Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review pathways for patients to help improve earlier diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring everyone living with dementia receives the person centred support and care they need, regardless of which form of dementia they have. Our Dementia Strategy highlights that each individual person's experience of their dementia will be different and care and support needs to reflect that.

The current diagnostic pathway of dementia with Lewy bodies is through an individual’s GP. Clinical guidance on diagnosing suspected dementia with Lewy bodies is contained in the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) which covers assessment, diagnosis, care and support for people with dementia and their care partners. The SIGN Guideline was developed by Healthcare Improvement Scotland and partners in 2023.

The Scottish Government has also established a cross-governmental; cross sectoral steering group to help shape the Scottish Government’s role in contributing to the research and development of greater understanding around dementia risk, earlier dementia identification, diagnosis, and treatment, including the trialling of new treatments which can slow the progression of some dementias.

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

The vast majority of funding to local authorities from the Scottish Government is provided via a block grant and we do not stipulate how local authorities should utilise their individual allocations. It is therefore the responsibility of each local authority to manage their own budget and to allocate the financial resources available to them on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

In 2024-25, Glasgow City Council will receive over £1.6 billion to fund local services, which equates to an extra £74.9 million to support vital day to day services or an additional 4.9% compared to the 2023-24 budget.

Ultimately, it is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.

It should be noted that the Dental Workforce in Scotland 2021 report was published at the height of pandemic interruptions to dental training in Scotland, and we look forward to contemporary data in September 2024.

The Scottish Government has been clear that, as a result of its intervention in response to the pandemic, a full year of undergraduate and vocational training was lost with significant impact on the introduction of domestic workforce to the sector. This was not a decision taken lightly, but was made following recommendation from the Deans of the Scottish Dental Schools as a necessary action to preserve the competence and confidence of graduates impacted by the pandemic. Scottish Government has also been clear that it could take up to five years for repercussions to fully resolve, however vocational training has now resumed in full and dental school outputs are back to pre-pandemic levels.

Despite this interruption, the Scottish Government has maintained a strong track record in growing the NHS dental workforce in Scotland, with 57 dentists per 100,000 of the population, compared to 42 in England and 46 in Wales.

The Scottish Government is continuing to work on a range of initiatives to bolster the NHS dental workforce through consideration of both domestic and international pipelines, as well as of the shape and structure of the workforce required into the future. This work includes collaboration with its counterparts across the UK and devolved governments to improve workforce pathways for international dentists, in addition to harnessing skill mix to improve capacity within dental teams.

Information on university retention rates is published by the Scottish Funding Councils (SFC) in the statistics publication “Report on Widening Access”.

The latest publication is available on the SFC’s website: Report on Widening Access 2021-22 - Scottish Funding Council (sfc.ac.uk)

Information on college withdrawal rates is published by the SFC in the statistics publication “College Performance Indicators”.

The latest publication is available on the SFC’s website: College Performance Indicators 2022-23 - Scottish Funding Council (sfc.ac.uk)

This data supports Scottish Government and SFC’s work with colleges and universities to measure and improve performance across the sectors. The data is also used to monitor student progression as part of the SFC’s Outcome Agreements with institutions. In addition to monitoring data returns, institutions may provide written commentary on their student retention rates and/or discuss this with their Outcome Agreement contacts within SFC.

I have asked Janet Egdell, Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

National Records of Scotland have today published: ' Scotland’s Census 2022: Sexual Orientation and Trans Status or History' .

This is the first time Scotland’s Census has asked questions in relation to ‘Sexual Orientation’ and ‘Trans Status or History’. These questions were voluntary and asked of those aged 16 and over. The data contained in this publication will help charities, local authorities, businesses and government plan a range of public services, to improve the lives of those living and working in Scotland. The data will also support the equality monitoring responsibilities of public sector organisations, which in turn informs policies and practices.

Scotland’s Census results are designated as Accredited Official Statistics and form an integral part of the statistical system in the UK. The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), the independent regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority , awards Accredited Official Statistics designation based on the quality, good practice and comprehensiveness of official statistics.

More detail about the schedule for future reports can be found here .

Engagement on the Natural Capital Market Framework is taking place from March to September and is following Scottish Government’s approach to service design, using the expertise and insight from a diverse range of stakeholders to inform the development of the framework. This engagement has included UK Government officials leading their work on natural capital markets but there has been no direct engagement with UK Government Ministers. We have also engaged with a wide range of private businesses representing agricultural, land management, contractor and investment interests.

Funding was allocated to the Scottish Government by the European Commission at the beginning of the programme in 2014 and is not allocated on a yearly basis.

The development work delivered at Anniesland Station is led by Network Rail. Network Rail advises that painting of the adjacent bridge is not included in the scope for the current station accessibility improvements. Accessibility is a matter reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government continues to provide £16 million per year to ensure that all secondary schools have access to school counselling services.

Local authorities have confirmed that all secondary schools in Scotland have access to counselling services. All school pupils aged 10 and above have access to the service.

It is up to local authorities to decide how to deliver the service in their area to best suit the needs of their children and young people.

School counselling is just one of a range of services that schools and authorities have in place to support the mental health of children and young people.

In 2024-2025 we are making available £12.113 million for the provision of more social and affordable homes in the Scottish Borders Council area. We will invest almost £600 million in affordable homes across Scotland in 2024-2025 and will continue to work with partners – including in the Scottish Borders – to increase the delivery of more affordable homes, the majority of which will be for social rent, including supporting acquisitions of existing properties.