reviews for those patients who wish them. I cannot give you a completion date because it is down to individual patients whether they choose to participate in the programme or not. It will be dependent on the numbers that come forward that wish to take part in that. Both the prospective chairs have been engaging with one another to look at how the whole process will be managed collectively moving forward. Willie Rennie. Pictures have emerged in the courier newspaper today of a smiling Sam El Jamel. I know that this has insulted many of his victims today. Those victims are also quite angry that we do not seem to be any further forward on the public inquiry. The cabinet secretary has indicated that there is an advanced stage on the individual case reviews. Is there an advanced stage on the public inquiry and when might we get an update? Yes, we are. As has already been stated in the chamber by the First Minister just in the course of, I think, a question from Liz Smith the other week where we are at a very advanced stage and appointed by a chair. As I mentioned earlier on, there has been engagement between the two prospective chairs around the clinical review and also the public inquiry and how they will both intersect with one another because it is important that we get that right. In relation to the pictures that he makes reference to, I can understand that patients who have suffered at the hand of El Jamel will be disgusted at seeing the pictures of him continuing to practice within Libya. Of course, any decision to pursue the matter on a criminal basis would be for the police and also for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and it would be a matter for them to consider pursuing this individual. Clearly, I can understand why people will be deeply, deeply hurt by the sign that this is an individual who continues to practice in our part of the world. Daniel Johnson. That case has highlighted Professor Leitch's employment status as a second D. On that basis, is he regarded from a management perspective as a civil servant and is he subject to the civil service code? Cabinet Secretary. In terms of details, I am sorry, I cannot give you that information because it is an operational matter within the civil service run for ministers. The employment arrangements for Professor Leitch are exactly the same as they are for other clinical experts that the Scottish Government brings in employees of the NHS who come in on a service level agreement and who undertake work in providing advice to us. In terms of how the civil service code is applied, it is a matter for the civil service direct to themselves. Of course, anyone who is undertaking civil service responsibilities, I would expect there to be an appropriate mechanism being placed for that, but that is not a matter for ministers directly. Question 2, Emma Harper. To ask the Scottish Government in light of the announcement from the UK Government that it plans to ban single-use vapes to protect children's health, whether it will outline what action is being taken in Scotland. Minister Jenny Minto. Thank you. The Scottish Government was the first Government in the UK to commit to taking action on single-use vapes. So I was delighted to announce yesterday that we planned to take forward a ban on single-use vapes alongside raising the age of sale of tobacco and restricting vape flavours and packaging in order to protect children and young people, public health and the environment. That will help us to create a generation free from tobacco addiction, tackle youth vaping and take us closer to a tobacco free generation by 2030, in line with our tobacco and vaping framework published in November. We continue to work with the UK Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to take forward those plans across the four nations. Emma Harper. Thank the minister for that answer. I have been really concerned by the dramatic rise in levels of youth vaping, given the evidence from experts, including physicians and Ash Scotland, showing the health impact of e-cigarettes and vaping and the negative impact of nicotine on young people. As founder of and co-convener now of the long health cross-party group in this Parliament, I recently heard from a mother about how her school-aged daughter has experienced anxiety, aggression, agitation, depression, withdrawal and shortness of breath and she has missed school since starting vaping. Can the minister comment further on what steps will be taken to minimise the health impacts of youth vaping given the announced ban on single-use vapes? Minister. Thank you. I recognise the issues that Emma Harper has raised having met some fathers to talk about exactly this. The Scottish Government has already been taking action to address it. We committed to do so in our programme for government. This month we laid an SSI in Parliament on the health, tobacco, nicotine etc. and care Scotland Act 2016, which enables provisions within it to be enacted, including the ability to tighten rules on the advertising and promotion of vaping products. We also launched our take hold marketing campaign in December 2023, which educated parents, carers and children about the dangers of vaping and created the harms and risks of nicotine addiction. We have been hearing very positive information about the reach of that campaign. One of the key things that we did in that campaign was to speak to children, understand what they would like us to do as policy makers. I spent a very informative morning with Children in Scotland and advisory group discussing exactly this. Emma Harper. Thanks again minister for that response. In addition to the health concerns, both short and long term, there are clear environmental impacts of single-use vapes with communities including Gwybden, Indifris and Galloway, being blighted by them and being dumped and discarded on our streets. Does the minister agree with me and charities like Keep Scotland Beautiful that this ban on single-use vapes will also benefit our environment as well as keeping our communities safer and cleaner? Absolutely, and on Friday I had the privilege of joining one of the classes at Sunnyside Primary School in Alloa at their part of the children's parliament. They were complaining to me that they were seeing vapes the spaces that were for children and that really upset them, but also last year the Scottish Government commissioned an urgent review of the environmental impact of single use vapes. The review found that up to 26 million disposable vapes were consumed and thrown away in Scotland in just one year, of which an estimated 10 per cent were littered and more than half were incorrectly disposed of. This ban will tackle the detrimental impact that it has on our environment, local communities and young people. Can the minister set out timescales for the introduction of this ban? What the associated repercussions are expected to be in instances in which the ban is not complied with? Can she advise how the Scottish Government will work with shop owners and others who sell those products to safely dispose of their stocks? As I have said in my first answer, we are working on a four-nation perspective. We await the legislation coming from the UK Government, which we, as a Government, have been working closely with on enforcement. We already have legislation on enforcement, but we will be looking at that to tighten that as best we can. I think that, with regard to disposal, we have to ensure that we are doing that in the most environmentally friendly way, which is why I am working very closely with my colleague Lorna Slater. I would like to place on the record my thanks to the campaigners, organisations and the daily record for working with myself and other MSPs in campaigning for this ban. It is a huge victory for them and I want to thank the Government for the positive conversations that I have had with them over the course of that campaign. As we move forward, there may be other tactics coming forward in the evolution of those vapes. What conversations is the minister having with colleagues across the UK as to how we can anticipate some of those changes and ensure that any legislation that we bring forward appropriately tackles any measures that we may see? I thank Gillian Mackay for that question and I also echo her thanks to those who campaigned for a ban on disposable vapes. Our aim is to implement a ban at the earliest opportunity to ensure that health and environmental benefits are realised as soon as possible. We propose, as I have said before, aligning the coming into force dates of those regulations with the other three nations where feasible to provide certainty for businesses and consumers. We will legislate separately in Scotland to enact a ban as it will be taken forward using powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which are devolved to Scottish ministers. Thank you. That concludes topical questions. I will allow a moment for front-benches to organise themselves for the next item of business.