Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-19803 on 31 July 2023. 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

The scoping exercise is complete with a final report anticipated by late September 2023. The specialists have been further commissioned to undertake a stage 1 desktop and stage 2 visual inspection of the SG Estate for the presence of RAAC. This work is anticipated to be completed by mid November 2023.

The Scottish Government is keen to raise awareness of the implementation of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards and there could be a role for Royal Colleges in contributing to this.

However, the training and education programmes provided by Royal Colleges are decided on by the Colleges, reflecting the needs and interests of their members and practitioners more widely.

The Scottish Government would certainly consider funding any relevant training and education programmes from the Royal Colleges.

Following the motion passed by the Scottish Parliament showing solidarity with anti-racism in June 2020, funding was provided to Museums Galleries Scotland for the Empire, Slavery and Scotland's Museums project, which was run by an independent steering group, and included the largest ever national consultation on attitudes to Scotland’s museums and racism.

The Scottish Government is carefully considering the response to the steering group's recommendations, including the one which focused on establishing a new organisation to create a dedicated space to address the legacy of colonialism in Scotland. This is an important agenda and we will continue to seek ways of raising awareness of the role Scotland played in slavery and empire and how our museums and galleries can play their part in portraying an accurate story of Scotland's history.

As part of our ongoing joint programme for delivery, following the launch of the Winter Heating Payment, Scottish Government officials have been working with counterparts at the Department of Work and Pensions to develop a revised timeframe that will allow payments to be issued earlier in Winter 2023-24 and subsequent years. I will provide a more detailed update to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee on this work in due course.

Many items within the Baby Box such as thermometers, play mat, changing mat, books, and the box itself are all suitable for a premature baby, and the clothing will be suitable as the baby grows. The Scottish Government seeks to deliver best value by purchasing the contents of the Baby Box in bulk, in line with Scottish birth rates. Costs would increase significantly if we moved to purchase smaller amounts of different items. Therefore in the current financial climate we do not plan to make any adaptions to the Baby Box. The Scottish Government is keen to offer financial support to parents or primary carers of babies who are born prematurely and have to receive inpatient care. All parents whose children have to stay overnight in hospital are eligible for financial support through the Young Patients Family Fund (YPFF).

The information you have requested is set out in the following table. It should be noted that the key criteria for the Local Bridge Maintenance Fund was to rebuild and maintain key lifeline bridges, where diversionary routes are not available or limited.

Scottish Government Internal Audit have initiated an independent review which will focus on the following areas:

1) Review of policy and compliance

2) Analysis of transactions to identify areas of non-compliance e.g. personal use, unauthorised expenditure.

Resource of 2 members of staff and budget for 15 days have been allocated for the review. This will be funded through standard arrangements for providing an internal audit service. A draft report on the review is anticipated to be provided to the Permanent Secretary and Director of Procurement and Property by 1 September, with interim findings on focused transactions review expected before then.

In March 2023, the Scottish Government requested Public Health Scotland (PHS) to undertake an independent review of the Paediatric Scottish National Spinal Service (SNSS) which is hosted in NHS Lothian.

The review was requested to identify any variance between the number of cancellations reported by PHS and those held locally by SNSS. PHS confirmed cancellation data held by SNSS is aligned to PHS reported data.

PHS also assessed the application of National Waiting Times Guidance for children that were referred to SNSS, particularly focusing on children that required further diagnostic tests before a decision to treat was made. PHS found NHS Lothian to be adhering to and applying the waiting time guidance correctly.

Therefore, PHS concluded through this external assurance process that SNSS, hosted in NHS Lothian, in all of the areas reviewed adheres to and applies National Waiting Times Guidance with no apparent variation in the local data to that published by PHS.

A copy of the report can be found at Publications - Public Health Scotland .

We have today published a consultation on our Biodiversity Framework. The Framework will accelerate the pace and scale of our efforts to halt the loss of biodiversity, creating a nature positive Scotland and supporting people and communities to take the opportunities presented by restoring and protecting our natural environment. It includes an updated version of our Biodiversity Strategy, which takes into account the outcomes of CoP15 and the new Global Biodiversity Framework, as well as the first underpinning Delivery Plan, where we set out a range of ambitious and wide reaching actions to tackle the nature crisis. The Consultation also includes draft frameworks which set out the Vision and Principles that will underpin delivery of our commitment to protect 30% of Scotland’s land for nature by 2030, and to create nature networks across Scotland. Elements of the proposed Natural Environment Bill are also being consulted upon, including our proposal to create statutory nature restoration targets, and enhancements to National Parks legislation to reflect the important role our Parks already play in tackling the biodiversity and climate crisis. The consultation and associated documents are available at https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781835212769 .