Chamber and committees

I do not think that I have time to take an intervention from Mr Briggs. I am sorry.

NPF4 will be powered through significant public and private investment, with cross-Government co-operation. It will identify funding streams through the infrastructure investment plan and the place-based investment programme. It will open up the possibility of local authorities and private investors accessing funding streams, which could allow the transformation of our derelict brownfield sites. That is welcome, but I ask the minister to clearly communicate with local authority and private sector partners regarding what the funding possibilities are and how NPF4 can transform our derelict sites.

I will turn briefly to permitted development. I welcome the fact that NPF4 will address a legal loophole that has caused numerous issues in my region. Shooting activity, including shooting using high-velocity weapons of up to 50 calibre, is currently allowed to take place without planning permission because permitted development rights are used. Permitted development rights for class 15 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992 allow the temporary use of land for a different purpose for up to 28 days in a calendar year, other than as a caravan site or an open-air market. The 28-day rule has been capitalised on for a range of shooting activities. I thank the minister for listening to me on that matter and for the commitment in NPF4 that permitted development will be reformed. I look forward to seeing progress on that.

NPF4 marks a turning point in Scotland’s planning system and a boost to our just transition journey. It is time to get NPF4 in place and begin implementation.

I have a final question about Covid. During the pandemic, services were changed and redesigned, and care was delivered differently. One issue was that people had digital appointments with their healthcare provider. What cost savings do you foresee being achieved by such approaches to service redesign, including, for example, the use of digital?

The cabinet secretary has mentioned spending on child and adult mental health through the communities mental health and wellbeing fund. Obviously, we can continue to monitor the support through and outcomes from mental health funding. We know about the challenges for our healthcare professionals and for everyone else. I am not sure whether the cabinet secretary needs to comment further on that, but I am interested in that specific aspect of funding to support people’s mental health in Scotland.

Good morning, cabinet secretary, and good morning, Richard.

Our briefing paper—the convener has mentioned this already—states that specific funding for Covid-19 no longer exists. We do not get any more money from the UK Government, so any funding for Covid-19 recovery has to come from the Scottish Government’s budget. I am interested to know, cabinet secretary, what level of funding in the proposed 2023-24 budget relates specifically to Covid-19 recovery.

The committee briefing paper refers to new models of primary care to address specific issues such as mental health. Will that be beneficial? We are looking to embed mental health support workers in GP practices for example. That approach should be a successful way to tackle mental health issues.

I know that vaccination will be on-going, and a new variant has now appeared: XBB.1.5. As I was part of the vaccination programme in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, I was able to learn a lot about the different vaccines that were produced. Is it reasonable for the UK Government just to terminate the funding, rather than, as you say, having a phased reduction?

Thanks for bringing me back in, convener. I am interested in picking up David Torrance’s initial point on preventative spend. I know that there is cross-portfolio budgeting and that a lot of the health and social care budget goes direct to local authorities. Some of it also goes to the third sector, and I will give an example of that. I have done work with the charity Beat, which received £400,000 from the Scottish Government to support its work to help people with eating disorders. Given that some of the health and social care budget goes to other bodies, including to local authorities—£35,000 goes to each local authority to look at developing an autism strategy, for example—is it difficult to track and evaluate the effectiveness of that funding?

I have a final wee question about the cross-portfolio issue. Just before the Christmas recess, Richard Lochhead, the Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work, took a question in the chamber about the autism spectrum employment gap. He spoke about the support that is being provided to people. That reflects cross-portfolio requirements to support budgets.

However, sometimes, it is difficult to trace where a specific budget comes from. In that case, does the budget come from your portfolio or from the education and skills portfolio, for example? I am interested in peeling apart the complexities of the budget, and that is the cross-portfolio issue that I wanted to raise.

Okay—thanks.

Okay. Thank you.