Chamber and committees

The information requested is not held by the Scottish Government.

A tool for collection of empirical data relating to stroke rehabilitation provision - including time to rehabilitation assessment, creation of rehabilitation plans, commencement of rehabilitation, input from various Allied Health Professional specialities and time to commencing community rehabilitation - has been developed. This tool is currently being trialled in two NHS Boards, with the aim of using this across Scotland and including this in the Scottish Stroke Care Audit once data collection has been assessed.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-29572 on 17 September 2024. 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.

Specialist NHS gender identity healthcare in Scotland is delivered by gender identity clinics. There are four NHS gender identity clinics in Scotland providing clinical assessment, treatment and specialist support to adults and a separate service for children and young people.

The role of community pharmacy in relation to gender identity healthcare primarily relates to the dispensing of prescriptions for medication prescribed as part of healthcare support for gender dysphoria.

Scottish Government does not hold information on how many pharmacies have dispensed prescriptions related to gender identity healthcare.

No external consultants were engaged to identify the spending reductions outlined in the fiscal statement of 3 September 2024. External consultants were engaged in the evaluation of the rail peak fares removal pilot. Their expertise supported the public survey component of the evaluation, informing understanding of the effects of the pilot which informed decision-making over the future of the pilot. This was an important part of the evaluation and would have occurred irrespective of the fiscal statement.

The ambition of Scottish Government is to publish the summary report from the Task & Finish Group sessions along with the agreed recommendations by end September 2024.

These publications will provide an overview of discussions held amongst the Task & Finish Group members and the recommendations for future progress of the Single Building Assessment.

The UK Government’s decision to introduce means-testing of Winter Fuel Payments in England and Wales in 2024-25 significantly reduces the annual funding available to the Scottish Government, by an estimated £140 million to £160 million. It is with deep regret and only following careful consideration that the Scottish Government has decided it must replicate that decision in Scotland and Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will therefore be payable to people over state pension age in receipt of certain benefits. Those benefits are Pension Credit, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Universal Credit, Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits (where the award is not less than £26 in respect of the tax year 2024-2025).

Payments of Pension Age Winter Heating Payment in 2024-25 will be made by the Department of Work and Pensions on behalf of the Scottish Government.

The requested information is provided in the following table.

The number of police recorded crimes of shoplifting are published in Table 1 of the Recorded Crime in Scotland bulletins. The latest data is shown in the following table.

ScotRail Trains Ltd. regularly engages with a range of business groups to understand their views. All weekend, later evening and between-peak tickets remain available at off peak rates and many products are available which offer further discounts to passengers depending on their circumstances at all times of the day.

All applications are made to the overall HOSF programme, and are then carefully assessed by my officials to determine suitability for either Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE) or Mortgage to Rent (MTR).

Applicants to HOSF receive advice from accredited money advisers. The advisers offer holistic advice and identify which potential solutions will best meet applicants’ needs. They are appropriately qualified to determine when homeowners meet the HOSF eligibility criteria. This ensures all options and potential solutions have been considered before an application to HOSF is made.

Since 20 March 2022, 96 new applications have been made to the Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF), an average of 3 new applications per calendar month.

To date, 47 cases have successfully completed. A further 10 cases have been approved and are in the final stages of conveyancing, due to complete imminently. All successful applications since 20 March 2022 have been Mortgage to Rent cases.

3 cases received during this period did not meet the eligibility criteria and were deemed ineligible. These cases represent a small proportion of overall intake and are the result of unforeseen issues that could not be resolved. For example, where alterations were made to the property without having the correct building consents in place.