Chamber and committees

For the purposes of this response we are interpreting “publicly owned bodies” to mean devolved public bodies. The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The topic of Scottish independence was not discussed.

As a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), SQA operates at arm’s length to Ministers and is therefore responsible for its own operational decisions and processes, including on appeals.The Scottish Government works closely with the SQA to ensure that its budget allocation is sufficient to undertake its functions.

For students who did not receive the results they thought they should, SQA’s free and direct appeals service gives all young people the right to request a review of their marked exam papers or coursework for their National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher results this year.

The approach to appeals in 2024 is the same as last year and is the same approach that, discounting the pandemic years, has been in place for over a decade in Scotland (since April 2014).

A priority service is available for young people where they have a conditional offer of a place in university, college, training or employment that depends on their grade.

Further information on the appeals service is available from the SQA website at: Appeals service - SQA

Evidence shows that the very smallest and sickest babies, including those born extremely premature (less than 27 weeks gestation), do best when they are cared for in larger specialist neonatal units which look after a lot of these babies, and have the right staff and services available on site to give them the very best care.

The Best Start report recommended that we move to three of these units in Scotland, to meet the needs of our population, and neonatal experts then went through a rigorous process to decide on the three NICUs.

It is important that we ensure that all babies born in Scotland receive the best and most up to date care, provided by appropriately trained staff. Outcomes in all units will be monitored following the changes, and we are developing plans for long term evaluation of outcomes of the package of changes outlined in The Best Start.

The expectation is that the mothers in threatened extreme preterm labour, or those whose babies will require surgery, will be identified antenatally and will birth in the maternity unit alongside the NICU. The Scottish Perinatal Network has published guidance on in-utero obstetric transfer in these circumstances.

Local Neonatal Units (LNU’s) will continue to deliver intensive care and care for babies from 27+0 weeks that need stabilisation and treatment, and both nursing staff and medical staff will continue to have experience in delivering these aspects of intensive care. We have asked Regional Chief Executives to consider arrangements for ongoing professional development of staff where required within their Regional Implementation Plans.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government. All NHS Board expenditure is recorded via the Scottish Financial Returns, which provides operating costs relating to the running of all services provided to patients across NHS Scotland, however, it does not show specific costs for conditions such as thrombosis.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government.

Scottish Government welcomes the comments of the British Dental Association Scotland that the new system represents an improvement on the previous Statement of Dental Renumeration.

Official statistics published by Public Health Scotland on 28 May 2024 show that in the quarter ending 31 March 2024, over 1 million patient contacts were delivered by NHS dentists and there were three quarters of a million free at the point of use enhanced examinations.

This is indicative that Scottish Government intervention is supporting patient access to care.Ongoing assessment of the sector will provide information to support any future interventions, in particular around equality.

The topic of Scottish independence was not discussed.

The topic of Scottish independence was not discussed.