Chamber and committees

The procurement, associated contractual matters, and expected go-live date for the SFRS New Mobilising System are operational matters for the Service, who would be the appropriate source for this information. SFRS has provided assurances that it has had appropriate governance arrangements in place throughout the project. Throughout implementation, SFRS has worked within budgets with key targets built in and milestone payments only paid if satisfactorily reached. All public sector bodies in Scotland are expected to adhere to the public sector finance manual to ensure that value for money is applied to each spending decision. Public safety is paramount and SFRS has existing software and back-up systems in place at all times to ensure an effective service.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving pharmaceutical care in Scotland and the development of digitally enabled infrastructure in primary care to underpin this. The ePharmacy Programme continues to oversee and develop technology used in community pharmacies to support the provision of NHS pharmaceutical care services.

The Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways (DPDP) programme is on track to replace the current paper prescription in Scotland with a digital approach by the end of this parliamentary term. The early focus is in-hours fixed General Practice prescribing and Community Pharmacy dispensing across Scotland, with initial user engagement complete and planning underway for the design on an initial prototype approach.

The Acute Medication Service (AMS) Digital Programme is also underway which aims to significantly reduce the volume of barcoded paper prescriptions that need to be sent by community pharmacies into NSS for scanning.

Penalty clauses are not enforceable in Scots law and, as such, there are no penalties included in the R100 Contracts.

As stated in the reply to SW6-20231, the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested as responsibility for managing Police Scotland’s call handling system, including the collection of data for non-emergency 101 calls, rests with the Chief Constable of Scotland.

This information is also already in the public domain. Police Scotland regularly publish performance data, including for the non-emergency 101 service, on their website with the most recent information available at Call Handling Reports 2023 - Police Scotland . It should be noted that information for August 2023 has not yet been published, however we can provide information for the number of calls received during September to December 2022 as outlined below:

The progression of any legal claim following cancelation of any contract is an operational matter for the Service, who would be the appropriate source for this information. SFRS has provided assurances that it has had appropriate governance arrangements in place throughout the project. Throughout implementation, SFRS has worked within budgets with key targets built in and milestone payments only paid if satisfactorily reached. All public sector bodies in Scotland are expected to adhere to the public sector finance manual to ensure that value for money is applied to each spending decision. Public safety is paramount and SFRS has existing software and back-up systems in place at all times to ensure an effective service.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Decisions on the allocation of resources and the deployment of officers and staff are the responsibility of the Chief Constable of Scotland.

This commitment within the Programme for Government 2023-24 will be delivered through additional investment in the delivery of the existing actions within ‘A Framework to Grow Scotland’s Renewables Exports’, which was published by the Scottish Government in March 2023.

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

The National Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Specification (published in February 2020) and the National Neurodevelopmental Specification for Children and Young People: Principles and Standards of Care (published in September 2021), set out the levels of service that children, young people and families can expect across Scotland.

This includes nationally agreed referral criteria, a first engagement appointment for all those that meet the criteria, and personalised and meaningful signposting for all those that do not require treatment .

The National Specification for the delivery of Psychological Therapies and Interventions is also due to be published this month and will set out what patients can expect following a referral, and detail the whole system approach including early intervention options that services should offer.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. Police Scotland regularly publish performance data, including for the non-emergency 101 service, on their website at Call Handling Reports 2023 - Police Scotland . Furthermore, Police Scotland’s performance, including the non-emergency 101 service, is monitored by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) Policing Performance Committee on a quarterly basis. The performance report for Quarter 1 2023/24 was published on 7 September 2023 and the next meeting will be held on 6 December 2023 and can be viewed via the SPA web site at Policing Performance Committee Meetings | Scottish Police Authority (spa.police.uk) .

Infrasound was considered within the UK Government commissioned WSP report . The ETSU steering group comprising the four Governments of the UK is considering, under the lead of the UK Government, how best to take forward the recommendations of the report.