Chamber and committees

I acknowledge the importance of the point that Sarah Boyack has raised. The working group gave us very clear recommendations, and I will set out in a letter to members this afternoon the steps that we are taking.

Fundamentally and in principle, we accept the group’s recommendations about the importance of taking forward the ventilation strategy, improving ventilation in our buildings and recognising the benefit that improved ventilation has for the wellbeing of individuals—and for the wellbeing of the economy, into the bargain.

We have to be careful about distribution of public money. On any other day, Mr Fraser would be citing to me the Audit Scotland report that demanded more information about distribution of public funding. On this occasion, he is asking me, in essence, to gather less information. On another day, he would demand that I collect more information.

We have committed to evaluating the 2021 business ventilation fund and we will consider the recommendations of the ventilation sub-group in light of that evaluation, while acknowledging that the Government has every interest in making sure that funding schemes that we make available are impactful in the business community, as was the case with Covid recovery funding. If there are lessons to learn about the administration of individual funds, we will learn them in order to make sure that the processes of the Government are efficient and smooth in all circumstances.

Since its inception, the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 vaccination programme has been guided by expert advice provided by the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation. The JCVI is reviewing the emerging clinical evidence, including about vaccine waning, infection rates and hospitalisation.

In the interim advice in May, the JCVI recommended an autumn/winter 2022 booster programme for those at higher risk of severe Covid-19. Once the JCVI has reached a final position, we will confirm booster arrangements as quickly as possible to make sure that those who are most vulnerable have the protection that they need by this winter. We will continue to be guided by the JCVI advice and by that evidence, as we have been throughout this pandemic.

I welcome the steps that NHS Grampian is taking, which are part of the work that is being undertaken in the national health service to expand the recruitment of staff and to exhaust all options to address the shortages issue.

Obviously, there are challenges with international recruitment, which have been exacerbated by the issues around Brexit and immigration, but the Scottish Government will work with health boards to encourage them to take the steps that NHS Grampian has taken.

In 2021, we published the NHS recovery plan, which set out commitments that will support recovery over the five years to 2026, supported by the implementation of improvements and new models of care. We have on-going discussions with key stakeholders, including the NHS, across Government and with other United Kingdom Governments around the recovery of the NHS. A full update on progress in the first year since publication will be published in September, after the parliamentary recess.

That type of activity is right at the heart of the decisions that the Government takes on our priorities. In relation to the NHS, which is the subject of Mr Stewart’s question, we are looking at increasing NHS capacity to meet healthcare needs in the enhancing of primary care services and cancer services and in the transformation of mental health services.

All those points are right at the heart of the Government’s agenda to improve public services, to tackle the very clear impact of the pandemic on the waiting times of individuals for services and, as a consequence, we will endeavour to make as much progress as possible, as swiftly as possible, on improving public services.

As part of the Government’s measures to assist public bodies in addressing the issue of Covid-19-related staff shortages in Aberdeen Donside, in 2022-23 Aberdeen City Council will receive £409.8 million to fund vital day-to-day local services, which equates to an extra £35.2 million—an additional 9.4 per cent—compared with 2021-22.

Councils and other public sector bodies have flexibility to manage their resources and budgets as long as they fulfil their statutory obligations and address jointly agreed national and local priorities. The Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities have agreed shared priorities for recovery, which involve targeting support to those people who have been most affected during the pandemic.

The issue that Sue Webber has raised is obviously very important, but the judgments that have been arrived at are clinical judgments that have been made by the services involved. I would consider some of the issues that Sue Webber has fairly raised with me within the context of the whole family wellbeing analysis that we are undertaking. If we provide more effective support to individuals—through community organisations, in some circumstances—we can avoid the crystallisation of mental health and wellbeing challenges, because people will be better supported, more included and more assisted in their endeavour. That thinking has been brought to bear.

I am delighted that our local authority partners are working closely with us on the Covid recovery strategy in trying to make it a practical reality, but we need the engagement of the third sector—which I warmly welcome, because the third sector has a track record of being able to reach individuals who might be more challenging for statutory services to reach.

I acknowledge that, in some parts of the country, there are particular challenges around the recruitment of general practitioners. Without generalising too much, I would say that the issue looks to be more acute in rural areas than it is in urban areas, although urban areas are not without their challenges.

The Government has invested heavily in the recruitment of general practitioners and has worked to make general practice attractive through a number of different interventions, such as reducing the financial burdens that some general practitioners have, in the past, been expected to carry and enabling them to be better supported by NHS infrastructure. Scotland has more GPs per head of population than there are in other parts of the United Kingdom, but we must continue to work to recruit general practitioners, which is a priority of the health secretary as we speak.

The Covid recovery strategy highlights the importance of charities to community resilience. Our social enterprise and volunteering action plans will strengthen that role.

We have committed £120 million of recurring funding to support mental health and wellbeing, including £36 million over two years through the communities mental health and wellbeing fund for adults. The fund recognises the role of community groups and supports nearly 1,800 projects.

We are providing local authorities with £15 million per annum to fund more than 230 community mental health supports for children and young people, where the third sector is a delivery partner.