Chamber and committees

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) at Policy 11 (Energy) ensures that consideration is given to the decommissioning of developments and site restoration, as well as to the quality of site restoration plans. This includes the measures in place to safeguard or guarantee availability of finance to effectively implement those plans. The enforcement of such matters is a matter for the relevant local authority.

As part of the 2018 GP Contract, the Scottish Government amended regulations for the delivery of CTAC Services. Boards are now responsible for providing a Community Treatment and Care service. These services are being designed locally, taking into account local population health needs, existing community services, and optimising benefit to practices and patients.

Our annual statistical publication provides a progress update on implementation of the 2018 GP contract.

Transitionary funding, sometimes known as sustainability payments, were made to GP practices in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and reflected the status of the Primary Care Improvement Plans at that time. Since then we have continued to implement the plans and practices are now supported by over 4,900 multi-disciplinary team staff.

In 2024-25, we are investing over £190 million in the ongoing development of primary care multi-disciplinary teams.

We are committed to reducing waiting lists backed by an initial investment of £30 million has been allocated to Health Boards and will target reductions to the national backlogs that built up throughout the pandemic. This funding is being targeted at a series of national and local plans to reduce backlogs by maximising the use of local and national resources across Scotland. As part of this, we have allocated additional funding to Gynaecology services which we expect to l deliver around 3,500 New Outpatient Appointments.

NHS Scotland’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) is also playing a central role in working with Health Boards to ensure that they are able to continually identify new ways to increase capacity, and to respond to demand through service innovation and redesign.

CfSD programmes have developed strong clinically-led Specialty Delivery Groups (SDG), including one for Gynaecology, which promote multidisciplinary team working, and support local adoption of service improvement programmes. These groups are now well established and have supported several new and innovative pathway developments, many of which are now being successfully scaled up across Scotland, including Active Clinical Referral Triage (ACRT), Patient Initiated Review (PIR) and Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS).

This is all part of our programme to drive up productivity and tackle waiting lists, supported by the CfSD. Together, our actions will further enable NHS Scotland to maximise capacity, build greater resilience and deliver year-on-year reductions in the number of patients who have waited too long for treatment.

Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 (CAFS2) was published in July 2021 with two actions on the topic of nitrogen deposition. At the time of publication these actions were assigned a medium term timescale for delivery by 2024.

In April 2022 the Nitrogen Impacts on the Natural Environment (NINE) project led by the James Hutton Institute commenced as part of the Strategic Research Programme for air quality. In considering how to take the CAFS2 actions forward, Scottish Government worked with the NINE project team to ensure it would deliver the CAFS2 evidence needs. Following commencement of the NINE project we revised the delivery milestones for the CASF2 actions to align with the project deliverables.

The NINE project was commissioned on time and continues to be on track for delivery by 2027, with CAFS2 elements to be delivered in 2026.

Scottish Government officials are currently undertaking scoping work with a variety of stakeholders including healthcare professionals (representatives from British College of Aesthetic Medicine and British Association of Cosmetic Nurses), hair and beauty industry representatives, Environmental Health Officers, Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS), and other UK Governments in order to bring forward proposals regarding the potential further regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures within the beauty sector in Scotland.

The scoping of further regulation of non-surgical cosmetics procedures includes the consideration of age restrictions, the levels of insurance, training, qualifications and supervision required to safely perform various types of non-surgical cosmetic procedures that pierce and penetrate the skin, is underway.

We hope to be in a position to update Parliament on timescale for this in due course.

The regulatory regime for hydrogen in Scotland is a mixture of reserved and devolved powers and we continue to routinely engage with UK Government on a range of hydrogen policy matters including the regulation of and responsibility for the decommissioning of hydrogen production sites.

To achieve our hydrogen production ambitions, we must ensure that the regulatory framework for renewable hydrogen developments supports the scale-up of hydrogen at pace, whist protecting the environment and communities.

This is why the Scottish Government is working with the Scottish Regulatory Steering Group, comprised of key regulators, to assess the regulatory requirements for the development of the hydrogen sector in Scotland. This work with UK and Scottish regulators is designed to ensure that action is taken to address any identified issues and create a clear regulatory framework for the full life cycle of hydrogen projects, including the decommissioning of assets.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of access to interdependent services, including those provided by allied health professionals such as physiotherapists, in order to optimise kidney transplant outcomes.

Under the Scottish Government’s Donation and Transplantation Plan: 2021-2026, a working group on transplant recipient aftercare has been set up. Access to physiotherapy services, which are generally provided when needed both via the Transplant Units themselves and by referring centres, has not so far been identified as an issue of particular concern for chronic kidney disease patients who have received a transplant in Scotland. We will continue to monitor the situation closely including by means of the working group.

I refer the member to the answer to S6W-26620 on 25 April 2024 for information on the progress of installing CSO monitors.

Overflow data is being published on Scottish Water’s website at https://www.scottishwater.co.uk/Your-Home/Your-Waste-Water/Overflow-Event-Data . As new monitors are installed, more information will become available in line with commitments under the Improving Urban Waters Routemap.

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 .

Given the significant numbers of arrivals and visas issued we need to continue to find creative ways to boost the supply of longer term housing. On 22 September 2022, the Scottish Government launched the Ukraine Longer-Term Resettlement Fund (ULTRF) to bring Local Authority (LA) and Registered Social Landlord (RSL) empty properties back into use that would otherwise not have been available for let.

Through this high value for money initiative, the Fund has approved twenty one capital projects across Scotland, bringing nearly 1300 homes back into use. As of 18 July 2024, 11 projects have fully completed, providing nearly 1200 homes, of which over 1000 are tenanted, providing settled accommodation for nearly 2200 Ukrainian people. The programme has offered commitments to fund improvement works of over £27.146 million in total across 2022-23 and 2023-24.

The ULTRF budget has now been confirmed as £5 million for 2024-45 and we continue to work closely with potential applicants to maximise delivery from the funding available.

The continuation of the Ukraine Longer-Term Resettlement Fund and its legacy is an opportunity to prevent unnecessary homelessness with some homes to be retained in the longer-term to address wider pressures by increasing social rented housing supply.